Uploading Sources to Memo

A practical guide for Memo v8 and beyond.

Written By Jason From Memo

Last updated 21 days ago

Memo lets you attach source material to any deck so your flashcards and study outputs are based on your own content. You can add PDFs, YouTube videos, website links, and pasted text in one place.

We are working hard to support more modalities or file types - feel free to leave feedback to our feedback board for more file type supports!

Before you start

  • Open your deck and go to the Sources panel.

  • Click Add source.

  • Add one or more sources, then wait until each one shows Ready.

Memo currently supports:

  • PDFs

  • YouTube videos

  • Website URLs

  • Pasted text

You can mix source types in the same deck.

Step-by-step

  1. Open the deck you want to work in.

  2. Go to the Sources panel.

  3. Click Add source.

  4. Add one or more sources:

    • Upload a PDF

    • Paste a YouTube link

    • Paste a website URL

    • Paste text directly

  5. Wait until each source finishes processing and shows Ready.

  6. Select the sources you want Memo to use before you generate content or ask Copilot a question.

Adding each source type

PDF

  1. Open Add source.

  2. Drag in a PDF or choose one from your device.

  3. If needed, click Split pages to keep only specific pages.

  4. Confirm the upload.

YouTube

  1. Open Add source.

  2. Choose the YouTube option.

  3. Paste a valid YouTube link.

  4. Confirm the source.

Tip: Videos with captions or usable transcripts usually give better results.

Website

  1. Open Add source.

  2. Choose the website option.

  3. Paste the full URL, including http:// or https://.

  4. Confirm the source.

Pasted text

  1. Open Add source.

  2. Choose the text option.

  3. Optional: enter a source name.

  4. Paste your text.

  5. Confirm the source.

Managing source selection

Memo does not force you to use every source in a deck for every run.

Before you generate flashcards, notes, tests, or other Studio outputs, choose the ready sources you want to include. The same selection also affects Copilot retrieval.

This is useful when you want to:

  • generate from only one lecture or one reading

  • compare two sources without using the whole deck

  • exclude unfinished or irrelevant material

Source statuses

  • Uploading: the source is still being sent to Memo.

  • Queued: the job is waiting to start.

  • Processing: Memo is extracting and preparing the content.

  • Ready: the source can be used in Studio and Copilot.

  • Error: the source did not finish processing successfully.

Important notes

  • Only Ready sources can be used reliably for generation and Copilot.

  • Text sources currently support up to 100,000 characters.

  • You can rename or delete many sources from the source menu.

  • Some older legacy decks may still show legacy primary-source items. If you see one of those, its behavior can be slightly different from a fully multi-source deck.

FAQ

Can I mix PDFs, YouTube videos, websites, and text in one deck?

Yes. A deck can contain multiple source types at the same time.

Can I upload only part of a PDF?

Yes. Use Split pages before you finish the upload.

Why is my source not being used yet?

The source probably is not Ready yet, or it is not selected in the Sources panel.

Why can’t I delete a source?

The source may still be processing, or you may be looking at a legacy source in an older deck setup.