Name and sort with AI

A scan called “Scan, 27 Oct 2026” is hard to find later. AI naming reads a document, gives it a clear title such as “Electricity bill, October 2026”, sets its type so it lands on the right shelf, and adds a short summary and key facts.

What it is

AI naming sends a document’s recognised text to our AI provider and gets back:

a short, specific title (a title you typed yourself is never replaced)
the document’s type (receipt, bill, contract, medical, ID document and so on), which decides its shelf under Sorted by Paperwise
a few tags, a one-paragraph summary and key facts

There are three ways to use it, and each one only ever covers what you chose:

Way	What it covers	Where
Name and file with AI	One document, or the documents you select	Document → Ask, or Select → More
Name and sort new scans	Items you add on this iPhone after you turn it on	Account → AI helper
Name N existing documents with AI…	Documents already in your vault that AI hasn’t named	Account → AI helper

Without AI, Paperwise still sorts what it can: ID cards, notes, cards, photos and files go on their shelves by what they are. AI adds the type for everything else, like scans of letters and bills.

When to use it

You scan a lot and want each scan named and shelved without typing.
You imported a pile of old PDFs and want them sorted once.
One document got a vague title and you want a better one.

Step by step

Name one document

Open the document and tap Ask in the toolbar.
Tap Name and file with AI.
If this is the first AI action on this document in this app session, a notice appears. Tap Continue, or Cancel to send nothing.
The document shows “Paperwise is reading this…” and then its new name, type, summary and key facts.

To name several at once, long-press a document card to start selecting, tick the others, tap More and choose Name and file with AI. One notice covers the whole selection. Documents marked Never send to AI, and cards, are skipped.

Turn on Name and sort new scans

Open Account → AI helper.
Turn on Name and sort new scans.
An alert asks “Name and sort what you add from now on?” and explains: “The text of each scan, note, file, shared item and email you add on this iPhone from now on is sent to our AI provider to name it and put it on a shelf. What’s already in your vault isn’t sent.” It goes on with what our provider may keep, and that documents set to “Never send to AI”, and Hidden ones, are never sent.
Tap Turn On. This also turns on the AI helper if it was off.

From then on, each new scan, note, imported file, item saved to Paperwise from another app, and forwarded email that arrives on this iPhone is named in the background. You don’t see a notice for each one: the alert you accepted is the notice.

It never sends:

documents that were already in your vault when you turned it on
items that arrive by sync from your other devices
items you take out of Hidden later
a document where you tapped Cancel on an AI notice (that choice is remembered for the document)
copies you make with Duplicate, Split or Merge
anything in Hidden or marked Never send to AI
anything already of a protected type (IDs, medical, bank and tax papers). So an ID card scan is never named automatically. A new paper scan has no type until AI reads it, so this doesn’t keep a new bank or medical letter away from AI.

Right before each request, Paperwise checks again that the item is still waiting for a name and isn’t Hidden, protected or marked Never send to AI. To name a protected document, ask for it on that document with Name and file with AI; it gets its own notice.

When AI names a new scan as an ID, a medical paper, a bank statement or a tax paper, it becomes protected at once, and the document shows a banner once: “This looks like an ID. Move it to Hidden?” (or a medical document, a bank statement, a tax document). Tap Move to Hidden or Not now. See Protected documents, Never send to AI and Hidden. If AI got the type wrong, fix it with ••• → Change type….

Turning Name and sort new scans off stops it at once: items still waiting to be named automatically aren’t sent.

Name your existing documents

Open Account → AI helper and make sure the AI helper is on. When some documents haven’t been named by AI, a row reads Name N existing documents with AI…, with the number.
Tap it. A notice asks “Name N existing documents with AI?”: “The text of these N documents is sent to our AI provider, one at a time, to name and sort them.” It goes on with what our provider may keep, and that Hidden and “Never send to AI” documents, and ones you declined before, aren’t included.
Tap Continue. Paperwise names them one by one in the background and shows “Naming N documents”.

The count leaves out cards, and notes and files you’ve already given your own title. It never includes protected documents (IDs, medical, bank and tax papers), such as ID card scans; name those one at a time with Name and file with AI on the document.

Free and Pro

AI naming is part of Pro. On Free, Name and sort new scans shows a Pro tag and opens the plan screen, and Name and file with AI shows (Pro). Shelves themselves are free for everyone.

Naming has its own limit: up to 100 documents a day, separate from the 20 AI actions a day used by Ask, Extract and the rest. If you reach it, naming pauses and picks up where it left off after the reset. See AI limits and usage.

Privacy

Privacy: Naming sends the document’s recognised text, its page count and your language setting to our server, which passes the text to our AI provider (OpenAI) and stores nothing. Requests go with storage turned off and no user or install identifier. OpenAI doesn’t train on API data but may keep requests for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring.

With Name and sort new scans on, what you add is sent without a notice each time. Paperwise learns what a paper is only from this, so a new scan of a bank statement or a medical letter is sent like any other; only items already of a protected type, such as ID card scans, are skipped. If you add papers you’d rather keep from AI, mark them Never send to AI, save them straight to Hidden, or turn the setting off first. Documents named by AI show the small AI badge. See What AI sees and keeps.

Tips

Rename a document yourself at any time by tapping its title. AI naming never overwrites a title you typed.
If a document lands on the wrong shelf, run Name and file with AI again after improving its text with Read handwriting.
“Name and sort new scans” is set per iPhone. Turn it on separately on your iPad if you want it there too.

What if…

What if a new scan wasn’t named?

Check that Name and sort new scans was on when you added it, that the item isn’t marked Never send to AI or of a protected type (ID card scans always are), and that you didn’t cancel an AI notice for it. Items that arrived by sync aren’t named automatically; use Name and file with AI on them.

What if it says “Paperwise couldn’t read this document”?

The naming request failed. Tap Retry next to that message on the document. The AI notice appears again if needed.

What if I don’t see “Name N existing documents with AI…”?

It appears only with Pro, the AI helper on, and at least one document that AI hasn’t named and that you haven’t declined.

What if the title changed but I liked the old one?

Tap the title to rename it. Your title is kept from then on.