All canvases overview

All canvases is the workspace canvas browser

Use All canvases when you need to find, reopen, compare, organize, or act on canvases across the current workspace. It is the broad canvas browse surface: a place to search by name, scan thumbnails, sort by activity, switch between grid and list, and use canvas actions without opening every canvas one by one.

All canvases is not the canvas editor. It will not teach you how to draw, add elements, comment, present, export, or arrange pages inside a canvas. It answers a different question: “Which canvas am I looking for, where is it, and what can I do with it from the list?”

If you need to create or edit content inside a canvas, see Create a canvas and Learn canvas basics. If you need a reusable starting structure, see Create a canvas from a template.

Where to find All canvases

Open All canvases from the workspace navigation. You may also reach it from Home, Search, a project context, or links that take you to canvas browsing. The page shows canvases your current account can access in the current workspace.

Use All canvases instead of Home Recent when Recent no longer shows the canvas, when you need a fuller list, when you need filters, or when you need canvas actions before opening the canvas. Home Recent is a quick preview of work you touched recently; All canvases is the fuller recovery and browsing surface.

Use All canvases instead of Search across ALLO when you know you are looking for a canvas and want canvas-specific controls. Global Search is better when the clue might be a project, person, file, dashboard, goal, or command.

What All canvases can show

All canvases can show canvas names, thumbnails, project or folder context where available, owner or collaborator context, assigned state where available, creation or modification dates, and actions. The exact fields depend on grid or list view, workspace settings, and your permission.

Grid view emphasizes visual recognition. It is useful when you remember the look of a canvas, such as a workshop board, design review, or planning layout. List view emphasizes comparison. It is useful when you need dates, owners, project location, or a denser scan.

Switching between grid and list should not change which canvases match your search or filters. It changes presentation. See Switch between grid and list view.

What you can do from All canvases

You can search for canvases by title or clue, use suggestions or recent searches when available, filter to focused groups, sort by date-related signals, open canvases, create new canvases, and use card or row menu actions.

Common actions include opening a canvas, copying a link, sharing, moving or copying to a project, duplicating, adding to Starred, archiving, removing access, or deleting when your permission and the canvas state allow those actions. The menu is permission-sensitive, so not every action appears for every canvas. See Use the canvas card menu and Manage canvases in projects.

All canvases can also help you find work that is not in the place you expected. A canvas may have been moved out of a project, created outside a project, shared directly with you, or renamed after you last opened it.

Search mode and browse mode

All canvases has two mental modes. Browse mode is for scanning a workspace list with filters, sort, grid/list view, and load-more behavior. Search mode is for answering “what canvas matches this query?”

When a search query is active, normal browse filters or sort controls may change or be hidden because the page is focused on search results. Clear the search query to return to browse mode. If a filter or sort control seems to be missing, check whether you are still searching before treating it as a problem.

For search, filters, and sort details, see Search, filter, and sort canvases.

Access and visibility

All canvases shows canvases your current account can access. It does not override workspace roles, project membership, guest access, canvas sharing, deletion state, or archived state. If another person sees a canvas you do not, compare workspace, account, role, project access, and direct canvas sharing. For the broader access model, see Members, guests, and external collaborators.

Shared canvases can behave differently from canvases you own. You may be able to open a shared canvas without being able to browse its parent project. You may also see fewer menu actions because the share gives view or comment access rather than management access. See Shared with me and Fix shared access.

If a canvas was deleted, All canvases may no longer show it as ordinary active work. Check Trash quickly because recovery is time-limited.

When to use All canvases

Use All canvases when you remember the canvas but not its location. Search the title, scan grid thumbnails, or sort by recent activity.

Use All canvases when Home Recent is too short. Recent work intentionally does not show every canvas you can access.

Use All canvases when you need a canvas action without opening it. The card or row menu can be faster for copying links, starring, duplicating, moving, or archiving when those actions are available.

Use All canvases when a project looks incomplete. The canvas may be outside the project or moved elsewhere. Find the canvas first, then check its project context.

Use All canvases when you need to review canvas organization across a workspace. List view plus sort and filters can reveal old, unsorted, recently changed, or personally created canvases.

When not to use All canvases

Use Files when you remember an attachment rather than a canvas. Files can point you back to the containing canvas.

Use Projects when the question is about tasks, owners, due dates, labels, or project views.

Use Activity when you remember that someone changed something but not the canvas title.

Use Trash when the canvas may have been deleted.

Use Canvas templates when you want to start new work from a reusable canvas structure.

Common issues

If All canvases looks empty, confirm the workspace and account, clear search and filters, and switch between grid and list. Then try global Search and Shared with me.

If a canvas appears but actions are missing, check your role and the canvas state. View-only collaborators and guests usually see fewer actions.

If a canvas opens read-only, that is usually a permission issue. Ask the owner whether you should have edit access. See Read-only access.

If you cannot find a deleted canvas, check Trash under canvases and restore it before retention ends.