--- title: "Intelligent Metadata Layer in M-Files · Solution Management" url: "https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/intelligent-metadata-layer/" language: "en" description: "M-Files' Intelligent Metadata Layer finds documents by what they are, wherever they are stored, with network folders and SharePoint Online beside the vault." dateModified: "2026-10-22" --- Intelligent Metadata Layer (IML) # Every document, wherever it is stored The Intelligent Metadata Layer lets M‑Files find documents by what they are, wherever they are stored. Network folders and SharePoint Online appear beside the vault, so people search once and work in one place. Nothing has to move on day one. [Book a demo](https://solutionmanagement.eu/book-a-demo/) [All capabilities](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/) ![Illustration: a network folder, a SharePoint Online site and the M-Files vault joined to one M-Files window, where drawings are listed with their type, revision and workflow state beside the metadata card of an assembly drawing](https://solutionmanagement.eu/img/Ck2sNZz_Vy-200.webp) Connectors ## Your network folders, inside M‑Files A connector brings another repository into M‑Files. A network folder or a SharePoint Online site then shows up beside the vault, and people open, edit and find its files in the M‑Files they already use. - Edited where the file lives — A file in a network folder opens from M‑Files, and the change is saved back to the folder. - One search for all of it — A search in M‑Files covers the vault and every connected repository at once. - The same on desktop, web and phone — M‑Files Desktop, M‑Files Web and the mobile app show the documents, whichever repository holds them. ![A customer opened in M-Files to its documents, a Word agreement, a proposal, an Excel price list, a PowerPoint presentation, minutes and a PDF order, and to its emails filed from Outlook](https://solutionmanagement.eu/img/G9Gs31awU3-200.webp) At your own pace ## Nothing has to move on day one Documents can stay where they are while people start finding them through M‑Files. Each team gives its documents their details, or moves them, when it is ready. 1. ### Step 1: Connect the folders The network folder or SharePoint site is connected, and its files can be found and opened from M‑Files straight away. 2. ### Step 2: Describe what matters A document given its details, such as its type and the customer or project it belongs to, appears in views, keeps a version history and can follow a workflow. 3. ### Step 3: Move when a team is ready Documents move into the vault one department, team or person at a time, or stay where they are for good. ## See a network folder inside M‑Files [Book a demo](https://solutionmanagement.eu/book-a-demo/) ![The metadata card of a document just added to M-Files, in Draft, with the AI's suggested process area and description shown in lilac boxes under the empty fields, a suggested Keywords property as a button, and a popover open on the description asking whether to add the value, with the source of the value and a note that it was AI-generated](https://solutionmanagement.eu/img/4qZyVoKeB_-200.webp) AI in the layer ## The details suggested for you Giving thousands of old files their details is the slow part of any move. M‑Files reads each document and suggests values for the fields your administrators choose, such as the customer, the project or the document type. Each suggestion waits until a person accepts it. - Existing files in bulk — The same suggestions can run over the documents already in a connected folder, so a move starts with the details half done. - More from M‑Files Aino — Aino also answers questions from the documents and summarises them. [AI with M‑Files Aino](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/ai/) Next step ## See your documents in one place Book a demo, and we show how the layer would work with the folders and sites you have today. After that we can start quickly, with a pilot on your own documents. [Book a demo](https://solutionmanagement.eu/book-a-demo/) ## Questions about the Intelligent Metadata Layer What is the Intelligent Metadata Layer? The part of M‑Files that organises information by what it is about, whichever system or folder holds it. The vault and other repositories, such as network folders and SharePoint Online, come together in one M‑Files with one search, and the layer adds AI that suggests metadata. It arrived with M‑Files 2018. Do we have to move our documents into M‑Files? No. With connectors, documents can stay in the network folder or SharePoint Online site they are in today and still be found, opened and edited from M‑Files. A document is given metadata when it needs views, a version history or a workflow, and moves into the vault only when you decide. Which systems can M‑Files connect to? Network folders and SharePoint Online are the usual ones. Each repository has its own connector, and the M‑Files Catalog lists the connectors there are. Which ones you need is settled when we plan the implementation. What changes when a document is given metadata? M‑Files starts managing it. It appears in the views it matches, keeps a version history, can be related to customers, projects and other documents, and can follow a workflow. A file without metadata can still be opened and edited from M‑Files. Can SharePoint stay? Yes. With the SharePoint Online connector, people find and manage SharePoint Online content from M‑Files without moving it. [M‑Files vs SharePoint](https://solutionmanagement.eu/resources/m-files-vs-sharepoint/) compares the two and says when to keep both. Who fills in the metadata? People do, with help. M‑Files suggests values for the fields your administrators choose, and each suggestion waits until a person accepts it. [Metadata instead of folders](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/metadata/) explains how the fields are used once they are filled in. How do we get started? With one repository and one team. We connect the folder or site, decide with you which documents get their details first, and widen from there as more teams come on board.