Fold pages

Fold a page when it should remain in the canvas but stop taking up room in the active page flow. A folded page is still part of the canvas. It keeps its place in page order, but its body collapses into a compact row until someone unfolds it.

Use folding for facilitator prep, alternate drafts, backup workshop prompts, appendix material, parking-lot pages, outdated versions, and pages that should stay out of a presentation or page-based export. Folding is a visibility and organization choice. It is not deletion, archiving, or access control.

Folded pages are available on page canvases. A freeform whiteboard uses one open board instead of a page stack, so normal page folding is not available there. If you are choosing between formats, see Page canvases and freeform whiteboards.

What folding changes

Folding hides the page body in the main page stack. The page's compact row remains visible so collaborators can see that the page exists, navigate to it, open page controls, and unfold it later when they have permission.

When a page is folded, ALLO treats it as outside the active visible flow. The page body, objects, page preview, and page-frame rendering are not shown in the main stack while it is folded. This keeps the canvas easier to scan without removing the underlying content.

Folding is saved with the canvas. Other collaborators see the page as folded, and remote updates can change the page stack for everyone. If you fold a page during a live session, other editors and viewers see the layout change too.

What folding does not change

Folding does not delete the page. It preserves the page title, page order, page link, background, page size, objects, comments, unread indicators, and page content. It also preserves the page for copy, duplicate, and other page operations that keep page structure.

Folding does not make content private. People with access to the canvas can still know the page exists, and editors with the right permission can unfold it. Use canvas sharing and workspace permissions for access control.

Folding does not mean the page is finished. A folded page can still contain stale notes, unresolved comments, old media, or unfinished decisions. Rename folded pages clearly so collaborators understand why the page is folded.

Availability

Fold a page

Open the page canvas and choose the page you want to fold. Open the Page menu from the page controls or slide rail, then choose Fold page.

If multiple pages are selected, the menu can show Fold n pages. ALLO folds the selected pages together and saves that state for the canvas.

After folding, scan the slide rail or overview. The folded page should still be findable as a compact row or card. If the page contains material people may need later, rename it before or after folding so it has a readable purpose.

Unfold a page

Find the folded page in the page stack, slide rail, or overview. Open the page menu and choose Unfold page. In the slide rail, an available chevron control can also unfold the compact row when you have edit access.

If multiple selected pages are folded, the menu can show Unfold n pages. ALLO restores those pages into the visible page flow and recalculates the page stack.

After unfolding, give heavy pages a moment to draw. Large images, file previews, spreadsheets, and dense object layouts can take longer to appear after the page body is remounted.

Why Fold can be disabled

ALLO blocks Fold when the selected pages would hide every currently expanded page. A page canvas needs at least one expanded page so collaborators have a visible place to land, page links have a readable target, and the canvas does not appear empty while it still contains content.

This is not a permission error. It is a document-safety guard. Leave one overview, start, agenda, or landing page expanded, then fold the supporting pages.

Fold can also be missing or disabled when you are in a freeform whiteboard, using guest access, using view or comment access, or selecting every expanded page.

Where folded pages appear

In the main page stack, a folded page appears as a compact row instead of full page paper. The page body and object area are collapsed.

In the slide rail, a folded page remains visible as a compact row with folded-page styling. It can still work as a navigation target, and editors can unfold it from the row or the page menu when controls are available.

In overview, folded pages appear as compact cards rather than full page previews. This keeps old or archived material recoverable without making it look like active presentation content.

In presentation mode, the visible page order skips folded pages. This is useful when a page is for prep, backup, or archive material. It is risky if someone folded a page that the audience should see, so check the slide rail before presenting.

Folded pages and export or print

Folded pages are treated as outside the visible page flow. Before exporting, printing, or presenting, decide which folded pages should stay folded and which should return.

If a folded page should appear in a PDF, printout, or live presentation, unfold it first. If a page should remain internal, keep it folded and name it clearly so collaborators understand why it is not part of the output.

For predictable output, review folded pages together with page order, page titles, page size, selected PDF page range, quality setting, and media loading. See Export a canvas to PDF for PDF-specific output behavior, and see Page size when a page's shape is also part of the problem.

Practical workflows

For workshop prep, fold facilitator instructions, backup prompts, alternate exercises, and timing notes until they are needed. During the session, unfold a page only when it becomes part of the work.

For presentation cleanup, fold scratch work, appendix pages, abandoned versions, and alternate designs before presenting. Use the slide rail or overview as the final check.

For archive cleanup, fold old draft pages instead of deleting them when they still carry useful context. This keeps the current canvas readable while preserving decisions and references.

For handoff, rename folded pages with direct labels such as "Archive - Q2 research" or "Backup activity." An unnamed folded page becomes a mystery row.

For long-running canvases, treat folding as part of maintenance. If people keep unfolding a page because they need it every week, move it back into the active flow or create a clearer section for it.

Folding versus deleting

Fold when the page may be needed later. Delete only when the page and its discussion history are no longer needed.

Deleting a page can remove page comments and comments attached to objects on that page. ALLO can warn about comment impact, but it cannot decide whether the history is still important to your team. If in doubt, fold first and delete later after review.

If the page contains a protected locked object you cannot remove, deletion can be blocked. Folding can still reduce clutter while you contact the person who protected the object or the canvas owner.

What can go wrong

If Fold page is missing, check whether you are in a freeform whiteboard, using guest access, using view or comment access, or selecting every expanded page.

If a page looks missing, check the slide rail and overview for folded rows before assuming it was deleted.

If a folded page does not appear in presentation, PDF export, or print output, that is expected. Unfold it before producing output where it should appear.

If you cannot unfold a page, check edit access, guest access, and whether the canvas is read-only. See Share a canvas for canvas access levels.

If an unfolded page looks too short or content appears near the bottom edge, wait for automatic height to recalculate. If the page shape is still wrong, resize it.

If collaborators are confused after pages are folded, rename the folded pages or leave one visible overview page explaining the current flow.