5 Powerful Perplexity Features You're Not Using (But Should)

Unlock the power of Perplexity with 5 underutilized features: focus mode, spaces, deep research, pages, and file uploads. Boost your productivity and efficiency across research, content creation, and more. Discover the hidden gems of this versatile AI assistant.

24 aprile 2025

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Unlock the power of Perplexity, the AI research assistant that combines the best of Google search and ChatGPT. Discover five game-changing features that can streamline your research, boost productivity, and deliver accurate, up-to-date information on a wide range of topics. Whether you're a student, professional, or just curious, this introduction will show you how to leverage Perplexity's advanced capabilities to save time and get the answers you need.

Perplexity: The Ultimate AI Research Assistant

Perplexity is a powerful AI tool that combines the best aspects of Google search and ChatGPT. It searches the web, reads the best sources, and provides you with a direct answer with citations. Compared to ChatGPT, Perplexity is much more accurate for search-based queries and up-to-date information.

One of the most useful features of Perplexity is the "Focus Mode." This allows you to control where Perplexity pulls information from, such as academic sources or social media. This can significantly change the tone and depth of the answers you receive.

Another powerful feature is "Spaces." With Spaces, you can save multiple threads under one topic and add custom instructions for each Space. This makes it easy to quickly get the information you need for specific tasks, like YouTube research.

Perplexity's "Deep Research Mode" is a game-changer. It provides a comprehensive, custom research report on complex topics, complete with overviews, key stages, limitations, and citations. This can save you hours of manual research.

Once you've completed a deep research task, Perplexity allows you to instantly turn the output into a clean, sharable web page. This makes it easy to reference the information later or share it with others.

Perplexity also supports file uploads, allowing you to use documents as context for your queries. This is particularly useful for tasks like analyzing race regulations or other technical documents.

Overall, Perplexity is a powerful AI research assistant that can save you time and provide accurate, in-depth information on a wide range of topics.

Unlocking the Power of Focus Mode

Focus mode in Perplexity allows you to control where the tool pulls information from, tailoring the responses to your specific needs. Here are some key benefits of using this feature:

  1. Targeted Expertise: By switching the focus to "academic", Perplexity will draw information primarily from academic sources like PubMed and Semantic Scholar. This is ideal for getting thorough, well-researched answers on topics that require scientific or medical expertise.

  2. Real-World Insights: Switching the focus to "social" mode will have Perplexity pull information from sources like Reddit, providing more experience-based and user-centric responses. This can be useful for questions about consumer products, personal experiences, or social trends.

  3. Comprehensive Coverage: The ability to toggle between different focus modes allows you to get a well-rounded understanding of a topic. You can start with an academic focus, then switch to social to see how the information and perspectives differ.

  4. Efficient Research: Focus mode saves you time by delivering tailored responses, rather than having to sift through a broad range of sources yourself. This makes Perplexity a powerful research assistant for a variety of use cases.

By leveraging the focus mode feature, you can unlock the full potential of Perplexity and get the most relevant and useful information for your specific needs.

Organizing Your Research with Spaces

Spaces in Perplexity allow you to keep multiple threads saved under one topic, like having different folders. The best part is that you can add custom instructions for each space, which will tell Perplexity how to respond to every thread you create in that space.

For example, you can create a space for YouTube research, where you can drop a new tool and get quick information about it. Your instructions can specify what you'll be inputting and how you want Perplexity to respond, such as:

  1. Provide a quick overview of the tool.
  2. Highlight the key features.
  3. Compare it to other similar tools.
  4. Explain what makes the tool surprising, disruptive, or unique.
  5. Suggest hook or title ideas for a YouTube short or full video.
  6. Include real-world reactions, if available.
  7. Respond with a specific tone.

When you start a new thread in this space, Perplexity will follow your custom instructions to give you a comprehensive and tailored response. This can save you a lot of time and effort when researching new tools or topics for your YouTube content.

Another useful feature of these spaces is the ability to upload files that Perplexity can reference for each new thread. This way, you don't have to upload the file for every new conversation, making the research process more efficient.

Dive Deep with Research Mode

Perplexity's "Deep Research Mode" is a powerful feature that goes beyond a simple summary. When you ask a complex question, Perplexity will perform a series of research tasks to compile a comprehensive, in-depth report.

This mode provides a detailed overview of the topic, covering the main points, key stages, limitations, and operational challenges. The response is thoroughly researched, sectioned, and fully cited, making it a valuable resource for deep dives into complex subjects.

Unlike a typical chatbot response, the Deep Research Mode output reads like a mini research article, with a clear structure and supporting evidence from multiple sources. You can further customize the report by adding images, rearranging sections, and publishing it as a shareable web page.

This feature is a game-changer for industries that require thorough, well-researched information, such as academia, consulting, or specialized fields. It saves an enormous amount of time compared to manually scouring the web and synthesizing the information yourself.

Whether you're exploring a technical topic, evaluating a business strategy, or simply satisfying your curiosity, Perplexity's Deep Research Mode provides a comprehensive, authoritative, and easily shareable response that goes far beyond a simple search engine result.

Elevating Your Content with Pages

Once you've gone deep with a thread or a deep research output, Perplexity lets you instantly turn it into a clean, sharable web page. You can click the three dots and then convert it to a page. This will format the entire output into something that reads like a mini article, with sections, headers, and citations already built in.

You can further edit and customize this page as needed. You can add a hero image at the top, and then add images for each section. Perplexity will automatically suggest relevant images, but you can change them if you want. You can also rearrange the content and edit it as much as you like.

This feature allows you to transform a simple chat transcript into a polished, shareable piece of content. Instead of just leaving the information in your chat history, you can create a standalone web page that you can reference later, drop into a video description, or send to someone who wants to learn about the topic.

You don't even need to have an existing conversation to use this feature. You can go to the library, hit the plus button, and create a page from scratch. Perplexity provides examples, like a "Tenant Movie Explained" page, that you can use as a starting point.

Overall, the Pages feature in Perplexity allows you to elevate your content and turn your research and conversations into professional-looking, shareable resources.

Leveraging File Uploads for Context-Rich Answers

Perplexity's file upload feature allows you to provide relevant documents as context when asking questions, enabling it to deliver more accurate and comprehensive answers. Here's how it works:

  1. Upload Relevant Documents: You can upload PDFs, Word documents, or other files that contain information related to your query. This gives Perplexity access to the specific details and context needed to provide a more informed response.

  2. Ask Contextual Questions: Once you've uploaded the relevant files, you can ask questions that reference the content of those documents. Perplexity will then use the information from the uploaded files to deliver answers that are tailored to the specific context.

  3. Receive Cited Responses: Perplexity will cite the relevant sections of the uploaded documents when providing its answers, ensuring that the information is accurate and traceable.

  4. Maintain Context in Conversations: Perplexity remembers the context of the uploaded files, allowing you to ask follow-up questions without having to reintroduce the context each time.

This feature is particularly useful when you need to research complex topics or access specific information that may not be readily available on the web. By leveraging file uploads, you can turn Perplexity into a powerful research assistant that can quickly and accurately answer your questions based on the provided context.

Bonus Features: Incognito Mode, Model Switching, and ProArch

If you click your profile in the bottom left, you can switch to incognito mode. This will create anonymous threads that don't appear in your library and expire after 24 hours. You can use this for any sensitive questions or just random one-off questions you know you'll never want to reference again.

Next, we have model switching. You're not locked into one model. By default, Perplexity picks the best one for your query, but you can choose any from the list. Maybe you just want a second opinion or to compare models. Or some are just better at different things, like if you want something that involves creativity or writing, Claude is a good choice.

Finally, there's ProArch. This digs deeper, pulls more sources, and gives longer and more nuanced answers. You get three of these per day under the free plan or 300 per day under the pro plan.

Conclusion

Perplexity is a powerful AI tool that offers a range of features that can greatly enhance your research and productivity. From its accurate search capabilities to the deep research mode, Perplexity provides a comprehensive solution for finding information and generating in-depth reports.

The focus mode allows you to tailor the responses to your specific needs, whether you're looking for academic or social perspectives. The spaces feature enables you to save and customize your research workflows, making it easier to revisit and build upon your work.

The deep research mode is a standout feature, generating detailed, well-structured reports that can save you significant time and effort. The ability to convert these outputs into shareable web pages further enhances the value of this tool.

Additionally, the file upload feature and the ability to switch between different AI models provide additional flexibility and customization options to suit your needs.

Overall, Perplexity is a versatile and powerful tool that can streamline your research and decision-making processes. By leveraging its various features, you can save time, improve the quality of your work, and stay ahead of the curve in your field.

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