---
title: How Do I Work With Several Documents at Once?
description: Learn how to select several files or folders in Document Center and move, delete, or change permissions on them in one step.
---
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# How Do I Work With Several Documents at Once?
This article shows you how to select several folders or files in Document Center and act on all of them at once: change permissions, move, or delete. Owners and Org Admins can use these bulk actions from the **Browse** tab.
##### **When would you use this?**
- You are reorganizing and want to move a dozen scanned forms into a new folder in one step.
- Several top-level folders should become visible to all members, and you want to set them to Member read together.
- An old set of files or folders is no longer needed and you want to remove it in one pass.
##### **Select the Items**
1. Click **Document Center** in the left nav, then open the folder that holds the files you want, or stay at the top level to work with folders.
2. Tick the checkbox at the start of each row you want. To select everything in a table, tick **Select all folders** or **Select all files**. Folders and files have their own select-all checkboxes. Tick the same box again to clear the selection.
3. Click **Actions** in the toolbar. The menu adds actions for your selection, with the number of selected items in parentheses.
##### **Bulk Actions Available**
- **Change permissions (N):** appears when you select top-level folders. Choose Admin only, Member read, or Public, then click **Save changes**. A message confirms "Updated permission on N folder(s)." Files and subfolders inside take the folder's new access level. The locked Email Attachments folder has no checkbox, so it is never part of a selection. For what each level means, see [How Do I Set Permissions on a Document Center Folder](https://help.hoastart.app/how-do-i-set-permissions-on-a-document-center-folder?hsLang=en).
- **Move to… (N):** appears when you select files. Choose the destination folder in the list, then click **Move**. The window reads "The files will inherit the destination folder's permission. Name collisions in the destination auto-rename with (1), (2), etc." A message confirms "N file(s) moved."
- **Delete folders (N)** and **Delete files (N)**: appear when you select folders or files. If you select both, both appear.
##### **Delete Several Items**
**Warning:** Bulk delete cannot be undone. Deleting a folder also deletes everything inside it. Check your selection before you confirm.
1. Select the items, click **Actions**, and choose **Delete folders (N)** or **Delete files (N)**.
2. In the confirmation window, type **BULK DELETE** in the box.
3. Click **Delete**. A message such as "4 file(s) deleted." or "2 folder(s) deleted." confirms the result, and the items disappear from the list.
The files window says "Delete selected file(s)? This cannot be undone." The folders window says "Delete selected folder(s) and items contained within folder(s)? This cannot be undone. Please note that the Attachments folder and files within the Attachments folder will not be deleted." If the box is empty, Delete does not go through and the window shows "Confirmation text is required." If the text is wrong, the window shows "Confirmation text does not match." Click **Cancel** to close the window without deleting anything.
##### **Good to Know**
- Bulk actions have no bulk Rename or Download. Use the row's **Actions** button for those, as described in [How Do I Rename, Move, Download, or Delete a File in Document Center?](https://help.hoastart.app/how-do-i-rename-move-download-or-delete-a-file?hsLang=en)
- Subfolders are not offered Change permissions, because they use the permission of the folder they sit in.
- For how storage and Trash behave after you delete, see [How Do I Manage Document Center Storage Usage and Trash](https://help.hoastart.app/how-do-i-manage-document-center-storage-usage-and-trash?hsLang=en).
##### **Related articles**
- [How Do I Rename, Move, Download, or Delete a File in Document Center?](https://help.hoastart.app/how-do-i-rename-move-download-or-delete-a-file?hsLang=en)
- [How Do I Set Permissions on a Document Center Folder](https://help.hoastart.app/how-do-i-set-permissions-on-a-document-center-folder?hsLang=en)
- [How Do I Manage Document Center Storage Usage and Trash](https://help.hoastart.app/how-do-i-manage-document-center-storage-usage-and-trash?hsLang=en)
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