Files overview

Files helps you find the material attached to your work

Use Files when you remember an attachment, screenshot, PDF, video, spreadsheet, or uploaded document, but you do not remember which canvas or project contains it. Files collects files attached to work in the workspace you are currently using and keeps each file connected to the work around it.

From one place, you can:

• Search and filter files attached to workspace work.
• Preview a file without leaving the Files view.
• Open the canvas that contains the file.
• Download the original file when your permission and the file state allow it.
• Remove a file from the canvas where it appears.

Files is not a separate drive where ALLO asks you to clean up files without context. A row in Files usually shows a file where it is used: on a canvas, in a comment, or in another place that can point back to a canvas or project.

That context matters. If the same file appears in two canvases, or the same file is attached in two different places, you may see more than one row because each row has its own location, permission, and recovery path.

If you are looking for a canvas rather than an attachment, start with All canvases. If you are looking for text across work, use Search across ALLO. If a removed file needs to be recovered, use Trash.

Where to find Files

Open Files from the workspace navigation or the Home area when your workspace has the Files entry enabled. The main Files view shows files across the current workspace. Project and canvas-scoped views narrow the list to one part of the workspace:

The scope is part of the page you are on. If you open Files from a project or canvas, ALLO can keep you inside that project or canvas context. For more detail on moving between scopes, see Find files by project or canvas.

What a file row means

Each file row is designed to answer three practical questions: what is this file, where did it come from, and what can I do with it now?

You may see the file name, type, preview thumbnail, upload or modified time, uploader, project or canvas location, size, and available actions. The exact details depend on the file type, your permission, and whether the original file is still available for preview or download.

The most important context is the containing work. Opening the containing canvas is often more useful than downloading the file because it shows the discussion, decisions, sticky notes, tasks, and other files around it. A file called final.pdf is not very helpful on its own; final.pdf inside the launch review canvas tells you why it exists.

What you can do from Files

A file may be visible in Files while download is disabled because the file is unavailable, expired, restricted by storage state, or no longer accessible through your role.

Permissions and visibility

Files follows the work you can access. If you cannot access a canvas or project, its files should not appear as ordinary available files in your Files view. If you recently lost access, changed workspaces, accepted a new invite, or opened an old link, refresh the page and confirm that you are in the correct workspace. Use Can't access work when the access path is not clear.

Actions also depend on permission:

Files keeps file actions tied to the containing work. For role boundaries, see Members, guests, and external collaborators.

Shared work can add another layer. A shared canvas may let you open and preview the file from that canvas without exposing every file in the project or workspace. If shared access is confusing, check Shared with me and Fix shared access.

Why duplicates happen

Duplicate-looking file rows are usually not a bug. Files is organized around where files appear in your work, not just file names. The same uploaded file can appear more than once when:

Before removing or downloading what looks like a duplicate, open the containing canvas and confirm which instance you need. This prevents removing the file from the wrong discussion or project.

Common ways to use Files

If a teammate says “I uploaded the deck somewhere,” open Files, search for part of the file name, filter to documents or PDFs, then sort by newest. Preview the likely result, and open the containing canvas once you find the right version.

If you need every image from a launch project, open the project-scoped Files view, filter to images, and sort by newest or largest depending on whether you care about recency or source-quality media. Open the canvas before removing anything so you understand whether the image is still used in the launch plan.

If storage is near a limit, use Files to understand where large files are used, then read Files, storage, and quota. Storage cleanup is safest when you remove outdated files from the canvases where they appear and understand what can still be restored from Trash.

If a file appears but cannot be previewed or downloaded, do not assume it is gone. The row can remain visible because ALLO still knows where the file belonged. Check Unavailable and retention-locked files, open the containing canvas if possible, and ask an owner or admin to confirm access or storage state.

When Files is not the right tool

Use All canvases when you need to browse canvases by owner, date, project, or card actions. Files will not show every canvas-level action.

Use Search across ALLO when you need to find work by title, person, project, or broad keyword. Files search is focused on file names and file details, not every word inside every canvas.

Use Activity when you remember that someone changed or uploaded something but do not remember the file name. Activity can help you trace the change back to the original work.

Use Trash when a file was removed and you need to restore it before the retention window ends.

Troubleshooting from Files