Paperless-ngx: Turn Your Paper Into a Searchable, Self-Hosted Archive

TL;DR

• Paperless-ngx is a community-supported document management system that turns your physical paper into a searchable online archive, so you can keep less paper around.
• It is an independent open-source project (GPL-3.0) maintained by the Paperless-ngx community, NOT by Navanem. This is a community spotlight. Source: github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx.
• It scans, indexes and archives documents, with OCR and full-text search so you can find any file by its contents.
• You self-host it, and the easiest way to deploy it is with Docker Compose using the project's install script.

What is Paperless-ngx?

Paperless-ngx is a document management system that transforms your physical documents into a searchable online archive so you can keep, well, less paper. You feed it your scans, it processes them, and it stores them so you can search and organize from a web interface. A live demo is at demo.paperless-ngx.com with the login demo / demo (demo content is reset frequently and confidential information should not be uploaded there).

It is the official successor to the original Paperless and Paperless-ng projects, designed to share the responsibility of advancing and supporting it across a team rather than a single maintainer, which is why it is described as community-supported. A full list of features and screenshots lives in the official documentation.

A note on this page: Paperless-ngx is an independent open-source project maintained by the Paperless-ngx community. It is NOT built by Navanem. We are spotlighting it here as a useful self-hosting tool for anyone who wants to get their paper documents under control. All credit goes to its maintainers and contributors. If you find it useful, the best way to support the project is to star it and get involved on GitHub.

How do documents get into Paperless-ngx?

You point a document scanner or your existing scans at the system and it takes over from there. Because scanners are typically used for sensitive paperwork (tax records, invoices, identification numbers and the like), the project is explicit that this is software you run yourself rather than a cloud service you hand your documents to. Once a document lands in the system, it is processed into your archive instead of living as a loose PDF or a stack of paper on a desk.

How does search work?

The core idea is that every document becomes searchable. Paperless-ngx transforms your physical documents into a searchable online archive, so you are not hunting through folders by filename. The documentation covers the full feature set, including how documents are indexed so you can retrieve them by what is written inside them rather than by where you happened to file them.

How do you self-host it?

The easiest way to deploy Paperless-ngx is with docker compose. The files in the project's `/docker/compose` directory pull the image from the GitHub container registry. To get going quickly, the project provides an install script you can run directly:

bash -c "$(curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx/main/install-paperless-ngx.sh)"

Guides for alternative installation methods are in the setup documentation. If you are coming from Paperless-ng, migrating is described as easy: drop in the new Docker image, with detail in the migration documentation.

Is it safe to expose to the internet?

The project is direct about this. Paperless-ngx should never be run on an untrusted host, because information is stored in clear text without encryption. The maintainers make no guarantees regarding security (though they do try) and you use the app at your own risk. Their guidance is that the safest way to run it is on a local server in your own home with backups in place. Treat that as a real constraint when planning a deployment.

Why feature Paperless-ngx?

Self-hosted document management quietly removes a recurring chore: instead of a filing cabinet or a chaotic Downloads folder, you get one searchable archive you control. Paperless-ngx stands out because it is community-supported, openly developed under GPL-3.0, and built to outlive any single maintainer, which matters for software you expect to keep records in for years.

FAQ

Is Paperless-ngx made by Navanem?

No. Paperless-ngx is an independent open-source project maintained by the Paperless-ngx community, released under the GPL-3.0 license. Navanem did not build it and is not affiliated with it. We are spotlighting it as a useful tool. The project lives at github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx.

What is the relationship between Paperless, Paperless-ng and Paperless-ngx?

Paperless-ngx is the official successor to the original Paperless project and to Paperless-ng. It continues that work as a community-maintained project so that support and development are shared across a team rather than resting on one person.

Can I try it before installing anything?

Yes. A demo is available at demo.paperless-ngx.com using the login demo / demo. Demo content is reset frequently, so do not upload confidential information to it.

Where do I get it?

From the official GitHub repository at github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx. Documentation is at docs.paperless-ngx.com.