---
title: "Share a document with a patient"
summary: "Upload a letter, a referral or an exercise programme to a patient's record, then share it and the patient reads it in their portal."
source: https://practor.app/en-za/help/patients-and-records/share-a-document-with-a-patient
published: 2026-10-25T11:39:46.764Z
updated: 2026-10-25T11:39:46.764Z
category: "Patients and records"
---

A document you upload stays on the practice's side of the record until you share it. Sharing puts it in the patient's portal and tells them it's there.

## Add a document

1. Open the patient and go to **Documents**.
2. Press **Add document**.
3. Give it a **Title**. Leave it blank and Practor uses the file's name.
4. Under **Type**, choose what it is. **Type** starts on **Other**.
5. Choose the **File**, then press **Upload**.

![The Add document sheet with Exercise programme chosen as the type](https://res.cloudinary.com/drmnydbcs/image/upload/c_limit,w_1600/f_auto,q_auto:good/v1/help/documents/add-document.png?_a=BAMAOGDh0#512x900 "The type is what the patient sees beside the document's name.")

**Type** is one of Letter, Referral, Lab report, Imaging report, Exercise programme, Consent form or Other.

A file can be a PDF, an image, a Word document, a spreadsheet or a text file, up to 20 MB.

| What it says | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| Upload a PDF, image, document, spreadsheet or text file. | Save the file as one of those and upload it again |
| File must be under 20MB. | Make the file smaller, or split it into two documents |

## Share a document with the patient

Each row shows the document's type, its size and the day it was added, and the line under **Documents** counts how many are on file and how many the patient can see.

Point at the document's row and press **Share**. The row then shows **Shared**, and the shared count goes up by one.

The patient gets a notification that reads "<your practice> shared a document with you", with the document's title under it. The document appears under **Documents** in their records, marked **New** until they open it, and they can read it there or download a copy. They can only see it once they have portal access, which [Invite a patient to the portal](/help/patients-and-records/invite-a-patient-to-the-portal) covers.

Practor records each share in the patient's access log, with who shared it and when. [Who can see your records](/help/patients-and-records/who-can-see-my-records) explains the log from the patient's side.

![The documents list, with an exercise programme shared and a referral kept on file](https://res.cloudinary.com/drmnydbcs/image/upload/c_limit,w_1600/f_auto,q_auto:good/v1/help/documents/practice-list.png?_a=BAMAOGDh0#1128x259 "Stop sharing shows when you point at a shared row.")

## Stop sharing a document

Point at the row and press **Stop sharing**. The document leaves the patient's portal and stays on file at the practice. A copy the patient already downloaded stays with them.

To share it again, press **Share** on the same row. The patient is notified again, as if it were new.

There's no button to delete a document. **Stop sharing** is how you take one out of the patient's view.

## Who can add and share documents

Adding and sharing documents needs the practice owner's role. Anyone else who opens **Documents** sees **You cannot see these documents** and **Ask a practice owner if you need access.**

[See your medical records](/help/patients-and-records/see-your-medical-records) shows what the patient sees once a document is shared.

## Related

- [Invite a patient to the portal](/help/patients-and-records/invite-a-patient-to-the-portal)
- [See your medical records](/help/patients-and-records/see-your-medical-records)
- [Record an encounter](/help/patients-and-records/record-an-encounter)