Frequently Asked Questions

PaperLens reads confusing documents for you. Got a letter from the IRS, your landlord, or your insurance company and have no idea what it means? Upload it — AI reads every line and tells you in plain English: what the document is, what you owe (if anything), the deadline, and exactly what to do next. No lawyer, no guessing.

Yes. A free account protects your workspace and gives you a monthly upload allowance. No credit card is required to start.

Pretty much anything that comes in an envelope and stresses you out. IRS and tax notices, medical bills, lease agreements, insurance denials, parking tickets, court letters, eviction notices, debt collection letters, student loan notices, employment contracts, and more. If it looks scary and official, PaperLens can decode it. A small number of content categories are prohibited — see the Content Policy section below for details.

Choose whichever source is easiest: take a photo, upload a supported document or audio file, paste a public URL, or paste text directly. Processing time depends on file size and format.

Image quality matters. Keep the page flat, include every edge, use even light, and check that small text is readable. Blurry photos, glare, handwriting, and shadows can reduce accuracy.

You get: a plain-English headline ("You owe $340 by March 15"), an urgency level (Critical / High / Moderate / Low), the exact deadline if there is one, and a clear action — pay, respond, file, or archive. No fluff, no lawyer speak.

Yes — the Free plan gives you 6 document uploads and 15 AI chat messages every month at no cost. No credit card required, ever. Upgrade to Pro only if you need more uploads, permanent document storage, or email deadline reminders.

Pro Monthly ($4.99/mo) gives you 60 uploads, 200 AI chat messages, permanent Vault storage, results in 26 languages, folder organization, and email deadline reminders. Pro Yearly ($39/yr — just $3.25/month) bumps uploads to 75 and chat to 300, plus priority AI and early access to new features. That's less than the cost of one late fee.

Yes. The free plan is permanent — not a trial. You get 6 uploads and 15 chat messages every month, forever, at no cost. When you want more, upgrade anytime.

Yes. Cancel from account settings — no hoops, no phone calls. You keep Pro access until the end of the billing period you already paid for, then the subscription simply stops.

We don't refund partial billing periods. If we ever close your account without a valid reason, you'll get a prorated refund for any unused time.

Yes. Your document is sent over an encrypted connection, analyzed by AI, and the result is returned to you. We don't read it ourselves. All stored data is encrypted at rest. We don't sell your data, ever.

Uploads are tied to an account-protected workspace. Free-plan documents are retained for seven days and then deleted automatically. Pro plans provide longer-term Vault storage, subject to the retention terms in the pricing and privacy pages.

No. Your documents are never used to train any AI model — ours or anyone else's. They're used only to generate the analysis you asked for, then that's it.

Never. We don't sell, share, or rent your personal data to anyone for any reason. Full stop.

Go to Settings → Danger Zone → Delete Account. Your account is queued for permanent deletion within 48 hours (so you have time to cancel if you change your mind). After 48 hours, everything is gone — documents, analysis, account — permanently.

If you're privacy-conscious, cover those specific numbers with your finger or a sticky note before photographing. PaperLens doesn't need your full SSN to decode what a letter means. We're also building on-device redaction that will blur sensitive numbers before anything leaves your phone.

Accuracy varies with the source, scan quality, layout, and language. Always compare the output with the original before taking action on legal, medical, or financial matters. PaperLens is a first read, not the final authority.

PaperLens can read documents in any language and give you the summary in your language. Supported output languages include English, Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Arabic, Korean, Thai, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Japanese, Chinese, and 13 more. Set your preferred language in Settings — every summary and chat reply will follow automatically.

It can happen, especially with unusual formatting or faded text. Always compare the summary with your original document. For anything with legal or financial consequences — a court date, a payment deadline, a lawsuit — verify directly or consult a professional.

It can handle neat, printed-style handwriting reasonably well. Cursive or messy handwriting is hit-or-miss. For important handwritten documents, type out the text and use the "Paste text" option instead — you'll get a more reliable result.

No. PaperLens explains what a document says — it doesn't tell you what you're legally required to do. For anything involving a court, a lawsuit, or a significant financial penalty, talk to a lawyer or CPA.

PaperLens is a document management tool — not a general content platform. The following are prohibited: pornographic or sexually explicit material (unless it's a legitimate business document with a clear administrative purpose, like a health-services invoice); hate speech or content targeting people based on race, religion, gender, or other protected characteristics; threatening or harassing content; dangerous content such as instructions for weapons; and child sexual abuse material (CSAM), which is a zero-tolerance violation. Political propaganda designed to spread disinformation is also prohibited, though ordinary government and political documents (election notices, policy papers, official correspondence) are perfectly fine to analyze.

PaperLens uses automated AI safety filters to screen all uploaded content before processing. If your document was rejected, it was flagged as potentially containing prohibited content. Automated filters aren't perfect — medical records, legal filings, and clinical documents sometimes trigger false positives. If you believe your document was wrongly blocked, email support@paperlens.co with a brief description and we'll review it within 5 business days. No scan credit is charged for a blocked upload.

Yes — for document management purposes. Official government notices, election commission letters, campaign finance records, policy documents, legislative bills, and other political correspondence are all legitimate documents that PaperLens can analyze. What's prohibited is content whose sole purpose is to spread electoral disinformation or manipulate public opinion through deception. PaperLens analyzes political documents factually and objectively — the AI does not take political positions or editorialize.

You'll see a clear error message explaining that the content couldn't be processed under our content policy. No scan credit is deducted. The rejected content is not stored anywhere on our servers. If it's a one-off, no action is taken against your account. Repeated or severe violations may lead to a warning, temporary suspension, or — for zero-tolerance violations like CSAM — immediate permanent account termination and reporting to the relevant authorities.

Yes, when they have a clear document-management purpose — contracts, invoices, tax forms, compliance notices, and similar business documents from any industry, including adult entertainment, can be analyzed on PaperLens. What's prohibited is pornographic imagery or sexually explicit media content itself. A contract is a contract regardless of the industry it comes from.

Absolute zero tolerance. Any attempt to upload, process, or transmit child sexual abuse material (CSAM) results in immediate permanent account termination, mandatory reporting to NCMEC (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children) and/or relevant law enforcement under applicable law, and full cooperation with any investigation. There are no exceptions and no appeals for CSAM violations. This is non-negotiable.

Your Vault is a private, encrypted library of every document you've uploaded and saved. Each document keeps its full AI summary, urgency rating, deadline, and action — all searchable, all accessible from any device. Think of it as your personal "confusing mail" archive that actually makes sense.

After uploading a document with a deadline, set a reminder with one tap. On that date, you'll get an email with a quick recap of what the document says and what you need to do — no app to open, no notification to configure. Email reminders are a Pro feature.

Every document gets a color-coded urgency tag automatically: Critical = act today, High = act this week, Moderate = act this month, Low = informational only, Skippable = safe to ignore. One glance tells you how worried to be.

Yes — after analysis, open document chat and ask focused questions such as “Which dates are mentioned?” or “What does the renewal section say?” Free accounts get 15 chat messages per month; Pro plans include higher limits.

Yes. Two ways: set a global language in Settings (applies to all future uploads), or open any document and switch the language just for that one. Your chat replies automatically follow the same language.

Yes. Go to account settings and export all your vault data as a JSON file anytime — it's your data.