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Chapters
What Extractions is for
Extractions turns a set of documents into one table: each document becomes a row and each key term a column. Every value is quoted from the document itself, so you can check it in a click, and the finished table exports to CSV.
Who it's for
In-house legal teams
Reviewing a portfolio of leases, NDAs or supplier contracts for dates, amounts and obligations.
Company secretaries and entity managers
Pulling key terms from a company's or a group's documents, straight from Entity Management.
What it solves
Ten leases, one question
Find every expiry date, rent and renewal option at once instead of opening each file in turn.
Summaries you can't check
Values are quoted, never inferred. Show in document opens the file at the passage each value came from.
Retyping terms into spreadsheets
Export the finished table to CSV and carry on in Excel or Google Sheets.
How to use Extractions
Each step shows the real screen. Hover a numbered marker — or the matching note — to see what every control does.
Select the documents
Open Vault from your account menu and go to the folder that holds your documents. Tick up to ten files — the toolbar switches to selection actions — then click Extract.
- Working in Entity Management? Tick files in a company's or a group's Documents and choose Extract (N).
- Use documents with real text. Images and scanned PDFs can't be read.
On this screen
Choose a document type
In Extract key terms, open Document type and pick the kind of document you're reviewing. Its preset columns load below, ready to edit — or choose Custom columns to start from an empty list.
- The list of document types is maintained by LinkinLegal.
- Each document you selected becomes a row, and each column a term to look for.
On this screen
Adjust the columns
Each column is one term to find in every document. Rename a column by editing its box, remove one with ×, or type a new one and press Enter. Then click Extract.
- Up to 25 columns per table, each name up to 80 characters.
- Values are quoted from the document. A dash means the document doesn't state that term.
On this screen
Tip: Changing Document type replaces the column list, including any edits — pick the type first, then rename or add.
Review the table
Each document is a row and fills in as it's read. Click any cell — or move with the arrow keys — to see its full value in the bar above the grid.
- Grey bars mark values that are still being read.
- Click a header to sort A→Z, then Z→A, then back. Dates sort as dates and amounts as numbers.
- The wrap button shows long values in full.
On this screen
Check a value against the document
Hover a value and click the magnifier (Show in document). The document opens with the quoted text highlighted; pick another field on the right to jump to it.
- Every value is saved with a short quote from the document — nothing is inferred.
- Hover a document's name in the grid and click ↗ to open the file in a new tab.
On this screen
Find, rename or delete extractions
Every run is saved. Open Extractions from Vault's toolbar to see them all, with where each run's documents came from and its status; a company's or a group's sidebar lists just that entity's runs. Click a row to reopen its table.
- Deleting a run removes the table only; your documents stay in your files.
- Start an extraction takes you to Vault or Companies to pick documents.
On this screen
Step 01 / 06
Everything Extractions can do
The building blocks behind the walkthrough, and what each one does for you.
A table from your documents
Each document becomes a row and each key term a column, so ten leases or NDAs can be compared at a glance instead of opened one by one.
Quoted, never guessed
Every value is text from the document. Show in document opens the file with the quote highlighted.
Presets or your own columns
Start from a document type's preset columns, then rename, remove or add your own — up to 25.
Spreadsheet-style review
A sticky document column, arrow-key navigation, a cell inspector, wrap, and sorting that understands dates and amounts.
Export to CSV
Download the table in the current sort order, ready for Excel or Google Sheets.
From Vault or Entity Management
Start from Vault files, a company's Documents or a group's Documents.
Retry only what failed
Retry re-runs just the documents that failed or stalled, and keeps the rest of the table.
Every run kept
The Extractions page lists your runs with source, progress and status. Rename or delete any of them.
Tips for getting it right
Use documents with real text
Images and scanned PDFs can't be read. Where you can, extract from the original Word file or a text-based PDF.
Pick the document type first
Changing Document type replaces the columns, including any you've edited. Choose the type, then rename or add.
Hover a header for its hint
Preset columns carry a short description of what's being looked for. Hover the column header to read it.
Open the CSV as UTF-8
To keep Arabic or accented text intact in Excel, use Data → From Text/CSV and choose UTF-8 instead of double-clicking the file.
Leave source files in place
If you delete a document, Open and Show in document stop working for it in older tables, and Retry reports it's no longer available.
No need to wait for processing
You can extract from a file while Vault still shows it as Processing.
Statuses you'll see
Work that runs in the background always shows where it stands — here is what each label means.
- 2 of 5 documentsStill reading. Cells fill in as each document finishes.
- ReadyEvery document was read and the table is complete.
- 1 of 4 could not be readSome documents failed. Open the table to see why, and use Retry if it's worth another try.
- Could not be completedThe whole run failed. Open it and click Retry, or start a new extraction.
- Still reading this document.Shown in the cell inspector for a row that hasn't finished yet.
PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and plain-text documents in your Vault, or in a company's or a group's Documents. Images and scanned PDFs without readable text can't be read.
1 to 10 documents and 1 to 25 columns per extraction. Column names can be up to 80 characters, and an extraction's name up to 120.
No. Every value is text taken from the document and saved with a short quote you can find with Show in document. When a document doesn't state a term, the cell shows a dash.
The Document type list is maintained by LinkinLegal. You can still add, rename and remove columns for any extraction, or choose Custom columns and write all of them yourself.
Its row turns red, and the reason shows when you select it. Retry re-runs only the failed rows — it also appears if a run has made no progress for 15 minutes.
Click Export to download a CSV in the current sort order: a Document column followed by your columns. Documents that are still pending or failed export as blank cells.
Keep exploring
Related features
- Where to find it
- Vault → select files → Extract