Observe Data and Process Filing Limits

June 4, 2024

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Be Mindful of ASCII Limits

If you save your documents as .txt files (ASCII),

  • Save as plain text in Microsoft Word and check the line break option.
  • Each line must not exceed 80 characters including spaces.
  • To create a visual guideline for line breaks, add a place keeper (such as a *, after 80 characters) and then press shift for each line.
  • The font must be Courier or Courier New, font size 12.
  • Make the margins at least 1 inch on the right and left.

For instructions on how to construct ASCII-formatted documents, refer to the EDGAR Filer Manual Volume II, Section 5, Constructing Attached Documents and Document Types.

Be Mindful of PDF Restrictions

EDGAR will reject PDF or other submissions that contain hyperlinks to documents outside of EDGAR or other executable code. Any uniform resource locator (URL) must be in plain text unless it references another EDGAR submission.

EDGAR considers the following to be acceptable official PDF documents:

  • The PDF authenticating documents that accompany the applications for EDGAR access, update passphrase, convert paper only filer to electronic filer, and access for new serial companies.
  • The following submission form types and their variants: 13H, 40-33, 497AD, 40-17G, 40-17GCS, 40-24B2, MA, MA-I, NRSRO-UPD, NRSRO-CE, NRSRO-FR, NRSRO-WCLS, NRSRO-WREG, and X-17A-5.
    • EDGAR will continue to allow ASCII and HTML as the primary document for submission form types 40-33, 40-33/A, 497AD, 40-17G, 40-17G/A, 40-17GCS, 40-17GCS/A, 40-24B2, 40-24B2/A, X-17A-5 and X-17A-5/A.
  • The following exhibits of submission form types DOS, 1-A, 1-K, 1-SA, 1-U, and their variants: EX1A-13 TST WTRS, EX1K13 TST WTRS, EX1SA-13 TST WTRS, and EX1U-13 TST WTRS.
  • The following Regulation Crowdfunding submission form types: C, C/A, CAR, C-AR/A, C-TR, CFPORTAL, CFPORTAL/A, and CFPORTAL-W.
  • Exhibits ATS-N EX-1 SCHD A BD, ATS-N EX-2 SCHD B BD, ATS-N EX-3 REDLINE, ATS-N EX-4 AGG STATS, and ATSN EX-5 CATG MTRC for Form ATS-N.
  • Exhibit EX-96 of form types S-1, S-1/A, S-3, S-3/A, S-4, S-4/A, S-4 POS, POS AM, F-1, F-1/A, F-3, F-3/A, F-4, F-4/A, F-4 POS, 10-12B, 10-12B/A, 10-12G, 10-12G/A, 10-K, 10-K/A, 20-F, 20-F/A, 20FR12B, 20FR12B/A, 20FR12G, 20FR12G/A, 1-A, 1-A/A, and 1-A POS.

In addition, official documents for these exhibits are accepted in ASCII and HTML formats.

You may submit the PDF version of your filing as an unofficial document attachment to your assembled submission.

EDGAR must, however, receive all official documents in either ASCII/SGML format or HTML format (with optional JPG or GIF graphic support files) or the submission will be suspended.

Be Mindful of File Size Limits—200 MB in Most Instances/600 MB for Certain Forms

Your file submission size—including all attached documents—must not exceed 200 MB for all submission types except:

  • Submission Types ABS-EE, ABS-EE/A, NPORT-NP, NPORT-NP/A, NPORT-P, and NPORT-P/A which may not exceed 600 MB.
  • A combined 10-D/ABS-EE submission must not exceed 800 MB, with 600 MB for the ABS-EE submission and 200 MB for the 10-D submission (and their respective amendments).

If your document attachment is larger than the size limit and cannot be further reduced using the guidance below, split the document into two or more documents. If you are filing a 10-K, for example, which prohibits duplicate filings for the same period date, attach page 1 of 2 of the document and then file an amendment, 10-K/A, with page 2 of 2 at the top. If you are filing a document such as N-CSR, for example, which permits duplicate filings for the same period date, you can file each document as original filings as long as the top of each document clearly identifies the sequence number (e.g. document 1 of 2, document 2 of 2). In addition, investment company filings for multiple series (e.g., N-CSR, N-PX) can often be filed separately by series or groups of series.

How Do I Ensure my File Size Meets EDGAR Requirements?

  1. Eliminate repetitive or unnecessary HTML and/or CSS.

    Filers, when submitting HTML or Inline XBRL attachments, should limit the amount of HTML and CSS contained within their submissions to the greatest extent possible. In most cases, there should be one formatting style applied per paragraph of text in a document. In rare cases, it may be appropriate to have more than one formatting style per paragraph. Independently formatting each word with HTML and/or CSS is not permitted.

  2. Do not embed images into HTML using Base64 encoding.

    Base64 encoding of images is not permitted within html attachments of EDGAR filings. Base64 encoding generally increases the file size unnecessarily. Images can be included by using the HTML <img> tag and attaching the image file separately to the submission. Permitted image file formats are JPG and GIF.

  3. Only provide one copy of each unique image in the filing.

    Filers should avoid uploading the same image multiple times. When it is necessary to repeat an image in a filing, such as a company logo, filers should upload one version of that image as an attachment to the submission and use the HTML <img> tag in multiple locations within the filing to point to the attached image. In cases where different resolutions of the same image are required, a single image at the highest resolution used within the filing should be uploaded. Images should always include height and width attributes to scale the image to the appropriate size. Filers can then use the height and width properties of the <img> element to scale the image as appropriate.

  4. Compress images in lossy JPG format.

    In most cases, images should be submitted in JPG format. Images with a small color palette may benefit from being transmitted in a GIF format. Both JPG and GIF are permitted formats.

  5. Add page containers

    Filers submitting larger HTML and Inline XBRL documents (e.g., greater than 4 MB or containing more than 4,000 facts) should specify page containers with CSS as below. This makes larger documents responsive as the browser only deals with the visible page. XBRL International guidance, view the Inline XBRL Rendering Performance 1.0.

Technical recommendations for size of individual HTML documents at which page containers are likely to benefit performance:

  • If Inline XBRL:
    • 4000 facts
    • 4MB length
    • Over about 20,000 HTML DOM nodes.
    • Over about 10,000 pixels scroll height, such as tables with many rows
  • If plain HTML:
    • Over about 20,000 DOM nodes
    • Over about 10,000 pixels scroll height, such as tables with many rows

Page container CSS recommendation:

.page-section {content-visibility: auto; contain-intrinsic-size: 1000px}

HTML Header Tags—What Are They?

The header tag element of your HTML document represents a container for introductory content. The tagging language is a powerful data representation method that enhances the method of displayed public information.

Due to some formatting restrictions, EDGAR will accept only a subset of the HTML 3.2/4.0 tagging standard. For more information—including a reference table with the list of acceptable HTML document header tags—refer to the EDGAR Filer Manual Volume II, Section 5, Constructing Attached Documents and Document Types.

Data Entry Fields

All EDGAR filings submitted using EDGAR templates contain fields to manually enter your company information. If you are amending a previous filing, enter your CIK and CCC—as well as the accession number of the submission—to populate the existing data.

If you are creating a new filing and wish to create new data, delete “form data” from the delete browsing history option under your browser tools (refer to Check my browser settings for EDGAR for instructions).

Exhibits / Attached Documents

Many EDGAR filings include attached documents that are labeled according to their content; these are known as exhibits. You must accurately and clearly label all of your exhibits. If you have multiple exhibits of a certain type (for example, three different Exhibits 99), then you must name them sequentially as they should be considered (for example, Exhibit 99.1, Exhibit 99.2, and Exhibit 99.3). You can find more information about exhibits—including a detailed list of acceptable exhibit types—in the EDGAR Filer Manual Volume II, Section E.4, Submission and/or Document Types.

Organizational Charts

If you choose to attach a document consisting of an organizational chart to your 13-H filing, it must be uploaded as a readable PDF document with scanned images that have been parsed for character recognition to pass EDGAR validation. Step-by-step instructions are available at Prepare, save, and attach an org chart.

Printing

If you would like to print a form prior to submitting, click the print button in the form and choose a blank form or the current form with your form data.

Printing errors (such as opening a blank form) may be due to configuration issues. Follow the instructions above for trouble-shooting technical issues in Section 2, Configuring Google Chrome and Internet Explorer browsers for EDGAR.

The form may also be printed after it has been submitted, reviewed, and disseminated on SEC.gov.

Saving form data (.eis files)

You can save a form in progress on your computer by using the save button. The form will be saved as an .eis file, which is a file format specific to EDGAR. Make sure you save this file with the same name and .eis convention since changing the file name may corrupt the file.

Last Reviewed or Updated: Jan. 15, 2026