---
sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/platform-administration

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Enable indexing of attachments for an indexed source

# Enable indexing of attachments for an AI Search indexed source {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Australia
* 
* Updated July 15, 2026
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read

Configure an indexed source attribute to enable indexing of content from attachments found on records from an indexed source.

## Before you begin

Role required: ais_admin

## About this task

By default, AI Search indexes searchable content and metadata (such as file size and date) for attachments found on source table records. Indexing supports the following attachment file formats:

* Active Server Page Extended (.aspx)
* Email Message (.eml, .msg)
* Extensible Markup Language (.xml)
* Hypertext Markup Language (.html, .htm)
* Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx)
* Microsoft PowerPoint (.pot, .potx, .ppt, .pptm, .pptx)
* Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx, .dot, .dotx)
* Plain Text (.txt)
* Portable Document Format (.pdf) with searchable text

{#enable-attachment-indexing-ais__attachment-formats-ul}  
Note:  
The maximum file size for binary files is 25 MB. Keyword indexing processes up to the first 1MB of text. Use semantic search to index data containing between 1MB and 25 MB of text.  
AI Search provides limited support for encrypted record attachments:

* When indexing an encrypted attachment, AI Search extracts metadata such as the attachment file's size and date, but it doesn't extract searchable content.
* The encrypted attachment's MIME type is detected as application/octet-stream.
* No feedback for the encrypted attachment appears in ingestion log messages.
{#enable-attachment-indexing-ais__ul_w4y_hvy_2nb}  
Attachment indexing is controlled by an indexed source's index_attachments attribute:

* true (default value): Attachments are indexed for records from the indexed source.
* false: Attachments aren't indexed for records from the indexed source.
{#enable-attachment-indexing-ais__ul_mvt_wyk_rwb}

The following procedure explains how to make sure this attribute is set to true for an indexed source. For more general instructions on defining indexed source attributes, see [Create an indexed source attribute in AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/v__9nxLThHLlrEWmv_yDOg "Define an indexed source attribute to configure the AI Search content indexing behavior for all records on a source table.").

## Procedure

1. Navigate to AllAI SearchAI Search IndexIndexed Sources.
2. Open the indexed source that you want to verify or change attachment indexing for.
3. In the Advanced Configuration related list, check for an index_attachments attribute with value false.  
   Note:  
   If no index_attachments attribute exists in the related list, or the attribute exists with value true, attachment indexing is already enabled for the indexed source. No further steps are required.
4. Open the index_attachments attribute and change its value from false to true.

## Result

Attachment indexing is enabled for the indexed source.

## What to do next

If you changed the index_attachments attribute's value from false to true, reindex content for the indexed source. For details on reindexing, see [Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bwrBDfHjTH51BUWqtnLaOg "Make content from an internal indexed source searchable by performing a full table index. This procedure indexes existing records from the source table and any child tables configured for indexing. You can manually reindex content from an internal indexed source by repeating this procedure.").

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