How to Analyze PDFs and Files with AI

Upload PDFs, documents, spreadsheets, images, and code to AI, then ask focused questions without overloading the model’s context window.

What You Can Upload

Gab AI can analyze and work with a wide variety of files. Uploading a file gives the AI direct access to its contents, so it can summarize, analyze, answer questions about, or transform the information inside.

How It Works

When you upload a file, Gab AI reads its contents and includes them in the conversation context. This means the AI can "see" everything in the file and respond to questions about it — just like a colleague reading a document you handed them.

How to Upload Files

Uploading is simple — click the paperclip icon in the composer, select your file, and then type your prompt. The key is pairing your file with a clear instruction about what you want the AI to do with it.

  1. Click the paperclip icon — In the bottom-left of the chat composer, click the paperclip (attachment) button. You can also drag and drop files directly into the chat.
  2. Select your file — Choose one or more files from your device. You'll see a preview of the attached file above the text input.
  3. Write a clear instruction — Tell the AI exactly what you want it to do with the file. Don't just upload a file with no context — always include a prompt.

Working with Images

AI vision capabilities let you analyze photos, screenshots, charts, and more. The AI can describe what it sees, extract text, identify objects, read handwriting, and even analyze data from charts. Great uses for image uploads:

Pro Tip

For screenshots and text-heavy images, make sure the text is legible. Crop to the relevant area rather than uploading an entire screen if you only need the AI to focus on one part.

Document Upload Best Practices

Documents like PDFs and text files are incredibly useful for AI analysis, but there's an important concept to understand: the context window. Here's how to get the best results when working with documents:

  1. Be selective about what you upload — If you only need information from pages 5-10 of a 200-page document, extract those pages first. Uploading the entire document wastes context space and can reduce the quality of responses.
  2. Ask focused questions — Instead of "tell me about this document," ask targeted questions like "What are the three main conclusions in the results section?" The more focused your question, the better the answer.
  3. Break large tasks into steps — For complex documents, work through them in stages. First ask for a summary, then dive into specific sections with follow-up questions.
  4. One file per topic when possible — If you're comparing two documents, it can help to upload them one at a time with specific comparison prompts rather than uploading everything at once.

What's a Context Window?

The context window is the total amount of text the AI can "hold in mind" at once — your file contents, your prompt, and the conversation history all share this space. Think of it like a desk: the bigger the document you spread out, the less room there is for everything else.

Avoiding Context Overload

One of the most common mistakes with file uploads is overloading the context window. When you stuff too much information in, the AI's quality drops — it may miss details, give vague answers, or lose track of your instructions. Signs you're overloading context:

Rule of Thumb

If your uploaded files plus your conversation history exceed the model's context limit, the oldest parts get trimmed. Keep uploads focused and conversations on-topic to maintain quality.

Writing Effective File Prompts

The prompt you pair with a file upload is just as important as the file itself. Here's a formula that works well: The formula: What the file is + What to find/do + How to format the output