AddSC
Troubleshooting4 min readUpdated Aug 3, 2026

Slow processing

Understand why organization takes time and what you can do while Sera works.

Overview

After Add Documents, Sera validates, extracts text, analyzes, and organizes materials. Large PDFs, image-heavy scans, and big batches take longer. Progress appears on Add Documents; Insights and What Sera Found update as work completes.

Why this feature exists

Knowing what “normal slow” looks like prevents unnecessary re-uploads that make queues longer.

Symptoms

  • Files stuck on processing for a long time
  • Timeline and Insights lag behind uploads
  • What Sera Found empty right after a batch

Likely causes

  • Large or image-only PDFs
  • Many files queued at once
  • Heavy OCR workload
  • Temporary platform congestion
  • Re-uploading duplicates into the same queue

Step-by-step

  1. 1

    Check Add Documents status

    Confirm whether jobs are queued, processing, completed, or failed.

  2. 2

    Avoid duplicate retries

    Do not re-upload the same files while the original jobs are still running.

  3. 3

    Split huge batches

    Upload the most important documents first, then continue with the rest.

  4. 4

    Prefer clearer source files

    Text PDFs process faster and more reliably than large photo stacks.

  5. 5

    Refresh Home later

    When jobs complete, refresh Home, Insights, and What Sera Found.

Best practices

  • Start with court orders and notices before bulk miscellaneous photos.
  • Keep the tab open until the batch reaches a terminal status when possible.

Productivity tips

  • Use Ask Sera on finished documents while others continue processing.

Common mistakes

  • Interpreting “still processing” as failure and flooding the queue.
  • Uploading dozens of near-duplicate photos of the same page.

When to contact support

Contact support if small supported files remain processing indefinitely while newer uploads complete normally.

Frequently asked questions

How long is too long?

Small files are often ready quickly; large scan PDFs can take longer. If a single modest file stays processing far longer than your other files, see upload failures or contact support.

Screenshots

Illustration placeholder — product screenshot coming soon.

Slow processing screenshot placeholder

Helpful links

Related articles

  • Large PDF uploads

    Succeed with big PDFs by respecting size limits, splitting binders, and allowing extra processing time.

  • Upload failures

    Recover when Add Documents fails validation, stalls, or reports a failed batch.

  • OCR problems

    Improve text extraction when scans are unreadable, empty, or poorly recognized.

  • Timeline not updating

    Get Timeline to reflect new documents and events after uploads or edits.

Was this helpful?