Documents, Files, Templates, and Notes — which is which
Documents, Files, Templates, and Notes — which is which
Four items in your sidebar sound like they could all hold the same thing. They do not, and knowing which is which stops you looking in the wrong place.
The one-line version
| Place | Holds | Comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Files | Raw uploads — scans, photos, PDFs, exports | You uploaded it |
| My Documents | Documents you have filled, are filling, or have signed | my-id.ca produced it |
| Templates | Ready-made document layouts you fill in | Provided in the library |
| Notes | Free text | You typed it |
Files
Everything you upload lands here: the photo of your licence, the PDF the landlord emailed, the CV you imported from.
Files are stored, not understood. A scan of a passport is a picture; the passport number in it is not a field my-id.ca can autofill from until you extract it. (The AI assistant will do that extraction for you — see Ask the assistant about your own data.)
Files count against your storage quota.
My Documents
The output side. When you fill a PDF, complete a form, or sign something, the result is a Document with a state — draft, in progress, completed, signed — and a history of versions.
The Dashboard counts these: total, completed, in progress, drafts, signed.
This is the honest answer to "where's the copy of the thing I sent them?"
Templates
A library of ready-made document layouts. Each template collects the fields one particular kind of document needs, grouped into tabs.
The important part: filling a template is filling your profile. Templates and Personal Information are two views of the same data — one organised by document, one by category. Nothing is duplicated and nothing needs syncing.
See Using the template library.
Notes
Free text, private, instantly searchable within the Notes page. Case numbers, questions for an appointment, a running list.
The important limit: autofill cannot read notes. Anything you write down that you will be asked for on a form should move into your profile as a structured field. See Notes: capture anything, find it later.
And your profile, underneath all four
Your profile is not in this list because it is not a container — it is the source. Templates fill from it, Fill PDF fills from it, autofill fills from it, the assistant answers from it.
The mental model:
Profile = the facts. Templates = the document-shaped views of those facts. Documents = the results. Files = the paperwork you were given. Notes = everything that does not fit the other four.
Deciding where something goes
- Someone sent me a PDF to complete → upload it (File), fill it, keep the result (Document).
- I photographed my ID → File, then extract the numbers into your profile.
- I want to know what a document will ask me → open its Template and see what is blank.
- A clerk gave me a reference number over the phone → Note.
- I will be asked this on forms forever → profile field, not a Note.
Related
Frequently asked questions
- I uploaded a PDF to fill. Is that a File or a Document?
- Both, in sequence. The PDF you uploaded is a File; the filled result my-id.ca produced is a Document. That is why you sometimes see the same form name in two places.
- Do I create my own templates?
- No. The Templates area is a provided library of document layouts. You fill in the ones that apply to you, and what you type is saved into your profile.
- Why can't autofill use my notes?
- Autofill reads structured fields — a labelled value it can match to a form field. A note is free text with no structure, so there is nothing to match. Move anything reusable into your profile.