Troubleshoot project and canvas access

Project and canvas access are separate checks

When a project is missing, read-only, or unable to open a canvas, check three layers: workspace access, project access, and canvas access. They are related, but they are not interchangeable.

You can be a workspace member without seeing a private project. You can open a project without opening every canvas inside it. You can open a directly shared canvas without seeing the project that contains it. Troubleshooting is faster when you identify which layer is failing instead of treating every failure as the same permission problem.

For normal project behavior, start with Understand projects. For member changes, use Manage project members. For canvas-only sharing, use Share a canvas.

Availability

Start with the current workspace and account

Confirm that you are signed in with the right ALLO account and workspace. If a project was shared with your work email, your personal email may not have access. If your company has multiple workspaces, the same project name can exist in more than one place.

If you opened a link from chat or email, check whether ALLO switched workspaces after sign-in. Use Switch workspaces, choose the expected workspace, and open the link again.

If you recently accepted an invite or your role changed, refresh ALLO or sign out and back in so the app loads current access.

If the project is missing

First, confirm that the sender shared the project, not only one canvas. A direct canvas share can open the canvas without adding the project to your Projects list.

Then check visibility and membership. Public projects are visible to workspace members and can be joined from the project experience. Private projects are visible only to invited people. If you are a workspace member but were not invited to a private project, the project can still be missing.

Clear project-list filters. Any of these can narrow the list:

• search
• status
• owner
• tag
• public/private
• Joined or Not joined
• due-this-week or due-next-week
• sort and view settings

If your workspace shows public projects you have not joined yet, switch between Joined and Not joined before assuming the project is gone.

If the project still does not appear, ask whether it was renamed, archived, deleted, or moved to another workspace. Check Trash if deletion is possible, and use Fix missing work for broader account and workspace checks.

If the project opens read-only

Read-only usually means your role lets you view the project but not edit it. You may be able to open project views and canvases, but not create project canvases, move canvases, change dates, edit tags, archive, delete, or manage members.

Ask the project owner what permission they intended. If you only need to review, read-only may be correct. If you need to create or update project work, ask for the project role or workspace role that supports editing.

Use Read-only access and Members, guests, and external collaborators for broader role guidance.

If a project canvas is missing

Clear filters before changing access. A project canvas can be hidden by owner, tag, status, Due date, section, search term, public/private filter, joined filter, or saved view. Switch views and check List, Calendar, and Kanban if they are available. A project canvas without a date may not appear on Calendar.

Search within the project if possible. Then use global Search across ALLO with the canvas title.

If the canvas still does not appear, ask whether it was moved, renamed, completed, archived, or deleted. Check Trash if deletion is possible.

For project view and filter behavior, see Use project views and Use tags and filters.

If an action is missing

Missing actions usually come from permission or project state. You may not be allowed to create project canvases, edit fields, move canvases, manage tags, rename sections, change project members, duplicate, archive, delete, or restore.

The project may also be archived, deleted, demo-only, restricted by workspace settings, or open in a view that does not support the action. Try another project view and refresh before escalating.

If a teammate has the action and you do not, compare roles and project membership. If nobody has the action, the project state or workspace setting may be the reason.

If a canvas in the project will not open

Project permission and canvas permission can differ. A project row may point to a canvas that is private, shared with a different group, deleted, moved, or restricted. If you can open the project but not the canvas, ask the canvas owner to check the canvas share list.

If you can open the canvas from a direct link but not from the project, refresh the project and check whether the item is still connected to the correct canvas. The link may be stale or the canvas may have been replaced.

If the canvas was deleted, check Trash. If the canvas was shared with you separately, check Shared with me. For canvas-specific access, read Share a canvas.

If you can open the canvas but not the project

You may have canvas-level access without project access. This is common for external reviewers, clients, or guests who only need one work surface. Opening the canvas does not automatically grant access to the whole project or every item in the project.

Ask the project owner whether you should have project access. If not, use the canvas link and comments for review. If yes, they should add you from Manage members with the right project access.

For shared access, see Fix shared access.

Use Joined, Not joined, public, and private filters carefully

Project filters can make an access problem look worse than it is. Public and Private filter by project visibility. Joined and Not joined filter by your participation state in the project list where that state is available.

Examples help:

If project files are missing

Files attached to canvases may appear in Files with project or canvas context. If project Files does not show a file, the containing canvas may not be in the project, you may lack access to the canvas, filters may be active, or the file may have been removed.

Open the canvas and check the file there. Clear Files filters. Check Trash if the file was removed. See Find files by project or canvas and Remove a file from a canvas.

If Shared with me is involved

Shared with me can show work you received outside the normal project path. A canvas shared from a project can appear there even when you are not a project member. That does not mean the whole project should appear in Projects.

If you expected a project share, ask the sender to check Manage members on the project. If you expected a canvas share, ask them to check the canvas share list instead.

If deletion or restore is involved

Deleted projects, canvases, and files may move to Trash during the retention window. Restore as soon as possible if the deletion was accidental. After permanent deletion or automatic retention cleanup, normal restore is no longer available.

If a project was restored but project canvases still look missing, check whether those canvases were separately deleted, moved, or restricted. Restoring one layer may not fix every linked canvas.

See Restore deleted work and Retention window.

What to ask an owner or admin

Ask them to confirm the workspace, your account email, project visibility, project membership, your role, whether the project is archived or deleted, whether filters are hiding it, and whether the canvas has separate sharing.

If you need support, include the project name, canvas title, workspace name, signed-in email, link if available, what action is missing, and what you expected to happen. Those details prevent a slow back-and-forth.