Perplexity Spaces: Organize, Collaborate, and Research with Ease

Perplexity Spaces is a powerful feature within Perplexity AI, designed to help users organize research, collaborate seamlessly, and conduct tailored searches. Whether you’re working solo on a personal project or collaborating with others on an extensive research project, Spaces offers the tools to create a customized knowledge hub with both web-based and personal file searches. Here’s a closer look at how Spaces works and how to make the most of its features.



What Are Spaces?

Spaces in Perplexity allow users to organize their Threads and files by topic or project, making it easy to manage and collaborate on research. You can create a Space for each project, topic, or interest and invite collaborators to join. With Perplexity Pro or Enterprise Pro, you also have the option to upload files, conduct file-based searches, and leverage the power of advanced AI to tailor responses based on both web and personal sources.


Key Benefits of Using Spaces

  1. Organized Research Spaces enable you to keep Threads organized, grouping them by project or topic. This organization helps you access past research, revisit previous queries, and build on existing knowledge without losing track of important information.
  2. Seamless Collaboration You can invite others to join your Spaces as viewers or collaborators. Collaborators can add new Threads or ask follow-up questions, creating a shared workspace. Perplexity Pro users can invite up to 5 collaborators, while Enterprise Pro users have no limit on collaborators.
  3. File Uploads for In-Depth Analysis Pro and Enterprise Pro users can upload files to their Spaces for use in tailored searches. These files remain in the Space until removed, providing an efficient way to cross-reference documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentations. For each Space, Perplexity Pro users can upload up to 50 files.
  4. Flexible Search Sources Spaces allow you to choose your search sources, including:
    • Web: For traditional web-based responses.
    • Files: For responses based solely on your uploaded files.
    • Web + Files: For a comprehensive response that combines insights from both the web and your files.

Creating and Using a Space

Creating a Space in Perplexity is simple:

  • Navigate to Spaces: On the left side of the Perplexity interface, click on “Spaces.”
  • Create a New Space: Click “Create a Space,” enter a title, and add a description if desired.
  • Choose AI Model (Pro and Enterprise Pro Users): Select your preferred AI model, and enter any custom instructions for specific responses.

Once your Space is set up, you can start new Threads by typing questions into the query box. You can select search sources, attach additional files temporarily for specific Threads, and toggle Pro Search for deeper insights.


Advanced File Management in Spaces

File Upload vs. File Search

  • File Upload: This feature allows you to attach up to five files directly to a query in a Thread. These files are only temporarily available and are deleted after 30 days.
  • File Search (Spaces): Files uploaded directly to a Space remain there permanently until manually removed. This setup allows for ongoing use in searches, making it easy to access and search through stored documents.

Supported File Types

Perplexity Spaces supports various file types, including Excel (XLSX), PowerPoint (PPTX), Word (DOCX), PDF, and CSV files. Each file can be up to 25 MB in size, providing flexibility for comprehensive file-based research.


Collaborating in a Space

Adding collaborators to a Space is straightforward:

  1. Invite Collaborators: Open the Space, click “+ Invite” in the top right corner, and enter the email address of the person you’d like to invite.
  2. Manage Permissions: Viewers can access the Space, while collaborators can create new Threads or contribute to existing ones.

For Enterprise Pro users, unlimited collaborators can join each Space, while Perplexity Pro users can invite up to five.


Practical Use Cases for Perplexity Spaces

  • Academic Research Students and academics can use Spaces to organize lecture notes, summarize course materials, and consolidate research articles. For example, a student could upload files from lectures and assign a Space to a particular subject to help streamline exam preparation.
  • Professional Research Spaces provide professionals, such as marketers and legal researchers, with a platform to gather and analyze documents. A legal team, for instance, can organize case files in a Space and conduct searches that draw from both web sources and case documents for thorough insights.
  • Code Analysis and Debugging For developers, Spaces allow the storage of coding documents and project notes, enabling AI-assisted code interpretation. Spaces can analyze uploaded code snippets or development plans, making it a valuable tool for troubleshooting and optimizing code.
  • Project Planning Professionals planning projects, like business trips or home renovations, can use Spaces to store relevant documents and research findings. For example, a project manager can upload and cross-reference travel itineraries, packing lists, and vendor proposals for a well-organized approach.
  • Daily News Briefing For those who want to stay informed, Spaces can be used to organize news topics and provide balanced views on current events. By setting up a Space for news aggregation, users can ask follow-up questions and access tailored summaries on key topics.

Getting the Most Out of Spaces with Pro Search

For users needing more than a basic answer, Pro Search offers in-depth insights, drawing from an expanded range of sources. Free users get limited Pro Searches, while Pro subscribers benefit from over 300 Pro Searches daily. With Pro Search, Spaces become a powerful resource for extensive research and data-driven decisions.


Security and Privacy in Spaces

Perplexity takes data security seriously:

  • Controlled Access: All production data is protected by internal access controls and authentication tools.
  • Data Privacy: Usage data is anonymized, and files uploaded to Spaces are retained for seven days unless removed earlier.
  • Data Protection: Files and Threads in Spaces remain private to individual users or invited collaborators, and Enterprise Pro accounts ensure that data is never used for AI training.

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How to Use Perplexity Spaces

Perplexity Spaces is a powerful feature for organizing, studying, and collaborating on class materials and projects. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make the most out of Perplexity Spaces.

1. Create a Knowledge Hub for Your Class

To get started, set up a dedicated Space for your class:

  • Access Spaces: Click ‘Spaces’ from the left-hand menu in Perplexity (available to Perplexity Pro users).
  • Add Sources: Click ‘Add Sources’ on the right to upload course materials, notes, and syllabi.
  • Custom Instructions: Add specific instructions like “explain answers in an ELI5 way” by clicking ‘Add Instructions’ above the Space. This Space becomes a tailored resource for the course, organizing all materials in one place.

2. Ask Questions Directly from Your Class Material

Easily retrieve answers and summaries from your uploaded materials:

Example Queries:

  • “Summarize the main points from Week 5’s lecture.”
  • “What was the solution to Exercise 2 from Homework 1?”
  • “Compare the solutions to Questions 2 and 5 from Homework 1.”
  • “What are the key topics I should focus on for the upcoming midterm?”

These questions enable you to access your study materials quickly and efficiently.


3. Get Help from the Web

If you need additional resources, Perplexity Spaces allows you to expand beyond your materials by searching the web:

Example Queries:

  • “Find a set of online flashcards for each chapter in our syllabus.”
  • “Locate practice problems for Week 6 that align with covered chapters.”
  • “Suggest articles related to Week 6 of the syllabus to help with my project.”

This feature is perfect for supplementing your notes with external resources like tutorials, articles, and practice problems.


4. Create a Study Guide

Perplexity Spaces can generate study guides and schedules from your uploaded materials to help you prepare for exams:

Example Queries:

  • “Create a custom study guide for our midterm next week based on the syllabus (Weeks 1 to 6).”
  • “Generate a study schedule for the final exam based on my uploaded materials.”

With this, you can focus your preparation, breaking down study topics day-by-day.


5. Collaborate on Group Projects

Spaces also make collaboration easy. Share your Space with team members for group projects, allowing everyone to access and contribute to shared materials and plans:

Example Queries:

  • “Create a project plan for Exopt2 with task division and deadlines.”
  • “Summarize key steps to finish our Exopt1 group project on time.”
  • “Draft an outline for our Exopt2 presentation with suggestions on who should cover each section.”

Perplexity Spaces allows teams to work together smoothly, providing a shared workspace for organization, discussion, and planning.
By organizing class materials, accessing web resources, and creating collaborative Spaces, Perplexity Spaces becomes an essential tool for managing academic work and group projects efficiently.


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