Search inside a canvas

Canvas search finds text inside the canvas that is open in front of you. Use it when you already know the right canvas and need to jump to a sticky note, text object, shape label, spreadsheet cell, repeated name, risk, task, or off-screen section without leaving the editor.

On Mac, press Command+F. On Windows or Linux, press Ctrl+F. When the canvas editor is active, ALLO uses that shortcut for canvas search instead of the browser's page find.

Canvas search is local to the current canvas. It does not search the rest of ALLO, it does not find canvases by title, and it does not bypass sharing or workspace access. If you need to find work across ALLO, use Search across ALLO.

When to use canvas search

Use canvas search when the question is "Where is this text inside this canvas?" It is best for large canvases where content is spread across many pages, a large freeform whiteboard, dense workshop notes, imported planning tables, or repeated labels that are hard to find by scanning.

It is especially useful after you arrive from a link, global Search, Activity, or a project list. Global Search can get you to the canvas; canvas search gets you to the object or text inside it.

Do not use canvas search as your first tool when you do not know where the work lives. Use global Search for canvas titles, project names, people, files, dashboards, goals, commands, and other resources outside the current canvas.

Availability

If the shortcut does not open search, click once inside the canvas and try again. Some browsers, operating systems, extensions, remote desktop tools, and embedded app views can intercept keyboard shortcuts before ALLO receives them.

What canvas search finds

Canvas search combines visible text with stored canvas object text. That means it can find content that is currently on screen and content that exists in the canvas data but is not rendered in the visible viewport yet.

Search is case-insensitive. It matches the characters you type, so spelling, punctuation, spacing, and line breaks still matter. A short distinctive term usually works better than a long sentence.

What canvas search does not find

Canvas search is for canvas content, not every piece of text that might appear near a canvas.

If text appears in a screenshot, exported image, or embedded preview but is not editable or stored as canvas text, canvas search may not find it. Add a text label or note if the wording should be searchable.

Search workflow

1. Open the canvas.
2. Press Command+F on Mac or Ctrl+F on Windows and Linux.
3. Type the word or phrase you want to find.
4. Review the match count in the search box.
5. Press Enter, Tab, or ArrowDown to move to the next match.
6. Press Shift+Enter, Shift+Tab, or ArrowUp to move to the previous match.
7. Press Escape or use the close button to close the search box.

If text is selected on the canvas when you open search, ALLO can use that selection as the starting search term. This is useful when you see a repeated label and want to find every other place it appears.

Closing the search box does not change the canvas. It removes the search UI and highlights. ALLO may keep the last keyword during the session so you can reopen search and continue quickly.

Result count and navigation

The search box shows the current match and total matches. Moving through results changes the active match and navigates the canvas to the corresponding object or text region.

For visible content, the highlight usually appears immediately. For off-screen content, ALLO scrolls to the object and may need a moment to render and highlight the text. Very large canvases, dense pages, large spreadsheets, and heavy media can make that delay more noticeable.

ALLO tries to preserve your zoom while moving to a result. It scrolls and focuses the matching object instead of zooming far out, so you can stay oriented and continue working near the result.

If a stored match belongs to content that is not currently drawn, ALLO may bring you to the object or page area before the highlight appears. Wait a moment. If the content is on a folded page, unfold the page before editing or inspecting the object in detail.

Canvas search versus global Search

Use both for large workspaces. Search across ALLO to find the right canvas, then use canvas search to find the right object inside it.

Focus and editing caveats

Command+F or Ctrl+F can open canvas search even while you are editing text, focused in an input, or using a drawing context. This is intentional: in a canvas, the shortcut is treated as a canvas-level search command.

If you meant to search only inside the current rich text editor, this can feel surprising. Press Escape to close canvas search, then return to the editor. If you truly need the browser's page find, click outside the canvas or use the browser menu, but browser find is usually less useful for canvas content because much of the canvas is not ordinary page text.

After search moves you to a result, the search field keeps focus so you can continue moving through matches. Click the object or press Escape before editing the matched content.

Troubleshooting

If Command+F or Ctrl+F does not open search, click the canvas once and try again. If it still does not open, check whether the browser, operating system, extension, remote desktop session, or embedded app view is intercepting the shortcut.

If no results appear for text you can see, check spelling, spacing, punctuation, and whether the text is stored as editable canvas text. Text inside an image or screenshot is not searchable as object text.

If the match count looks lower than expected, remember that canvas search skips non-content chrome such as spreadsheet headers and app UI. It also skips comments and chat history.

If ALLO scrolls to a result but does not highlight it immediately, wait for the object to render. Off-screen objects and large spreadsheets can take a moment. If the result belongs to a folded page, unfold the page.

If search keeps showing an old word after reopening, select the existing keyword in the search box and type a new one. ALLO can preserve the last keyword during the session.

If global Search finds the canvas but canvas search does not find text inside it, the text may be in a comment, file preview, image, deleted object, folded content that has not rendered, or another canvas with a similar title.