If you have been using Perplexity AI as a one-off search tool and closing the tab after every answer, you are missing the feature that transforms it from a search engine into a permanent research workspace. Perplexity AI Spaces is where the platform moves from answering individual questions to managing entire projects, uploading your own files, setting custom AI instructions, and collaborating with teammates, all inside one organised, persistent environment. This guide covers everything you need to know about Spaces in 2026: what it is, how it works, who it is for, and how to use it step by step from your first Space to a fully built research workflow.
Table of Contents
What Is Perplexity AI Spaces?
Perplexity AI Spaces are dedicated project workspaces within the Perplexity platform that allow you to organise research threads, upload files, set persistent custom AI instructions, and share access with collaborators, all under one project-specific environment that persists across sessions. Unlike a standard Perplexity thread that exists as a single conversation you close and potentially lose track of, a Space is a permanent knowledge hub you return to, build on, and expand over time.
Perplexity officially describes a Space as a centralised knowledge hub powered by custom AI instructions, file search, and Computer task management. The idea is that instead of starting each research session from scratch, you build a dedicated environment for each project, topic, or subject area where every query, uploaded file, and thread lives together and remains searchable.
Spaces were originally launched as a feature called Collections, which allowed users to group related pages together. Spaces advance on Collections by functioning as distinct workspaces with file integration and collaborative features, making them suitable for more complex and ongoing projects. Every Collection was automatically converted to a Space when the feature launched, and existing users found their previous organisational structures preserved.
As of 2026, Perplexity AI Spaces is available to Pro, Education Pro, Max, Enterprise Pro, and Enterprise Max subscribers. Perplexity Pro subscribers can upload up to 50 files per Space, Enterprise Pro and Max subscribers can upload up to 500 files per Space, and Enterprise Max subscribers can upload up to 5,000 files per Space. The free plan does not include Spaces. For students on the Education Pro plan, Spaces is included and is one of the most practically valuable features for managing coursework and dissertation research across a semester.
How Perplexity AI Spaces Works?
The Difference Between a Thread and a Space
To understand why Perplexity AI Spaces matters, start with what a standard thread cannot do. A thread in Perplexity is a single conversation. It has context within that session. It remembers what you asked three questions ago. But it does not carry custom AI instructions from a previous session, does not store uploaded files for future queries, and does not connect to other threads on the same topic unless you deliberately add them.
A regular thread is a single, private conversation history useful for quick lookups or one-off exchanges. A Space groups multiple threads together, allows file uploads, and applies custom AI instructions to provide a consistent persona or technical focus across all interactions within that project.
The practical consequence of this difference is significant. If you are researching a topic across multiple sessions, a standard thread workflow forces you to re-explain context with every new session, re-upload files every time you want to reference them, and manually track which previous threads contain relevant findings. Spaces eliminates all three of these problems by centralising everything in one persistent project environment.
Custom AI Instructions: The Most Powerful Setting
Every Perplexity AI Space has a custom instructions field that applies to every query run within that Space automatically. This is the setting most users overlook and the one that produces the greatest improvement in consistent output quality.
Custom AI instructions let you configure how the assistant behaves within that Space, matching the tone, domain, or reasoning style your project requires. For a dissertation research Space, you might write: “Always cite peer-reviewed sources from 2021 onwards. Use formal academic language. Format responses with clear section headings. Identify methodological limitations where relevant.” Every query in that Space inherits these instructions automatically without you typing them again.
For a business research Space, the instruction might read: “Always include market size data and source citations for statistics. Use concise professional language. Focus on India market specifics unless the query specifies otherwise.” For a content strategy Space: “Write in a conversational tone suitable for a blog audience with no technical background. Always suggest three headline options for each topic covered.”
The instruction carries forward to every thread within that Space, which means over time the Space starts behaving like a purpose-built research assistant tuned specifically to your project rather than a generic tool that needs re-briefing at every session.
File Upload and Context-Aware Search
The utility of a Space is enhanced by its ability to ingest diverse data types. Users can upload PDFs, CSVs, and text documents, or link specific websites that serve as a grounding set for the AI, allowing queries to reference uploaded content alongside real-time web search.
When you upload files to a Space, every subsequent query in that Space can draw from those files as part of its answer. Ask “What are the core risks identified in our Q3 report?” and Perplexity searches the specific uploaded PDF alongside the web, rather than generating a generic answer about quarterly risk factors. This is the capability that turns Spaces from an organisational feature into a genuine knowledge management system.
A full-text search bar within each Space lets you find past threads and files quickly, which becomes increasingly valuable as a Space grows over weeks and months of active use. Being able to search within a project for a specific finding or uploaded document without scrolling through an unorganised history is a meaningful workflow improvement for anyone doing sustained research.
Collaboration and Sharing Controls
Perplexity Pro and Max users can invite up to five contributors per Space. Enterprise Pro and Enterprise Max users have no contributor limits, though all Space contributors must be members of the organisation. You have full control over who can access or edit your Space and its contents.
Sharing permissions include three levels: private to yourself, shared with specific invited collaborators, or shareable via link. For teams doing research together, this allows a shared knowledge base where every team member’s queries and findings accumulate in one place rather than being scattered across individual accounts and email threads.
When collaborating, you can share findings, invite teammates by email, and set permissions on how access is granted. All threads appear in a unified list within the Space, and you can make individual threads private or shared within the Space.
How to Create and Use Perplexity AI Spaces: Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Access the Spaces Section
Log in to your Perplexity Pro, Education Pro, or Max account at perplexity.ai. In the left sidebar, locate the Spaces tab. It sits below your recent threads in the navigation panel. Click it to open the Spaces section. If you are using the platform for the first time, this area will be empty. If you used the old Collections feature, your converted Spaces will appear here.
On mobile, the Spaces tab is accessible from the bottom navigation bar on iOS and Android. The creation and management experience is fully functional on mobile, though the file upload and custom instruction setup is more comfortable to complete on desktop the first time.
Step 2: Create Your First Space
Click “Create a Space” or the “+” button within the Spaces section. A setup panel opens with three fields.
The first field is the Space title. Give it a name that clearly reflects the project, subject, or topic. Examples: “Dissertation Research 2026”, “Competitor Analysis Q2”, “UPSC Preparation”, “Content Strategy Edurancehub”. The name is for your own navigation and appears in the sidebar.
The second field is an optional description. Write a sentence or two describing the Space’s focus. This helps if you have multiple active Spaces and need to distinguish between them at a glance. It also helps collaborators understand the Space’s purpose when you share it.
The third field is custom AI instructions, which is the most important setup step. Write the standing instructions you want every query in this Space to follow. Be specific. Include tone, source preferences, language level, output format, and any domain-specific context the AI should always apply. The more specific your instructions, the more consistently useful the Space becomes.
Click “Save” or “Create” to finalise the Space.
Step 3: Upload Your Files
With the Space created, click “Add Sources” within the Space interface. You can upload PDFs, Word documents, CSVs, text files, and images. Pro users can upload up to 50 files per Space with a 25 MB per file limit. Max and Enterprise users have significantly higher limits.
Upload the documents most relevant to your project. For a dissertation Space, upload your literature notes, key papers, and the working draft. For a business research Space, upload your internal reports, previous analyses, and relevant market documents. For an exam preparation Space, upload lecture slides, textbook chapters, and past papers.
Enterprise users can also connect files from Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, Box, and Dropbox via App Connectors, so any member with Space access can query those synced files directly. For individual Pro users, manual file upload covers the majority of research workflow needs without requiring cloud storage integration.
Step 4: Run Your First Query Inside the Space
With your Space configured and files uploaded, open the Space and type your first query in the search bar. The query runs with your custom AI instructions already active and with your uploaded files available as context alongside the live web.
Notice the difference in response quality immediately. If your instructions specify formal academic language and peer-reviewed sources, the answer reflects that without any additional prompting. If your instructions specify India market focus and concise professional language, the answer reflects that consistently.
All queries within the Space are saved automatically as threads. They appear in the Space’s thread list in chronological order. You can return to any thread, ask follow-up questions within it, or add new threads to the Space at any time.
Step 5: Organise and Search Your Space Over Time
As your Space grows with multiple threads and files, use the built-in full-text search to find specific findings quickly. A full-text search bar lets you find past threads and files within a Space quickly. Type a keyword, concept, or phrase and Perplexity surfaces the relevant threads and documents from within that Space.
You can also add threads from your general Perplexity history into a Space retroactively. You can manually add existing threads to a Space by clicking the ellipsis menu and selecting “Add to Space.” Once added, the thread appears under the Shared Threads section and can access the Space’s files and instructions.
This retroactive organisation means you do not need to start every research session from within a Space. If you run a query in standard search and later realise it belongs in a project, you can add it to the relevant Space without losing the thread’s content.
Step 6: Invite Collaborators if Working in a Team
If your project involves teammates, click the collaborator tab within the Space settings. Enter their email addresses and assign permissions: Viewer (can read threads and files but not add queries) or Contributor (can run queries, add threads, and upload files within the Space).
After your Space is created, you can share it privately, within your organisation, or with anyone who has the link. All threads in the Space appear in a unified repository, and individual threads can be made private or deleted as needed.
For student group projects, this means all group members can contribute to the same research hub without emailing documents back and forth. For professional teams, it means research does not live in one person’s account and disappear when they are unavailable.
Key Benefits of Perplexity AI Spaces
Persistent Research That Builds Over Time
The fundamental benefit of Perplexity AI Spaces over standard threads is persistence. A standard thread captures one session. A Space captures an entire project lifecycle. Over weeks and months of active research on a topic, your Space becomes a structured, searchable knowledge base that reflects everything you have found, uploaded, and explored. This compound value is not replicable with standard threads, and it is what separates occasional AI tool use from a genuinely integrated research workflow. Every time you return to a Space, you are building on everything that came before rather than starting from a blank page.
Custom Instructions Eliminate Repetitive Prompting
Every researcher and professional who uses AI tools regularly has a set of instructions they type with every query: “use formal language”, “cite peer-reviewed sources”, “focus on India”, “keep the tone appropriate for a non-technical audience.” In a standard Perplexity thread, these instructions disappear when the session ends. In a Space, they are set once and apply automatically to every query forever. The practical time saving across hundreds of queries within a long project is substantial. More importantly, the consistency in output quality improves because the instructions are always applied rather than being occasionally remembered and occasionally forgotten.
File-Grounded Answers Instead of Generic Ones
When a user asks “What are the core risks identified in our Q3 report?” within a Space where that report has been uploaded, the AI scans the specific document while cross-referencing it with real-time market trends from the web, rather than generating a generic answer. This is the capability that makes Spaces genuinely different from any other AI search workflow. The ability to ground every answer in your specific documents rather than only in the public web transforms Perplexity from a general research tool into a personal knowledge assistant that knows your actual project material.
Collaboration Without Complexity
Sharing research across a team has traditionally meant email attachments, shared folders, and the constant problem of version control. Perplexity AI Spaces replaces that friction with a single shared environment where every team member’s queries and findings accumulate in one searchable place. Contributors can ask questions, upload documents, and review each other’s threads within the same Space without any external coordination overhead. For small teams working on research-intensive projects, this consolidation of knowledge is a practical workflow improvement over the typical combination of Google Drive, Slack, and email that most teams use for collaborative research.
Perplexity AI Spaces vs Threads vs Collections: Comparison Table
| Feature | Standard Thread | Collections (Old) | Perplexity AI Spaces (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persistence | Session-based | Permanent grouping | Permanent workspace |
| Custom AI Instructions | No | No | Yes, per Space |
| File Uploads | Yes (session only) | No | Yes (50 to 5,000 files) |
| Searchable History | No | Limited | Full-text search |
| Collaboration | No | No | Up to 5 contributors (Pro) |
| Web + File Combined Search | Web only | Web only | Web + uploaded files |
| Computer Task Integration | No | No | Yes (Max/Enterprise) |
| Cloud Storage Connectors | No | No | Yes (Enterprise) |
| Available On | All plans | Discontinued | Pro, Max, Enterprise |
| Thread Organisation | Manual, by history | Manual grouping | Unified thread list per Space |
Who Should Use Perplexity AI Spaces?
Students with long-term research projects are the clearest beneficiaries of Perplexity AI Spaces. A Space built around a dissertation or thesis gives you a persistent environment where you upload your literature, track your research threads across months, and set custom instructions that keep every query aligned with your academic requirements. Spaces allow students to upload course documents, notes, and syllabus files, then ask specific questions like “What was the solution to Exercise 2 from Homework 1?” or “Create a custom study guide for our midterm using all uploaded materials.” This level of material-specific query is not possible in a standard thread workflow.
Freelancers and consultants managing multiple clients will find Spaces invaluable for keeping client research separate and organised. Creating one Space per client means each client’s documents, briefing notes, and research threads are stored in a dedicated environment with custom instructions calibrated to that client’s industry and requirements. Switching between client projects is as simple as switching between Spaces, with no risk of one client’s context contaminating another’s research.
Content creators and bloggers running topic clusters or pillar content strategies can build one Space per content topic, upload reference documents, and maintain a research thread history for every piece they produce in that cluster. The custom instructions can specify the blog’s tone, target audience, and content standards so every research query is framed consistently. For Edurancehub specifically, a dedicated Space per tool category keeps research organised across a growing content library without sessions bleeding into each other.
Professional teams in research-heavy industries including finance, law, consulting, and marketing benefit most from Spaces’ collaboration features. A shared Space for a project means every team member’s research contributes to the same knowledge base, reducing duplication and ensuring no finding is lost in an individual’s chat history. Enterprise plan users additionally benefit from cloud storage connectors, unlimited contributors, and data governance controls that make Spaces compliant with professional data handling requirements.
External Backlinks
- Perplexity AI Spaces Official Help Center — Primary citation for all Spaces feature details
- Perplexity AI Spaces Templates — Link when mentioning Space setup options
- Perplexity Enterprise Spaces Video Guide — Cite when explaining team collaboration setup
- Perplexity Student Spaces Guide — Link in the students section
- Perplexity AI Changelog 2026 — Cite for 2026 feature updates and file limit changes
- SimilarLabs — Perplexity AI Review 2026 — Third-party editorial reference
- Second Talent — Perplexity AI Features 2026 — Supporting reference for Enterprise Spaces
- AIRespo — Perplexity Spaces Deep Dive — Supporting editorial citation
- Perplexity AI Enterprise Pricing — Cite for Enterprise plan file limit comparisons
- Perplexity AI Privacy Policy — Link when mentioning data handling and Enterprise data exclusion from training
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Perplexity AI Spaces free to use?
Perplexity AI Spaces is not available on the free plan. It requires a paid subscription: Pro at $20 per month, Education Pro at $10 per month (or free for 12 months at qualifying institutions), Max at $200 per month, or one of the Enterprise tiers. The file upload limits vary by plan: 50 files per Space on Pro, 500 on Enterprise Pro and Max, and 5,000 on Enterprise Max. If you are a student who qualifies for Education Pro, Spaces is included and provides a genuinely useful workspace for managing coursework, dissertation research, and group projects. For individual professionals, the Pro plan provides enough capacity for most project-based research workflows without requiring the Enterprise tier.
How is a Space different from a regular Perplexity thread?
A thread is a single conversation that starts and ends in one session. It remembers context within that session but does not carry instructions, files, or settings forward to a new session. A Space is a permanent project environment that groups multiple threads under one name, stores uploaded files that any thread within the Space can access, applies custom AI instructions to every query automatically, and allows you to search across all threads and files within that Space. The practical difference is that a thread is for one-off queries and a Space is for sustained, ongoing research where the accumulated knowledge and consistent instructions matter.
How many files can I upload to a Perplexity AI Space?
Pro subscribers can upload up to 50 files per Space. Enterprise Pro and Perplexity Max subscribers can upload up to 500 files per Space, while Enterprise Max subscribers can upload up to 5,000 files per Space. The file size limit per upload is 25 MB for Pro users. Enterprise users have expanded file size allowances. Files uploaded directly to a Space count toward the Space’s file limit separately from files uploaded to individual threads, which count toward your weekly file upload allowance. For most individual research projects, 50 files is sufficient. For enterprise knowledge bases or large document repositories, the Enterprise tier’s higher limits are necessary.
Can I share a Perplexity AI Space with people who do not have a Pro account?
Sharing permissions depend on how you set the Space’s access level. You can share a Space via link with anyone, but collaborators who want to run queries and contribute to the Space need a Perplexity account. Whether they need a Pro subscription to contribute actively depends on the specific actions they want to take within the Space. Viewers can access shared content without necessarily needing a paid plan, but active contribution, including running queries and uploading files within a shared Space, requires a compatible subscription. For team collaboration where multiple people need to actively research within the same Space, each contributor should have their own Pro or Enterprise account.
What are custom AI instructions in Perplexity AI Spaces and how do I write good ones?
Custom AI instructions are standing prompts that apply automatically to every query run within a Space, without you having to type them each time. They are set in the Space’s settings panel when you create it or at any time by editing the Space. Good custom instructions are specific about four things: tone (formal, conversational, technical, simple), source preferences (peer-reviewed only, recent news only, India-focused), output format (section headings, bullet points, numbered citations, executive summary), and domain context (who the audience is, what the project involves, what kind of information is most relevant). A well-written instruction set for a professional research Space might be 50 to 150 words covering all four of these dimensions. Generic instructions like “be helpful” produce no meaningful improvement. Specific instructions like “always cite sources from 2023 onwards, use formal language, include a limitations section for every health claim, and focus on Indian regulatory context” produce consistently better output across every query in that Space.
Can I use Perplexity AI Spaces on mobile?
Yes. Spaces is fully accessible on the Perplexity iOS and Android apps. You can create Spaces, run queries within them, view threads, and access uploaded files from your phone. The mobile experience covers all core Spaces functionality including thread management and custom instruction access. File uploads from mobile are supported, though uploading large documents is more practical from a desktop connection for speed reasons. Collaborator management and detailed Space settings are slightly more comfortable to configure on desktop the first time, but ongoing use of an established Space, running queries, reviewing threads, and searching within the Space, works well on the mobile apps. All Pro and Max features within Spaces are accessible on mobile with the same account credentials used on the web.
Final Thoughts
Perplexity AI Spaces is not a cosmetic feature. It is the architecture that turns Perplexity from a search tool you use occasionally into a research platform you build on continuously. The combination of persistent threads, uploaded files that ground every answer in your actual project material, custom AI instructions that eliminate repetitive prompting, and collaboration tools that consolidate team knowledge in one place addresses the real friction points of sustained research work in a way that standard search never could.
For any user doing research across multiple sessions on any topic, whether a student managing a semester of coursework, a professional tracking a market over several months, or a content creator building a topical authority strategy, Spaces is the Perplexity feature worth investing time in setting up properly. The return on that setup time is a research environment that gets more useful the longer you use it.
Start by creating one Space for your most active current project. Upload the three to five documents most central to that project. Write a specific custom instruction set. Run your next five research queries inside that Space instead of the standard search bar. The difference in consistency and accumulated utility will tell you immediately whether Spaces belongs in your permanent workflow. For a full overview of how Spaces fits into the broader Perplexity ecosystem, our complete guide to using Perplexity AI covers the platform from start to finish. If you are still on the free plan and considering upgrading to access Spaces and other Pro features, our Perplexity AI plans breakdown explains what each tier includes with honest recommendations. Students can also check our Perplexity AI for students guide for a full academic workflow using Spaces specifically. And if you are comparing Perplexity to other research tools before committing, our Perplexity AI vs ChatGPT comparison covers the key differences in depth. The official Spaces documentation at perplexity.ai/help-center is the best reference for any feature details that have changed since this guide was published.
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