Use the rich text editor

The rich text editor is the shared editing surface behind text-heavy canvas work. Use it when the words inside an object matter, not just the object itself: a sticky note with a link, a text object that becomes a heading, a shape label, a spreadsheet cell with a checklist, or a comment that mentions the person who needs to answer.

It is intentionally smaller than a document editor — it gives canvas content enough structure to be readable in place without turning every object into a separate document.

Where rich text editing appears

The same habits carry across surfaces: keep headings short, mention people who need to respond, and use checklists only when the item is trackable. A missing control does not mean the editor is broken — ALLO hides controls that do not apply to the current object, permission, selection, or composer.

Format canvas text

Select the text or place your cursor in editable text, then use the visible toolbar. Depending on the surface, ALLO can show bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, font family, font size, text color, highlight, alignment, links, bullet lists, numbered lists, checklists, headings, quote, inline code, and code block.

A heading should mark a real section, a checklist should be actionable, and highlighting should flag a decision, risk, or status. If formatting only reads when everyone zooms in, simplify the object or split it across notes.

Fonts, links, and slash commands

The font family and font size controls give text a clear role — a section heading, a compact diagram label, a monospace value for code-like content. Font choices are saved with the object or cell so collaborators see them. ALLO's font menu is generated from the configured canvas font list; in the English font set, the current picker includes Satoshi, DM Sans, Google Sans, D-DIN, Cairo, Inter, Geist, Instrument Sans, Instrument Serif, Plus Jakarta Sans, Manrope, Outfit, Figtree, Bricolage Grotesque, Fraunces, Playfair Display, Permanent Marker, Gabarito, Newsreader, Inria Sans, Space Grotesk, Radio Canada, Open Sans, Roboto Mono, Roboto Slab, Libre Baskerville, Lato, Hind Siliguri, Jost, Montserrat, Lobster, Story Script, Handlee, DM Serif Text, Ubuntu, JetBrains Mono, IBM Plex Mono, Kode Mono, Oswald, and Verdana. The menu varies by language, country, workspace configuration, and recent choices (Japanese and Korean families come from the same configuration), so a font you used before may not be enabled for your current locale. Use a small number of families per canvas so it stays scannable.

Use the Link control, ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux), when selected text should open another place. Links can target another canvas or an external site, but a link does not grant the reader access to the destination — canvas links still follow the destination's access. Typing a full address and pressing Space or Enter can auto-format it; rename long URLs to readable text. Object-level links differ from rich text links — use the Element menu to link to the object itself, and see Private links and share links for copied page/object/comment/chat links.

Where slash commands are supported, type / at the start of a line or after a space and choose a format (heading, divider, bold, italic, lists, checklist, quote, inline code, code block, alignment). The menu filters as you type. The canvas toolbar also has a separate slash tool picker for choosing canvas tools — the rich text / menu only formats the text you are editing.

Checklists, mentions, and pasting

Use checklist formatting for lightweight action items inside the content itself. ALLO can collect checklist lines from objects and spreadsheet cells into the canvas checklist view; clicking an item returns to its source, and toggling the checked state writes back to the original content. Keep lines short — if an item needs an assignee, due date, or status, use the project or task workflow instead.

Type @ or use the mention control to insert a mention chip. Mentions are structured data, not plain text, so ALLO can use them for navigation and notifications; for who can be mentioned and why a mention may not notify, see Mention people and canvas collaborators.

Pasting keeps useful structure (headings, lists, safe colors, supported fonts, code blocks, quotes, safe http/https links) while stripping unsafe or noisy web styling; long pages may be simplified. Unsafe link schemes are ignored rather than linked. Pasted images become normal canvas image objects through the upload flow rather than buried inline images, so they stay movable, previewable, and commentable.

Keyboard behavior

While your cursor is inside the editor, typing belongs to text editing first, and canvas tool shortcuts stay quiet so a letter like T, P, or S does not switch tools while you write.

Common shortcuts include ⌘B/Ctrl+B (bold), ⌘I/Ctrl+I (italic), ⌘U/Ctrl+U (underline), ⌘K/Ctrl+K (link), and ⌘⇧7/⌘⇧8/⌘⇧9 for numbered, bulleted, and checklist formatting where supported; slash commands cover headings, dividers, quotes, and code. Press Enter for a new paragraph or list item. In spreadsheet cells, Enter stays inside the cell editor while Tab moves through cells unless you are in an indented list. If a shortcut seems to affect the canvas instead of the text, click back into the editable text. For the full table, see Canvas shortcuts.

When controls are not available

Troubleshooting

• Formatting does not apply. Your cursor may not be inside editable text, the object may be locked, or the surface may not support that format. Reselect the text, confirm edit access, and try again.
• A link works for you but not others. The destination requires access they lack; share the destination canvas or resource first.
• A mention reads as ordinary text. It was not chosen from the picker. Delete the typed name, type @, and select the target so ALLO inserts a chip.
• A note becomes hard to read. Split it — a heading plus shorter objects, or move the long explanation to a document and link to it.