Use the inline toolbar
Edit selected canvas elements quickly with the toolbar that appears near the selection.
The inline toolbar is the quick editing toolbar that appears near a selected element or selection. It is built for the changes people make constantly: color, stroke, opacity, size, font, alignment, links, comments, grouping, locking, preview, download, and the More menu.
Think of the inline toolbar as the fast lane for selected-object actions. The Element menu is the fuller selected-object menu. They overlap on purpose: the toolbar keeps common actions close to your selection, while the element menu carries the complete list for the current object type, permission, device, and file state.
When the inline toolbar appears
| Selection state | What usually happens |
|---|---|
| No element selected | Select an element to use the inline toolbar. Use the main toolbar to create content or the Page menu for page actions. |
| One editable element selected | Relevant quick actions appear near the selection. |
| Multiple elements selected | Shared actions appear, such as align, distribute, group, lock, comment, duplicate, delete, and More when supported. |
| A locked element selected | Some style, content, movement, and destructive actions are unavailable until the element is unlocked. A lock or shield indicator shows the lock state. |
| A pending upload or generated result selected | Basic selection actions may remain, while Preview, Download, Replace, Edit, Remove background, or thumbnail actions can be disabled until processing finishes. |
| Comment-only access | Comment and navigation actions may remain, but editing actions require edit access. |
| Mobile | The inline toolbar is smaller and does not expose every desktop action. Group and ungroup are not exposed in the mobile inline toolbar. |
Common quick actions
| Action area | What it is for | Typical elements |
|---|---|---|
| Background or fill color | Change the inside color of a sticky note, shape, text block background, spreadsheet cell, or supported object. | Sticky notes, shapes, text-like objects, spreadsheet cells. |
| Stroke color and width | Change the outline or line color. | Shapes, arrows, lines, drawing-like objects. |
| Opacity | Make an object more or less transparent. | Shapes, images, drawings, and other visual elements when supported. |
| Shadow | Add or remove depth for supported objects. | Shapes, sticky notes, cards, and other visual blocks. |
| Size | Adjust object size or text size depending on the selected object. | Text, sticky notes, shapes, files, images. |
| Font | Change typeface when the object supports text formatting. | Text, sticky notes, and editable spreadsheet cells. |
| Text style | Apply bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, checklist formatting, color, highlight, or other text styles. | Text, sticky note content, and editable spreadsheet cells when supported. |
| Alignment | Align text inside an object, align cell content, or align multiple selected objects on the canvas. | Text, sticky notes, spreadsheet cells, multi-selection. |
| Link | Add, edit, or open a link associated with selected text or object. | Text and link-capable elements. |
| Line marker | Change arrowheads or endpoints. | Arrows and lines. |
| Line style | Change line appearance, such as solid or other supported styles. | Arrows and lines. |
| Group or ungroup | Make multiple objects move as one, or separate an existing group. | Multi-selection or grouped objects. |
| Lock or unlock | Prevent accidental edits or allow editing again. | Most movable objects. See Lock canvas objects for protected locks and shortcuts. |
| Comment | Start an anchored comment thread on the selected element. | Most selectable objects. |
| More | Open additional actions that do not fit in the quick toolbar. | Varies by element type and permission. |
Format text, cells, and objects
Select the element, then choose the formatting control that matches the change you want:
- For sticky notes and shapes, color and stroke are often the most important controls.
- For text, use font, font size, style, color, highlight, alignment, and link controls.
- For arrows and lines, line style and markers matter more than fill.
For the shared editor behavior inside sticky notes, text objects, shape text, and cells, including the configured font families ALLO supports, see Use the rich text editor.
When a control affects text inside an object, first make sure you are editing the text selection or text-bearing element you intended. When a control affects the object itself, select the object boundary rather than the editable text inside it.
Spreadsheet objects have an additional cell-editing toolbar. When you are editing cells, the inline toolbar can show cell formatting such as background color, font family, font size, text color, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, checklist formatting, links, alignment, merge cells, and clear cells. If the same click keeps changing cells instead of moving the table, exit cell editing and select the spreadsheet edge.
If a formatting choice is not available, the selected object probably does not support it, the selection contains mixed element types, the object is locked, or you do not have edit permission.
Use the inline toolbar for layout
Select multiple objects to show layout actions. Use align when objects should share an edge or center line. Use distribute when spacing should be even. Use group when a cluster should move together after arranging it.
Use object locks before a live session when people should not accidentally drag section headers, instructions, background shapes, or imported screenshots. Too much locking makes a canvas feel broken to collaborators, so if an object is locked for a reason, make that reason obvious through layout or nearby instructions.
Comment from the inline toolbar
Use Comment from the inline toolbar when feedback belongs to the selected object. This creates an anchored comment thread, which is easier to resolve later than a general note floating near the object. You can also start a selected-object comment with Cmd/Ctrl+Enter.
If the comment button is missing or disabled, check your permission. You need comment access or higher. Guests can comment when the shared canvas allows it, but guests do not get every moderation action available to owners.
For comment permissions, mentions, replies, resolving, and what happens when commented objects are deleted, see Comments and mentions.
Add links from the toolbar
Use Link when selected text or a selected object should open another place. Links can point to another ALLO canvas or sub-canvas, or they can point to an external website. Canvas links keep collaborators inside ALLO and still depend on the destination canvas access. External website links open outside ALLO and depend on the destination site's permissions, login state, and availability.
For supported link formats, YouTube embeds, object link behavior, and troubleshooting, see Links and YouTube embeds. If you need to copy a direct link to the selected object itself, open the Element menu and use Copy link.
File and image actions
The inline toolbar may show file or image actions only when the selected object supports them and the current state allows them. Preview can remain available when downloads are restricted, because viewing inside ALLO and downloading a file are different permissions.
While uploads or AI-generated results are pending, ALLO may keep basic object actions available so you can position or delete the placeholder, while disabling actions that require the finished file. Wait for processing to finish before assuming the file is broken.
Remove background is an AI-assisted image action for supported image objects and states, including processable JPEG, PNG, WebP, or AVIF sources that ALLO can safely resolve. It can be missing when:
- An upload or generated image is still pending.
- The workspace does not have the image-processing capability available.
- ALLO cannot use the selected image source for background removal.
Restore image can appear after a background has been removed and ALLO still has the original image state.
For full media behavior, including Preview, Download, Replace image, Crop, Remove background, Restore image, Upload a thumbnail, and Download all images, see Work with images, files, and spreadsheets.
Shortcuts worth learning
| Action | Shortcut | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Add a comment to the selected object | Cmd/Ctrl+Enter | Opens an anchored object comment when commenting is allowed. |
| Add or edit a link | Cmd/Ctrl+K | Applies when selected text or the selected object supports link editing. |
| Preview selected media | Space | Preview can be available even when download is blocked. |
| Download selected media | Shift+D | Requires download permission and a downloadable object state. |
| Duplicate selected objects | Cmd/Ctrl+D | Creates another copy on the canvas when duplication is allowed. |
| Group selected objects | Cmd/Ctrl+G | Available for supported multi-selections. |
| Ungroup selected group | Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+G | Available only for grouped selections. |
| Lock selected objects | Alt+E | Useful after arranging stable canvas structure. |
| Unlock selected objects | Alt+Shift+E | Requires permission to edit the object. |
| Flip selected visual object | Shift+H or Shift+V | Horizontal and vertical flip appear for supported visual objects. |
| Open resize controls | Alt+K | Applies to objects that expose resize controls. |
| Open stroke controls | Alt+S | Useful for shapes, lines, and supported visual objects. |
| Open opacity controls | Alt+O | Applies when opacity is supported by the selected object. |
| Open shadow controls | Alt+W | Applies when shadow is supported by the selected object. |
Inline toolbar and element menu
Use the inline toolbar when you already know the quick change you need. Use the element menu when you need a full list of actions, actions that depend on file type, destructive actions, layer order, copy options, or object-specific commands.
For example, changing a sticky note color, adding a quick comment, adjusting opacity, or previewing a selected image belongs in the inline toolbar. Copying an object as Markdown, selecting similar objects, updating a thumbnail, managing sub-canvas actions, or checking every available file action belongs in the element menu.
What can go wrong
If the toolbar appears in the wrong place or covers content, zoom or pan slightly and reselect the object. It is designed to stay near the selection, so crowded canvases can make it feel close to nearby content.
If a button appears disabled, check permission, locked state, selected element type, upload state, workspace capability, and whether the selection mixes incompatible objects. A disabled button usually means ALLO recognizes the object but the action is not valid right now.
If the toolbar disappears, you may have clicked empty canvas, entered another mode, switched tools, opened a menu, or selected an object state with no quick actions.
If mobile lacks an action you use on desktop, open the element menu if available or switch to desktop for complex layout work. Mobile is good for quick editing and review, but desktop exposes more of the full editing surface.
Related articles
- Add and select canvas elements
- Use the rich text editor
- Use the element menu
- Lock canvas objects
- Work with images, files, and spreadsheets
- Use links and YouTube embeds on a canvas
- Use spreadsheet objects on a canvas
- Canvas shortcuts
- Give feedback with comments and mentions