Foldr for iOS: file basics
This article covers everyday file operations in the Foldr for iOS app. Each section is a single task; jump to whichever applies.
Getting started
Once you’ve signed in, the app opens to the Foldr tab and shows the shares your administrator has made available to you. Tap any item to open it; tap a file to preview it. The My iPad / My iPhone tab holds files saved to the device for offline use.
Each preview opens with a control bar across the top. Share, download, convert, annotate. Some controls (sharing, public links) are policy-controlled and may be hidden by your IT administrator.
The Action menu at the top of the file list is your starting point for most operations: ADD FILES, CREATE FOLDER, SELECT, SORT BY, and HELP.
The QuickAdd button is the orange floating button. Tap it for the camera, document scanner, Whiteboard, or web shortcut. Tap-and-hold to launch the camera directly.
Personal mode vs Shared mode
The first time the app is launched it asks which mode to install in. The mode determines how the app handles login state and locally stored files, and it cannot be changed afterwards. Switching modes requires removing and reinstalling the app.
Pick Personal mode for a device that’s used by one person. Whether an organisation-issued device or a personally owned one. Login details are retained, multiple account profiles can be saved for fast switching between Foldr installations, and the app can sign in automatically. Pin / passcode and Touch ID protection are available, and files saved to the My iPad / My iPhone area persist until the user removes them.
Pick Shared mode for pool devices. IPad carts in classrooms, lab devices, anything that passes between users through the day. Only the standard login screen is available, no account profiles are saved, and the My iPad / My iPhone area is wiped automatically when the user signs out or quits the app, so the next user starts from a clean state.
| Personal mode | Shared mode | |
|---|---|---|
| Retain login details after sign-out | Yes | No |
| Save multiple account profiles | Yes | No |
| Automatic sign-in | Yes | No |
| PIN / passcode protection | Yes | No |
| Touch ID protection | Yes | No |
| Files stored locally on the device | Persist until deleted | Wiped on sign-out |
| Retain server address | Yes | No |
Managing multiple accounts
In Personal mode you can store and switch between multiple sign-ins. Useful for testing, working across organisations, or being part of a multi-school trust where each site has its own Foldr appliance.
The first time you launch the app you set up your first account. To add another:
- Sign out.
- Tap the cog icon on the sign-in screen, then Login and Accounts.
- Tap + and enter the server address, username, and password.
You can also disable Log in automatically here. To switch between saved accounts later, long-press the user icon on the sign-in screen.
(Shared mode doesn’t save accounts.)
File operations
Create a folder. Action menu → CREATE FOLDER, enter a name.
Rename a file or folder. Tap the action button next to the item, choose Rename, enter the new name.
Delete a file or folder. Tap the action button next to the item, choose Delete.
Move files or folders. Action menu → SELECT, tap each item you want to move, choose Move, then navigate to the destination and tap MOVE HERE.
Full-screen preview. With a file open, tap the full-screen icon at the bottom right of the preview panel.
Uploading from your device
From the file list, tap the Action menu → ADD FILES. Two options follow:
Files on the device. Tap UPLOAD FROM THIS DEVICE, select the files, and tap UPLOAD. A copy of each file is uploaded to the current folder.
Photos and videos from the Camera Roll. Tap UPLOAD FROM CAMERA ROLL. Select the items and tap DONE. They’ll upload to the current folder.
Bulk selection. Long-press an item in the picker and drag across to select multiple at once. Or tap the ellipsis at the top right of the picker and choose SELECT ALL (the same menu offers Deselect All).
Sending files to and from other apps
iOS apps can send files into Foldr through the standard share sheet. From any app, tap the share icon, scroll to find Foldr in the list, and choose a destination in Foldr to save to.
To send a Foldr file to another app, open the file’s preview, tap the share icon, then choose the target app. The file is imported into that app, where you can edit it normally.
Saving for offline access
Open the file’s preview and tap the download icon at the top right. The file is copied into the My iPad / My iPhone tab and stays accessible without a network connection.
Camera and scanner
Take a photo or video. Tap the QuickAdd button (or tap-and-hold to launch the camera directly), pick PHOTO or VIDEO, capture, and tap Use Photo / Use Video. The result is saved to the folder you launched the camera from. Not to the device camera roll.
Scan a paper document. From QuickAdd or the Action menu, choose the document scanner. Hold the device’s camera over the document. The edges are detected automatically and shown in blue. Tap the capture button. You can then crop, rotate, and adjust contrast before saving as PDF or JPEG.
Document editing and annotation
Editing Microsoft Office documents
Foldr can hand Office documents off to the Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint app for editing, and save back to the original location automatically.
Requirements. The relevant Office iOS app must be installed and signed in with a Microsoft account that permits editing. Your administrator must also have enabled the Microsoft Office (Desktop) service in Foldr Settings. If it’s off, the Edit with Office button is hidden.
On iPad. Tap the document in the Foldr app to preview it, then tap Edit with Office in the top menu bar. The matching Office app opens with the document ready to edit. When you’re done, tap the back arrow (top left). The document closes and is uploaded back to the original location. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint each have their own coloured Edit-with-Office button.
On iPhone. The flow is the same, but Edit with Office lives in the ellipsis menu (top right) of the preview rather than the top bar.
Creating a new Office document. Browse to the folder where the file should live, then long-press the QuickAdd button to see all options (a short tap shows only four. These are customisable in Edit). Pick Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, name the file, tap Create, and use Edit with Office immediately.
If the network drops mid-edit. The Office app handles upload retry itself. Close the document as normal, and the file uploads when the connection returns. Keep the Office app open or in the foreground until that’s happened.
Converting a file to PDF
Any file Foldr can preview can be converted to PDF. Open the preview and tap the PDF icon at the top of the panel.
Annotating PDF files
The Foldr app’s built-in PDF annotation toolkit was removed in Foldr for iOS 4.10.6 (July 2021). Two replacement paths now work:
iOS Markup (built into iOS, no extra app). Browse to the PDF in Foldr, tap Share (or ellipsis → Export on iPhone), and tap Markup. Use the annotation tools at the bottom of the screen, then Done > Save PDF to and pick a destination back inside Foldr.
PDF Viewer (free third-party app, full annotation toolkit). Install PDF Viewer from the App Store. Make sure the Foldr app is signed in. Then, in PDF Viewer, enable Foldr as a location once: ellipsis menu → Edit Sidebar → enable Foldr → Done. Open Foldr from the sidebar, browse to a PDF and tap to open it. The top toolbar carries annotation, bookmark, search, and page-filter tools (long-press a tool with a chevron for variants). Save back by tapping Documents (top left). The file is written back to its original location. Or use Share to save it elsewhere in Foldr.
Whiteboard
Whiteboard is Foldr’s built-in document-creation tool. Sketch, write, embed photos and audio, and save the result as a PDF. It’s intended for lesson plans, class notes, mind maps, and similar interactive documents.
Launch Whiteboard from the QuickAdd button or the Action menu. Whiteboard documents are saved with a .foldr.pdf extension and can be reopened in the Foldr app or in any standard PDF editor.
The tool palette includes:
- Text tools. Highlight, underline (straight or squiggly), strikethrough. Use the colour picker for hue and opacity.
- Text boxes and arrows. Useful for labelling diagrams or annotating images. Arrow direction and box size are adjusted with the green handles.
- Saved signatures. Store one or more signatures in the app for quick reuse.
- Comments. Collapse longer feedback into a tap-to-open marker so the page stays clean.
- Drawing. Pen and highlighter with adjustable colour, opacity, and thickness.
- Shapes. Square, circle, straight line, multi-point shapes, multi-point lines (with custom start and end caps).
- Eraser. Remove pen and highlighter strokes.
- Media. Insert a photo (saved or live), built-in stamps, or a sound recording captured with the device’s microphone (useful for verbal feedback).
- Selection. Group, regroup, or move multiple annotations at once.
- Undo / Redo.
Protecting the app with a passcode or Touch ID
When the app is installed in Personal mode you can set up app-level locking from the cog icon on the sign-in screen.
Choose either a 4-digit standard passcode or a 5+ character complex passcode. By default the passcode is requested when the app is first launched; if backgrounded, it isn’t asked for again. To require the passcode every time the app comes to the foreground, enable Lock On Wake.
On compatible devices Touch ID can be used instead of, or in addition to, the passcode.
If you forget the passcode, the only recovery is to remove and reinstall the app.