Use a Canvas PIN or passcode

A Canvas PIN is a 4-digit entry code for one canvas. Use it when the right people already have a link, invite, project role, or workspace role, but the canvas content should stay blocked until they know the PIN.

Some older messages may say passcode or password. For Canvas access, treat those as the same feature: the visible product label is Canvas PIN.

A PIN is an extra gate. It does not replace sharing, membership, ownership, or permission levels. Someone still needs canvas access, and their role still decides whether they can view, comment, edit, or manage the canvas after they enter the correct PIN.

What a Canvas PIN protects

When a canvas has a PIN, ALLO asks for the code before loading the full canvas content. A person with the right access path but without the PIN stays at the protected entry screen instead of reaching the editor.

The PIN blocks the full canvas experience: pages, objects, editing, comments, presence, chat, calls, and other live collaboration surfaces do not open as the normal editor until the entry check passes.

A PIN does not make the canvas completely invisible. A recipient may still see that a protected canvas exists, a canvas name, a link destination, or an entry screen. That is expected: ALLO needs enough context to tell the person what they are trying to open. The PIN protects the contents and editor access, not every trace that the canvas exists.

After someone enters the right PIN, their normal permission still applies. A viewer stays a viewer. A commenter can comment if comment access was granted. An editor can edit if edit access was granted. The PIN does not upgrade anyone.

When to use a PIN

Use a Canvas PIN when you want to share a canvas while adding a lightweight entry check for the moment or audience.

It is useful for classes and student groups when an instructor wants to prepare a canvas in advance, share the link early, and give out the PIN when the activity begins.

It works well for teams or working groups when the canvas is relevant to a broad project, but the content is not ready for every teammate to open yet. People can know the canvas exists while the work stays blocked until the PIN is shared.

Use it for client-only or reviewer-only access when the link could be forwarded inside a client team, but the PIN should be sent through a controlled channel.

It also helps for workshops, interviews, training sessions, and staged reviews. You can prepare the canvas, set the permissions, send the link, and distribute the PIN right before people should enter.

Do not use a PIN as the only access boundary for highly sensitive work. Keep the actual share permissions narrow, remove people who no longer need access, disable share links when they are done, and use the PIN as an extra check rather than the whole security model.

Who can set, change, or remove a PIN

Canvas PIN management is separate from normal view, comment, and edit access. Edit permission lets someone change canvas content. It does not automatically mean they can manage the PIN.

In most workspaces, canvas owners and workspace admins can set, change, or remove a Canvas PIN. The person who created the canvas may also be allowed to manage it when they still have the needed canvas access. Some workspaces allow additional instructor or admin-style roles to manage PINs based on workspace settings.

Guests, viewers, commenters, and most editors cannot manage a Canvas PIN. Workspace members who can open the canvas may still need an owner or admin to set or remove the PIN for them.

If Manage Canvas PIN is missing or disabled, the most likely reasons are that the workspace does not support PIN protection, the current canvas context does not allow it, you are a guest, or your account does not have permission to manage the PIN. Ask a canvas owner or workspace admin to make the change.

Add a Canvas PIN

Open the canvas, then open the canvas header menu and choose Manage Canvas PIN. In places where ALLO shows canvas card actions, the same management action may also be available from the canvas menu.

Choose Set a canvas PIN, enter a 4-digit PIN, and confirm it. Share the PIN separately from the canvas link when that is safer for your group.

Use a code that is easy enough for the session audience to enter but not obvious to people who should not join. Avoid codes like 0000, 1111, or the current year for client reviews, classrooms, and broad team sessions.

ALLO does not use the PIN to decide the recipient's role. Set the canvas share permission separately. If students should only comment, give comment access. If a client should only review, give view or comment access. If a teammate should edit, grant edit access through Share, project access, or the appropriate member setting.

Change or remove a PIN

Use Manage Canvas PIN again to change the code or remove it.

Change the PIN when the code was shared too broadly, when a class or workshop group changes, when a client review moves to a new phase, or when the canvas should remain protected but the old audience should no longer enter.

Remove the PIN when the canvas no longer needs the extra entry check. Removing the PIN does not remove members, disable share links, or change anyone's role. It only removes the code prompt. Review the Share settings separately if access should be narrowed.

People cannot read the current PIN back from the canvas. If a PIN is forgotten, someone with PIN management permission should change it, remove it, or use the reset option shown in their workspace. If you are a guest or viewer and do not know the PIN, ask the canvas owner or workspace admin for the current code.

Share a PIN-protected canvas

Set up the access path first, then share the PIN with the right audience.

For named people, invite them from Share and choose view, comment, or edit access. Then send the PIN through the channel your team trusts for that group.

For a class, workshop, or temporary group, create a share link with the right permission, send the link ahead of time, and reveal the PIN when the group should enter. If the canvas should close again after the session, change or remove the PIN and review whether the share link should stay active.

For client-only review, share the link and PIN only with the client contacts who should open it. Comment access is better than edit access for reviews. If a client only needs to inspect the work, use view access.

For internal teams, be explicit about what the PIN means. It is not a secret project membership system. It is a canvas entry check layered on top of the existing workspace, project, and canvas permissions.

What people see when they enter

People with access to a protected canvas see a prompt that says the canvas is protected by a PIN. They enter the 4-digit code to continue.

If the code is correct, the canvas opens with the permission they already have. If the code is wrong, they stay at the prompt and must try again or ask for the current PIN.

If the person does not have canvas access at all, the PIN will not fix that. They see the access, sign-in, or guest entry path created by the way the canvas was shared. Share the canvas or update their member role before expecting the PIN to work.

Guests with the right link still need the PIN when a canvas is protected. A guest who lacks the PIN stays in the entry flow and cannot reach the full editor.

Workspace members and project members also need the PIN. Being in the workspace or project can provide the access path, but it does not bypass the code.

PINs and Canvas members

Use Manage Canvas members when the question is "Who can open this canvas, and what can they do?" Use a Canvas PIN when the question is "Should people who already have an access path also need a code before the content opens?"

These controls work together. A student group may get comment access through a share link and still need the PIN. A client may be invited by email and still need the PIN. A teammate may have project access and still need the PIN. After entry, each person keeps the role they had before entry.

If a person should no longer have access, remove or lower their access in Share, project settings, or workspace settings. Changing the PIN is useful when a code was shared too far, but it does not remove every existing access path.

Troubleshooting

If Manage Canvas PIN is missing, check whether your workspace supports the feature, whether you are a canvas owner or workspace admin, and whether you are signed in with the right account. Guests and viewers cannot manage the PIN.

If a collaborator sees the protected screen but cannot enter, confirm that they have the current 4-digit PIN. Also confirm they are using the current link and the account that was invited.

If someone enters the PIN and the canvas opens read-only, their permission is view-only. Change their role from Share or the relevant project access settings if they should comment or edit.

If someone can see that the canvas exists but cannot view the content, that can be normal for a PIN-protected canvas. The entry screen may reveal the canvas destination while the pages and editor stay blocked.

If a guest is stuck before the editor opens, check the share link, guest access settings, the PIN, and the guest's permission. A PIN-protected guest link needs both the guest-capable link and the right code.

If a PIN was shared with the wrong audience, change it. If the canvas should no longer accept people from an old link, disable or renew the share link too.