Use canvas chat

Canvas chat is for live conversation around the current canvas

Use canvas chat when people are already looking at the same canvas and need a fast text conversation that does not belong to one exact object. Chat is good for coordination during a review, facilitation during a workshop, short status updates, and questions that would interrupt a speaker in a call.

Canvas chat is not the same as comments. A comment is anchored to an object, page, file, or location and stays useful after the session. Chat is a live room for the canvas conversation. It moves faster, but it is easier to lose later.

Canvas chat is also not AI chat. Team chat is for people. Use Object Chat to ask about one canvas item, or AI Studio to create new AI output from selected canvas context.

Availability and permissions

The permission boundary intentionally follows comment access more closely than workspace membership. A guest with comment access may be allowed to chat. A workspace member with view-only access may not.

Chat access does not create or expand canvas access. If someone cannot open the canvas, share the canvas or invite them first. If they can open the canvas but cannot open chat, check whether their role allows commenting or editing.

Where to find chat

Open the canvas and look for the Team chat control in the canvas header or collaboration area. When chat opens, it appears as a floating panel connected to the current canvas conversation.

If the chat control is missing, check the canvas access level first. Then check whether the workspace and current context support chat. Do not start by debugging the browser; missing chat is often a permission or product-state issue.

When chat is the right tool

Use chat for things like:

1. "Move to page 3."
2. "I’m uploading the final image now."
3. "Can everyone check the pricing section?"
4. "The client joined. I’ll start the walkthrough."
5. "I found the older version in Files."

Those messages help the live session move. They do not need to become permanent review notes unless they include a decision, request, or approval.

When a single chat message needs to be referenced later, copy a message link from the message menu where available. The link focuses the message for people who already have access to the canvas and Team chat. It is a precise link, not an access link.

When to use comments instead

Use comments when the feedback needs a location, owner, or durable record. If someone needs to fix a headline, approve a screenshot, check a number, or answer a question later, put that in a comment.

Chat can point people to a thread, but it should not replace the thread. A useful pattern is: discuss in chat, then leave the decision in a comment or update the canvas content before the session ends.

Chat and audio/video calls

Use audio/video calls when typing is too slow or tone matters. Use chat during a call for side notes, links, quiet questions, and timing. Chat is especially useful when one person is presenting and others should not interrupt.

Calls and chat are both live communication. Neither is a reliable final record by itself. If the conversation changes the work, write the result into the canvas, a comment, or the related project.

Chat and online presence

Chat works best with online presence. Presence tells you who is in the canvas, where they are, and whether people are likely seeing the same context. If someone asks about an object you cannot find, use presence, page indicators, or follow behavior to get oriented before replying.

On large canvases, chat messages like "the image on the left" are ambiguous. Use a page name, object link, comment link, or direct mention when the canvas is spread out.

Chat with guests and external collaborators

Guests and external collaborators may be able to use canvas chat when they have the right item-level permission. That does not make them workspace members, and it does not add them to People. See Invite guests and external collaborators for the outside-access model.

Use chat with guests for workshop coordination and live review. Use comments for review requests that need a reply after the guest leaves. If a guest cannot open chat, confirm that the shared link grants comment or edit access and that the guest completed the entry flow.

If a guest can chat, they still may not see Share, People, project settings, or internal workspace areas. Keep guest chat focused on the shared canvas.

Keep chat useful after the session

Before leaving a live session, skim chat for decisions that should not disappear into the transcript. Move important outcomes into the canvas:

1. Add a comment on the object that needs action.
2. Update the canvas text or note with the decision.
3. Add a project update when ownership and Due date matter.
4. Copy a comment link into chat when the group needs to jump to the durable thread.
5. Mention the person responsible in the comment, not only in chat.

This habit prevents decisions from staying only in a live conversation that people cannot find later.

Troubleshoot canvas chat

If chat is missing, check whether you have comment or edit access, whether the canvas is read-only, whether the workspace supports canvas chat, and whether you are in a context that hides collaboration controls.

If messages do not appear for other people, refresh the canvas and confirm everyone is in the same workspace and canvas. If presence is also wrong, the issue may be connection or account state rather than chat alone.

If a guest message displays with an unexpected name, ask the guest to check the name they entered in the guest flow. Guest identity is tied to the guest session, not a workspace member profile.

If chat becomes the place where all decisions happen, change the team habit. Put final decisions in comments or visible canvas content before the review ends.

If a chat message link opens the canvas but not the message, confirm the message still exists, the recipient has chat access, and the link was not edited by hand.