📌 General rule
👉 1 billed document = 1 indexed file
File size has no impact on the calculation: a 2 KB file counts the same as a 10 GB file.
Some specific formats are however excluded from the count (see below).
📂 Folders (directories)
Folders are indexed and counted.
Why? Because they carry essential metadata: structure (hierarchy), access permissions, folder name, and overall context.
👉 In practice:
A folder counts as 1 document, just like a file.
Example:
A BTP folder containing 3 files → 👉 4 billed documents
(1 folder + 3 files)
🆓 Indexed but not counted formats (free)
Some files are indexed to enable search, but are not included in the billed volume.
Format | Extension | Details |
Binary files / data | .dat, .bin | Indexed for search, but excluded from calculation |
✅ This list is exhaustive.
📩 Indexed but not counted items (non-file) – Emails and messages
Emails and messages are indexed in dedicated indexes (Mails, Messages) to be searchable.
However:
Emails (Outlook, Gmail, etc.)
Messages (Slack, Teams, etc.)
❌ Are not considered files
❌ Therefore are not counted in the billed volume
🔎 Special cases:
PST archives (Outlook mailboxes)
A .pst file contains emails and attachments.
Applied counting:
1 document for the PST file
1 document per extracted attachment
0 document for the emails contained
Example:
A PST containing 100 emails and 20 attachments → 👉 21 billed documents (1 PST + 20 attachments)
MSG / EML files
Same logic:
1 document for the MSG/EML file
1 document per extracted attachment
0 document for the email content
ZIP / RAR archives
Applied counting:
1 document for the archive itself
1 document per file contained in the archive (including subfolders)
Example:
A 2 GB RAR file containing 500 files → 👉 501 billed documents (1 archive + 500 files)
🚫 Non-indexed files (and therefore not counted)
Some files are never indexed:
Hidden files (name starting with . on Unix/Mac)
Temporary Office files (~$, ~*.tmp)
OneDrive placeholders (files not locally synced)
These elements are therefore not included in billing.
📝 Summary
Type | Indexed | Counted |
Classic files (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, etc.) | Yes | Yes |
Folders | Yes | Yes |
.dat, .bin | Yes | No |
Emails / messages | Yes | No |
Archives (PST, ZIP, RAR, etc.) | Yes | Yes (1 per archive + 1 per contained file) |
Attachments | Yes | Yes |
Excluded system files | No | No |
If you have any doubts about a specific case, you can contact Outmind support for clarification on the counting rules.