How can contracts be uploaded in the system?

The screenshots in this article show the German interface. Where a button or field matters, the German label is given in brackets so you can match text to screenshot.

Contracts reach ContractHero in three ways: as a record without a PDF, as an upload of one or more PDF files, or from a contract template. This article walks through the upload route, including the text-recognition language, the category and the main-contract/attachment hierarchy.

What's in it for you

A contract that is uploaded properly saves you hours of rework later. The right text-recognition language means the data is read correctly, the right hierarchy (main contract with attachments) is what makes reporting usable at all, and the right category gives the contract the right visibility in your team. Knowing the options avoids the most common source of support tickets: contracts filed incorrectly, which then never turn up or land with the wrong team.

How it works

1. Start the upload

In the left sidebar, click the blue "+ New contract" button („+ Neuer Vertrag") — it is available from every page in ContractHero.

The dropdown gives you three routes:

Without PDF („ohne PDF") — you create a contract record with no document attached. Useful when you only want to capture the master data first and add the PDF later.
Via upload („via Upload") — you upload one or more PDF files. The most common route.
Via template („via Vorlage") — you create the contract from a contract template („Vertragsvorlage") in your account.

The steps below describe the via upload („via Upload") route, because it is the one used most often.

2. Choose the text-recognition language

After you click "via upload" („via Upload"), the "Add contracts" dialog („Verträge hinzufügen") opens. At the top you will see the "Text-recognition language" selector („Sprache der Texterkennung") — set to "Latin script" („Lateinische Schrift") by default. That covers German, English, French, Spanish and more than 40 further languages written in Latin script.

This option appears if you have booked the corresponding package. Talk to the CX team if you need this function.

For other writing systems, the following packages are available:

Chinese & Japanese („Chinesisch & Japanisch") — Chinese (simplified & traditional), Japanese
Cyrillic („Kyrillisch") — Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian
Arabic („Arabisch") — Arabic, Persian (Farsi), Urdu
Devanagari (Hindi) — Hindi, Marathi, Nepali
Korean („Koreanisch"), Greek („Griechisch"), Thai („Thai")

Choose the right package before uploading, so that text recognition extracts the contract content cleanly.

3. Upload the PDF

In the dialog you will find a blue-outlined area labelled "Select contracts in PDF format or drag them in here" („Verträge im PDF-Format auswählen oder hier reinziehen"). Two ways work:

Drag & drop — drag one or more PDF files straight from your file browser into the area.
Click to select — clicking the area opens File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (macOS). Select one or more PDFs.

Above the drop area, the "Secure SSL encryption" notice („Sichere SSL-Verschlüsselung") confirms that the transfer is encrypted.

4. Set the category and the hierarchy

After the upload, a confirmation screen opens listing all selected files. There are two things you can still adjust before saving:

Assign a category — the default is the "Other" category („Sonstiges"), or whichever default category is set in your account. Clicking the category label opens a list of every category set up in your account (e.g. lease agreement, employment contract, NDA).
Create a main contract with attachments — the "Several contracts into one contract" toggle („Mehrere Verträge zu einem Vertrag") lets you define one of the uploaded contracts as the main contract; the others are automatically assigned to it as attachments. Handy for renewals, side agreements and terms & conditions annexes.

5. Finish the upload

Confirm the upload. ContractHero analyses the documents automatically — the first fields (contract partner, term, amounts) typically appear in the contract overview within one to two minutes. The AI analysis carries on in the background; once it has finished, the contract's status changes from "being analysed" („analysiert wird...") to "analysed" („analysiert").

Common questions

Which file formats are supported?
Currently PDF only. Word documents, images and other formats have to be converted to PDF before uploading. For scanned PDFs (image-only PDFs), ContractHero handles the text recognition automatically — for those, make sure you choose the correct text-recognition language („Sprache der Texterkennung").

Can I import contracts by email at the same time?
Yes. Every team has its own import address under Settings → Import & Export → Email import („Einstellungen → Import & Export → Import via E-Mail"). Incoming emails with a PDF attachment automatically land as new contracts. For details, see Related articles.

How do I import many contracts at once?
For bulk imports (e.g. an initial data migration) there is the XLS import („XLS-Import"): you upload master data and PDFs together as a spreadsheet.

What happens if the contract is in several languages?
Text recognition runs with one writing system per upload. If a contract mixes Russian and English, for example, choose the package that covers the bulk of the document. Content in the other writing system is still stored as an image — only full-text search and field recognition are limited for that part.

What does an upload cost?
Uploads themselves are not limited within your plan. Limits apply to the number of active contracts in the account — you can see where you currently stand under Settings → Organisation details → Organisation limits („Einstellungen → Details zur Organisation → Organisationslimits").

How do I change the category after uploading?
Open the contract, click the category pill at the top and choose a different category. Team visibility adjusts automatically to the new category.

Good to know

"+ New contract" is always within reach. The button („+ Neuer Vertrag") sits in the left sidebar and works from any screen — no detour via the contract list needed.
"Several contracts into one contract" („Mehrere Verträge zu einem Vertrag") only works if you select several PDFs in the same upload session. To add attachments afterwards, use the linking function on the contract that already exists.
Changing the text-recognition language later: it is set at upload time and cannot be changed directly afterwards. If you picked the wrong one, delete the contract and upload it again.
PDF quality: clean AI analysis is easier when the PDF actually contains text rather than just a scan. With pure image scans, analysis takes slightly longer because ContractHero runs OCR first.
Full-text search (OCR): after the upload, the contract content is searchable via full-text search — even if the PDF started life as a scan.

Updated on: 08/26/2026

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