---
title: Administering files globally
---

> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).

An interface for global-level administration of files stored by the system is located in the **System** application on the **Files** tab. This part of the administration interface is divided into the following tabs.

## Test tab

On the **Test** tab, you can perform a test that verifies the administration application's access to the file system. The test consists of the following steps:

1. Creation of a testing folder and file
2. Modification of the testing file
3. Deletion of the testing folder and file

Click **Test files** to perform the test.

## Attachments tab

On the **Attachments** tab, you can find a list of page attachments stored by the system. Using the **Site selector**, you can either choose a site and view all page attachments on the site, or choose **(all)** to view all page attachments on all websites in the system.

If there are 25 or more page attachments (or a different number set by means of the _CMSDefaultListingFilterLimit_ _web.config_ key), a filter is displayed above the grid. Using the filter, you can filter displayed attachments by their name, extension, size or depending on if they are stored in the database.

Depending on the values of the **Store files in** setting in **Settings -> System -> Files**, the system allows you to perform different page attachments management actions.

Use the two drop-down lists below the grid. In the first drop-down list, you can select:

- **Selected files** – performs the action for files selected using the check-boxes in the grid.
- **All files** – performs the action for all listed files.

Then you can select the required action from the second drop-down list and click **OK**.

- **Copy to database** – copies the attachment to the database. This action is only displayed if the attachment is stored only in the file system while settings are configured for files to be stored both in the file system and in the database.
- **Delete from database** – deletes the attachment from the database. This action is only displayed if the attachment is stored both in the file system and in the database while settings are configured for files to be stored only in the file system or to be stored both in the file system and in the database.
- **Copy to file system** – copies the attachment to the file system. This action is only displayed if the attachment is stored only in the database while settings are configured for files to be stored only in the file system or both in the file system and in the database.
- **Delete from file system** – deletes the attachment from the file system. This action is only displayed if the attachment is stored both in the file system and in the database while settings are configured for files to be stored only in the database.

![Administering files - managing page attachments](https://docs.kentico.com/docsassets/13/administering-files-globally/managing_document_attachments.png "Administering files - managing page attachments")

### Clearing the attachment search content

The Xperience [attachment search](https://docs.kentico.com/13/configuring-xperience/setting-up-search-on-your-website/searching-attachment-files.md) feature allows users to search the text of attachment files along with the content of pages. The application stores the text extracted from page attachments in the database. When rebuilding page indexes, the search loads the "cached" attachment text from the database. The system only processes the file text directly for attachments that do not have any search content saved.

Click **Clear attachment search cache** in the header of the **Attachments** tab to remove the search content from the database for all attachments.

This allows you to rebuild your page indexes correctly in the following scenarios:

- After you apply a hotfix or upgrade that changes how the search indexes attachment files
- If you modify the functionality of a [custom search text extractor](https://docs.kentico.com/13/configuring-xperience/setting-up-search-on-your-website/searching-attachment-files/adding-custom-search-text-extractors-for-files.md)

## Metafiles tab

On the **Metafiles** tab, you can find a list of metafiles stored by the system. Based on selection in the **Site** drop-down list, you can select:

- **(all)** – displays all metafiles stored by the system.
- **(global)** – displays metafiles of global, i.e. not site-related objects.
- **** – displays metafiles of site-related objects belonging to the selected site.

Using the **Object type** drop-down list, you can further limit which metafiles will be displayed. By selecting **(all)**, you get all metafiles that match the selection in the drop-down list above. The other options in the drop-down are particular object types, while choosing one displays only metafiles of these objects that match the selection in the drop-down list above.

If there are 25 or more metafiles (or a different number set by means of the _CMSDefaultListingFilterLimit_ _web.config_ key), a filter is displayed above the grid. Using the filter, you can filter displayed metafiles by their name, extension, size or depending on if they are stored in the database.

In the **Actions** column in the grid, action icons are displayed depending on the **Store files in file system** and **Store files in database** settings in **Settings -> System -> Files**. The displayed actions are the following.

Depending on the values of the **Store files in** setting in **Settings -> System -> Files**, the system allows you to perform different metafiles management actions:

Use the two drop-down lists below the grid. In the first drop-down list, you can select:

- **Selected files** – performs the action for files selected using the check-boxes in the grid.
- **All files** – performs the action for all listed files.

Then you can select the required action from the second drop-down list and click **OK**.

- **Copy to database** – copies the metafile to the database. This action is only displayed if the metafile is stored only in the file system while settings are configured for files to be stored both in the file system and in the database.
- **Delete from database** – deletes the metafile from the database. This action is only displayed if the metafile is stored both in the file system and in the database while settings are configured for files to be stored only in the file system or to be stored both in the file system and in the database.
- **Copy to file system** – copies the metafile to the file system. This action is only displayed if the metafile is stored only in the database while settings are configured for files to be stored only in the file system or both in the file system and in the database.
- **Delete from file system** – deletes the metafile from the file system. This action is only displayed if the metafile is stored both in the file system and in the database while settings are configured for files to be stored only in the database.