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How do I complete a collection?

Walk through the Upload Portal to share emails, bank records, files, AI chat history, social media, and phone data.

The Upload Portal guides you through sharing each type of data your legal team requested. You work through a numbered checklist of sources, completing each one in any order. This article explains the portal layout and each source type; detailed articles are linked from each section.

Open the Upload Portal

There are two ways to access the Upload Portal.

As a custodian, click the link in the invitation email you received, or go directly to upload.usehearsay.com and enter the extraction code provided by your legal team.

As an account holder, open the case in your Hearsay account, go to the Collection Requests tab, and click the Portal button next to the custodian's request.

The guided plan

When you open the portal, you see a numbered checklist of every data source your legal team requested.

Upload Portal landing page with numbered checklist

The landing page shows a badge reading "RECORDS REQUEST" and the heading "You have been asked to share the following." Each source appears as a numbered card. Sources that require a Mac or Windows computer (Social Media and Cell Phone Data) show a Computer only badge.

Click Start to begin with the first source.

First-visit walkthrough

The first time you open the portal, a walkthrough modal explains how the process works.

First-visit modal explaining the three main concepts

The modal covers three points: your legal team requested specific information for your matter, you go through the steps to share each type, and you decide exactly what to send. Use Skip in the header to pass any step that does not apply to you. Click Get started to begin.

Navigating between sources

The header shows your current source with a counter (for example, "1 / 6") and a dropdown you can use to jump to any step.

Header showing the step dropdown with all sources listed

Use Skip source to move past a step you want to come back to later. Once you complete or add data to a source, the header button changes to Next source.

Emails

Select your email provider (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, iCloud Mail, or Other Email) and sign in to connect your account. You can then search for specific emails or import in bulk.

Email provider selection screen

For detailed instructions, see How do I complete an email collection?

Bank Records

Click Connect Bank Account to securely link your bank through Plaid. Plaid typically provides up to two years of transaction history. If you need older records, download PDF statements from your bank and upload them in the Files step.

Bank records screen with Connect Bank Account button

For detailed instructions, see How do I collect financial records?

Direct File Upload

Upload any documents your legal team requested. If your team listed specific files, you see a checklist where you can attach files to each item. You can also drop files that are not on the checklist.

File upload checklist with requested documents

For detailed instructions, see How do I upload files?

AI Chat History

Select your AI platform (Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini), export your chat history from that provider, and upload the .zip file.

AI Chat History screen with provider selection

Social Media

This step requires a Mac or Windows computer. Select a platform (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or LinkedIn), request a data export from that platform, then download and upload the file using the Hearsay Extractor desktop app.

Social media platform selection screen

For detailed instructions, see How do I collect social media data?

Cell Phone Data

Cell phone collection requires a Mac or Windows computer and takes about an hour. The portal walks you through choosing your device, checking storage, and downloading the Hearsay Extractor.

Start the collection

Click Start Cell Phone Collection on the Cell Phone Data card.

Cell Phone Collection landing card

Choose your device

Select iPhone / iPad (iOS 8+) or Android Phone / Tablet (Android 10+).

Device selection screen with iPhone and Android options

Check your storage

The portal checks that your computer has enough free space for the collection.

iPhone / iPad: Enter both your phone storage (found in Settings, then General, then iPhone Storage) and your computer storage. The portal calculates whether your computer has enough space based on your phone's data size.

iPhone storage check with phone and computer fields

Android Phone / Tablet: Enter your computer storage only. You need at least 25 GB of free space.

Android storage check with computer storage fields only

When the check shows "You're good to go," click I'm ready.

Confirm you are prepared

Tick all three checkboxes on the "Almost ready" checklist: have a USB cable handy (one that transfers data, not charge-only), have your phone passcode ready, and set aside about one hour of uninterrupted time. Click I'm ready, next step.

Almost ready checklist with three confirmation items

Download the Hearsay Extractor

The portal detects your computer type and recommends the correct download. Click the download button for your computer. If you are using a different computer, select Mac (Intel) or Windows.

Download the Hearsay Extractor screen with detected computer type

Follow the on-screen instructions to install the app: double-click the downloaded file, drag the Hearsay icon into the Applications folder, and open it from Applications.

Installation instructions for Mac

Start the phone backup

Copy the extraction code displayed on the portal and paste it into the Hearsay Extractor app to begin.

Waiting screen with extraction code to paste into the Extractor

Follow the instructions in the desktop app to complete the phone collection. For detailed step-by-step guidance, see How to run an iPhone backup or How to run an Android backup.

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