Find canvases

Start with what you remember

Finding a canvas is easiest when you choose the right clue.

Do not keep typing random searches into the same box when the clue belongs somewhere else.

For the main canvas browser, see All canvases overview.

Find by title or keyword

Open All canvases and use the search field. Enter a distinctive word from the canvas title. Short, specific terms usually work better than a full sentence. If the canvas was called Q3 customer journey workshop, try journey, customer, or workshop.

Suggestions or recent searches may appear while you type. If the exact canvas appears as a suggestion, open it directly. If the results are too broad, add another word or switch to list view so you can compare project and date details.

If the clue might be a project, file, dashboard, person, or goal rather than a canvas, use Search across ALLO.

Find by visual memory

Use grid view when you remember the canvas thumbnail, layout, colors, or general look. This is common for workshops, design reviews, and planning boards where the title may be generic but the board is visually recognizable.

Sort by recently accessed or last modified if you remember opening or editing it recently. Load more results if needed. A canvas in grid view can still be hidden by filters, search mode, or workspace selection.

If thumbnails are not enough, switch to list view to compare names, dates, projects, and owners.

Find by project

If you know the project, open the project first and check its canvas list, task-connected canvases, or project views. A canvas may be attached to a task rather than sitting in a simple canvas list. If the project structure itself is the confusing part, start with Understand projects.

If the canvas is not in the project, open All canvases and search by the canvas title. The canvas may have been moved out of the project, created as a standalone canvas, or shared directly with you.

For project-connected canvases, see Add a canvas to a project and Manage canvases in projects.

Find by recent access

Use Home recent work when you opened the canvas recently. Recent work is the fastest path when the canvas is still in the short recent list.

If Home no longer shows it, open All canvases and sort by recently accessed or last modified. Recent is a preview; All canvases gives you a larger browse surface.

If you use the canvas often, star it after you find it. See Use Starred.

Find by who shared it

Open Shared with me when another person sent you the canvas. Shared canvases may not behave like canvases you own or canvases inside projects you can browse. You may have access to the canvas without access to the whole project.

Check unread shared work if the share is new. If the shared link works but the canvas does not appear in Shared with me, keep the link and ask the sender to confirm they shared it directly with the account you use for ALLO.

For access issues, see Fix shared access.

Find by attached file

Use Files when you remember an attachment but not the canvas. Search or filter by file name, type, uploader, date, project, or canvas scope. Open the containing canvas from the file row when you find the right file.

This is often the fastest path for questions like “Where is the PDF from yesterday’s review?” or “Which board has the product screenshots?”

If the file was removed, check Trash for the deleted file or deleted canvas.

Find by recent changes

Use Activity when you remember that someone edited, commented, moved, or updated something recently. Activity can help you find the canvas even when you do not remember the title.

Make sure Activity is scoped broadly enough. A project activity feed may not show a canvas outside that project. A canvas activity feed will not show other canvases.

Open the activity entry to return to the original work when you still have access.

Find a deleted canvas

If the canvas was deleted, ordinary All canvases search may not find it. Open Trash, choose the canvas resource area, search or load more, and restore the canvas if the action is available.

Deleted work is time-limited. In production workspaces, the retention window is 30 days. See Retention window.

If the canvas was permanently deleted or removed by retention, normal restore is no longer available.

If someone else can find it but you cannot

Compare workspace, signed-in account, role, project access, direct canvas share, and deletion state. Ask the other person to copy the canvas link. Open it while signed into the same account that should have access.

If the link says you do not have access, the issue is permission, not search. Ask the owner to share the canvas or project with you, then use Can't access work if the access path is still unclear.

If the link opens but the canvas is hard to find later, star it or add it to the right project.

If you still cannot find it

Gather the workspace name, likely canvas title, owner or sender, project if known, file name if known, last time you saw it, and whether you checked All canvases, Search, Shared with me, Files, Activity, and Trash. Send that to the owner, admin, or support.

For a broader missing-work checklist, see When work looks missing and When search misses a result.