# Training with documents

> Upload manuals, price lists, catalogs and procedures in PDF, Word or TXT: the agent reads their text and uses it to answer.

Page: https://supportfast.ai/en/guide/chat-agent/training-documents/ · Section: Chat agent · Updated on 30 October 2026

> **Before you start**
>
> - PDF, DOCX or TXT files up to 26 MB each; PDFs with selectable text, not scans.

## Upload the documents

1. **Open the documents page**
   In Chat agent › Training, press New training, then Select Documents. “Document Training” opens.

2. **Add the files**
   Drag them into the “Drag your documents here, or” area, or press Browse files. You can choose more than one at a time.

3. **Wait for the reading**
   Wait for the files to be read: in “Uploaded files”, each file then shows the characters read.

4. **Remove files with errors**
   If a file has an error, remove it with the Remove the file trash can.

5. **Train**
   Press Train Agent.

> **Result**
>
> You go back to the list: the training is “In progress”, then “Completed”. It is named after the first file and groups all the files uploaded together.

To check what the agent read, see [Checking and editing the extracted text](https://supportfast.ai/en/guide/chat-agent/training-documents.md#checking-and-editing-the-extracted-text).

![Document Training with three uploaded files: Price-list-2026.pdf and Warranty.docx read, with their characters, and Contract-scan.pdf with the error “Unable to read this file.”.](https://supportfast.ai/_astro/02-allenamento-documenti._RRRICus.webp)

_Files that were read show their size and characters; the one with an error must be removed with the trash can before training._

## Formats and limits

- **DOCX**: Word documents saved in `.docx` format. Old `.doc` files can't be read: open them in Word and save them as `.docx`.

- **Other formats**: Excel, CSV, PowerPoint and images can't be uploaded. Copy their content into a Textual training, or export it to one of the three formats.

## Scans and PDFs made of images

The system ignores images and charts, and the text inside images. A PDF made with a scanner or from a photo contains only images: the system finds no text in it and the file turns out unreadable.

To tell, open the PDF and try to select a word with the mouse. If it doesn't select, it's an image.

- Use the original file, for example the Word document the PDF was made from.
- Or run the scan through a program with text recognition (OCR) and upload the result.
- For a few pages, copy the text into a Textual training.

## Error messages

| Message | Why | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| “Unsupported format: PDF, DOCX and TXT are allowed.” | The file isn't in one of the three formats. | Convert it, or copy the text into a Textual training. |
| “The file exceeds the maximum size of 26 MB.” | The file is too large. | Split it into several files, or remove images and attachments. |
| “Unable to read this file.” | There is no text to extract from the file: a scan, an image or a password-protected file. | Remove the password and upload it again; for scans, see [Scans and PDFs made of images](https://supportfast.ai/en/guide/chat-agent/training-documents.md#scans-and-pdfs-made-of-images). |
| “The file could not be read.” | A problem while reading. | Remove the file and upload it again. |
| “The character limit has been exceeded.” | With these files the agent would go over your plan's character cap. | Upload fewer files or remove the trainings you no longer need. |

## Checking and editing the extracted text

From the training's ⋮ menu, choose Edit training: “Edit Documents” opens. On the left are the files, with the Search document or text... search; on the right, the text of the selected file, which is what the agent knows. If it is empty or full of odd characters, the file needs fixing: see [Error messages](https://supportfast.ai/en/guide/chat-agent/training-documents.md#error-messages). You can also correct it by hand: remove useless parts, fix badly read tables, update a figure. Then press Train Agent. The other rules are in [Editing a training](https://supportfast.ai/en/guide/chat-agent/training.md#editing-a-training).

> **Tip**
>
> **When a document changes, replace it.** Upload the new file in a new training, then remove the old file: if it was uploaded on its own, delete its training; if it was uploaded with other files, remove it in Edit training and press Train Agent. That's why it's best to upload one topic at a time, for example the price list on its own.

## Frequently asked questions

**The agent doesn't use the information in a table in the PDF.**

Complex tables are sometimes read badly. Open Edit training, check the text and rewrite the table as a list, for example “Small car service: €180”.

## See also

- [Training: how it works](https://supportfast.ai/en/guide/chat-agent/training.md): Statuses, editing, limits and good-quality sources.

- [Training with text and FAQs](https://supportfast.ai/en/guide/chat-agent/training-text-faq.md): When a file can't be read, write the text.

- [Training from your website](https://supportfast.ai/en/guide/chat-agent/training-website.md): Your website pages, always up to date.