Handling Duplicate Filenames During Upload

Last updated: February 23, 2026

Fixing Upload Failures Caused by Duplicate Filenames

Quick answer: If your upload is failing or files appear to be missing after upload, check whether any files in your batch share the same filename. Mary treats files with identical names as duplicates and silently skips them. Rename the duplicate files on your computer before re-uploading.

Tip: If you're trying to find specific information in your documents, Fact Explorer may be the fastest route. Ask Mary a direct question and she'll find the answer with full source references -- no scrolling required. Look for the Fact Explorer tab on your matter.

What Is Happening

When you upload a batch of files, Mary checks the filenames of each document. If two or more files have exactly the same name, the system assumes they are duplicates and only processes one copy. The other files are skipped without an error message.

This can cause two problems:

  • Uploads that stall partway through (for example, stuck at "Step 2 of 3")

  • Fewer documents in your matter than you expected, because some were silently skipped

Why This Is Common

Duplicate filenames are especially common when exporting from document management systems like iManage. Email exports often produce files with identical subject-line filenames, such as:

  • RE: Claim Update.msg (appearing 4 times for 4 different emails in a chain)

  • Medical Report.pdf (used as a filename for multiple different reports)

  • Attachment.pdf (a generic name assigned by some email clients)

This also occurs with files exported from practice management systems and files received from third parties who use generic naming conventions.

How to Fix It

Before you start: You will need to rename files on your local computer. This does not affect the original files in your document management system.

  1. Open the folder containing the files you want to upload.

  2. Sort by filename to identify duplicates. On Windows, click the "Name" column header. On Mac, click "Name" in Finder's list view.

  3. Rename any duplicates so each file has a unique name. A simple approach is to add a number or date suffix:

    • Medical Report.pdf becomes Medical Report - Dr Smith 2024.pdf

    • RE: Claim Update.msg becomes RE: Claim Update - 15 Jan.msg

  4. Upload the renamed files to Mary. All files should now be processed.

Checking That All Files Were Processed

After uploading, check the document count on your matter. If it matches the number of files you uploaded, all documents were accepted. If the count is lower, some may have been skipped due to remaining duplicates or other issues.

Known Limitations

Current limitation: Files with duplicate names are not currently handled on the platform. To process both files, the names will need to be changed so they are not the same. Mary will notify you if duplicate filenames are found when uploading.

We understand that renaming files manually is not ideal, particularly for firms with strict document handling protocols. We are working on improving how Mary handles files with identical names so that this manual step is no longer necessary.

Uploading and processing documents consumes credits at a rate of approximately 1 credit per page. If you upload a batch, discover missing files, and re-upload with corrected filenames, only the newly uploaded files will consume additional credits.

If This Doesn't Resolve Your Issue

  1. Confirm that you have renamed all duplicate filenames, not just some

  2. Check for files with identical names but different extensions (e.g., Report.pdf and Report.PDF) -- these may also be treated as duplicates

  3. If uploads continue to fail after renaming, the issue may be unrelated to filenames. See our article on generic upload failures, or contact support@marytechnology.com with a screenshot of the error and the number of files in your batch