--- title: "Formats & Access" description: "Supported file formats, emails and attachments, and access control for data pools" canonical_url: "https://meingpt.com/en/docs/integrations/data-pools-rag/formats-and-access" language: en --- # Formats & Access Which file formats a data pool makes searchable, and who can access a data pool. Setup and configuration of a data source: [Data Sources & RAG](/en/docs/integrations/data-pools-rag). ## File formats Well supported are all formats that primarily consist of text: - Office documents: DOCX, PPTX, ODT (OpenDocument Text) - Spreadsheets: XLSX and XLS (with caveats, see below), and CSV - PDF - Email files: EML and MSG (see "Emails and attachments" below) - TXT, Markdown, RTF, EPUB, HTML **What gets skipped during sync** - **File extensions not listed here.** Only the formats above are made searchable. Files with other extensions (for example `.json`) are **not** added to the data pool during sync - they appear neither in the file list, nor as an error in the Sync Logs, nor in the count of skipped files. If an expected file is missing, check its extension against the list above first. - **Image files.** PNG, JPG and other image formats are not on the list and are skipped by default. Images *inside* documents are read, however - how that works, how to lay images out for it, and how an image becomes visible in chat is covered in [Images in a data pool](/en/docs/integrations/data-pool-images). - **Encrypted or rights-managed PDFs.** If a PDF file is password-protected or carries a rights-management (DRM) profile, MeinGPT can't read its content or make it searchable. Remove the password protection, or export the document without the DRM restriction, before adding it to the data pool. - **Excel tables are a special case.** When splitting documents into searchable chunks (a process called chunking), the table context gets lost - a single data row without its column headers often no longer makes sense. For calculations, analyses, and visualizations from Excel files, use the [Code Sandbox](/en/docs/platform/code-sandbox) instead. It processes the original file directly. **OneNote workaround.** OneNote files are currently not indexed directly because the format is proprietary. Workaround: export OneNote content regularly via [Make](/en/docs/integrations/make-integration) or [n8n](/en/docs/integrations/n8n), as PDF or text. The exported files can then be connected like any other source. **OneNote notebooks don't show up in the sync status - not even as "skipped".** Like every unlisted file type, OneNote notebooks and sections appear neither in the file list, nor in the Sync Logs' error messages, **nor** in the count of skipped files (see [Indexing progress](/en/docs/integrations/data-pools-rag/search#indexing-progress)). If the connected SharePoint source also contains other supported files, those still index normally - so the sync status can show something like "1 indexed - No errors" even though the OneNote notebook itself never made it into the index. A clean sync status is therefore **not** proof that OneNote content is searchable. Check the data source's file list directly for the files you expect, or use the export workaround described above. ## Emails and attachments You can place email files in **EML** (open standard) and **MSG** (Outlook) format directly into a data pool. The subject, sender, recipients, and message body are extracted and made searchable. Both formats are supported equally - you do **not** need to convert MSG to EML beforehand. **Attachments inside email files are a special case.** For smaller emails, the content of attachments (e.g. a PDF) is read and indexed. For larger emails, attachments are reduced to their filename for performance reasons - their content is then **not** searchable. If you want a PDF attachment indexed as reliably as a PDF that sits directly in the data pool, also add the attachment as its own file to the data pool. ## Access control A newly created data pool starts out **private to its creator** - nobody else has access automatically, not even through a linked assistant. To give others access, share the pool explicitly: with individual users, a team, or workspace-wide for everyone - currently always as view-only access ("Kann ansehen" in the sharing dialog). You can additionally restrict access to specific teams: create teams in the admin interface and assign them to specific data sources. This lets you control which user groups see which data. Details on creating and managing teams: [Team management](/en/docs/admin-guide/team-management). **Sharing an assistant does not override a data pool's own access restriction.** If a data pool is not shared with everyone - for example only with specific users, a team, or admins - that restriction applies regardless of who the associated assistant is shared with. A user who can open the assistant but has no access of their own to the data pool gets no hits when asking about it - the assistant may report something like "no matching documents found," even though the same data pool works normally for its creator or other authorized users. In that case, check the data pool's own sharing settings under Settings → Data sources, not just the assistant's sharing settings. Who can check that sharing setting depends on their own role: **"Settings → Data sources" is an admin area.** Only workspace admins see this menu item (under "Knowledge & integrations" in the settings) - it does not appear in a member's personal profile settings, even if that person created the assistant in question themselves. If you are not an admin, you cannot view or change a data pool's sharing settings yourself - ask an admin to check the sharing settings for the affected data pool instead. ## Next up ### [Search & Answers](/en/docs/integrations/data-pools-rag/search) How search works, release levels, citations, and the 3-stage model. ### [Sync Status & Troubleshooting](/en/docs/integrations/data-pools-rag/troubleshooting) Check connection status, spot and fix sync failures. ### [Data Sources & RAG](/en/docs/integrations/data-pools-rag) Back to the overview: setup and configuration.