Shared with me overview

Shared with me is your inbox for work someone else sent you

Use Shared with me when another person gives you access to a canvas or project and you need a reliable place to open it again. It is especially useful when the work is not yours, does not live in your usual project list, or came through a direct share instead of a workspace-wide assignment.

Shared with me is not a list of everything you can access in the workspace. It focuses on canvases and projects that were shared with you by someone else. You may still find your own work in Home, All canvases, Projects, or Search across ALLO.

A shared item also does not always mean full workspace access. Someone can share one canvas with you, or one project, without exposing every canvas, file, dashboard, or member in the workspace. The actions you see depend on the permission attached to that share and on your workspace role.

When to use Shared with me

Use Shared with me when:

• You received a canvas or project from a teammate, client, partner, or guest collaborator and want to open it again without digging through chat or email.
• You saw a notification but forgot the title.
• A project was shared with you, but you did not create it.
• You need to clear unread shared work.

Use it for questions like:

If you need notification settings rather than the shared list, use Manage notifications. If you need to share work with someone else, use Share a canvas or Share work with teammates.

Where Shared with me appears

Open Shared with me from the Home area or workspace navigation when it is available in your ALLO experience. It may also be reachable from surfaces that summarize recent or unread shared work.

The view can show shared canvases and shared projects together, often with separate emphasis for unread work. It is designed for quick recovery and triage: see what was shared, understand who sent it, open it, and mark it read when you no longer need the unread reminder.

If you use the desktop app, Shared with me follows the same account and workspace rules as the web app. If a shared item appears in one app but not another, refresh, confirm you are signed into the same account, and make sure both apps are in the same workspace. For desktop-specific issues, see Troubleshoot the desktop app.

What shared cards can show

Shared cards are meant to explain the share before you open it. Depending on the item and your access, a card can show the title, item type, who shared it, when it was shared, project location, unread state, and available actions. For canvases, ALLO may also show a permission label when that information is available.

Project cards and canvas cards do not always expose the same permission details. If a project card does not show an edit label, do not assume ALLO is saying you have or do not have edit access; open the project and check the actions available inside it. The card is a starting point, not a complete permissions report.

If a card is missing details, the item may have limited metadata, changed access, been deleted, or been shared in a way that only exposes the minimum needed to open it.

Open shared canvases and projects

Click or select a shared canvas to open the canvas. Once inside, your actions depend on the role granted by the share. You may be able to view, comment, edit, present, or export depending on permission and workspace settings. See Open shared work for the full opening workflow.

Click or select a shared project to open the project. A shared project can contain canvases, views, tags, filters, sections, and calendar planning depending on how the project is configured. If you are new to Projects, start with Understand projects.

If the item does not open, do not assume the share was never valid. The owner may have changed your access, moved the work, deleted it, or shared it with a different email. Use Fix shared access.

Unread shared work

Unread shared work helps you separate new shares from work you have already handled. An unread badge or section can appear when there are shared canvases or projects you have not opened or marked read.

Unread is about your attention state, not about whether the item still exists or whether other people have read it. Marking an item read does not remove access, delete the share, notify the owner that you finished reviewing it, or change anyone else’s unread state.

Use Unread shared work to understand how unread items appear, and Mark shared work as read when you need to clear a backlog.

Permissions and visibility

Shared access can be narrow. A teammate can share one canvas with you without sharing the project. A project owner can share a project while one canvas inside it has separate restrictions. A workspace admin can change roles in a way that affects what shared items you can open.

Your current account matters. If a share was sent to your work email but you are signed in with a personal email, Shared with me may not show the item. If you belong to multiple workspaces, make sure you are in the workspace where the share was sent.

Guests and external collaborators may see a more limited Shared with me experience than workspace members. They may be able to open the shared item but not browse the rest of the workspace. For role details, see Members, guests, and external collaborators and Invite guests and external collaborators.

Common scenarios

If a client shares a review canvas with you, open Shared with me, find the canvas, check who shared it and when, then open it. If you cannot edit, ask the sender whether they intended view, comment, or edit access.

If a teammate shares a project for a launch, open Shared with me, open the project, then use project views, filters, tags, and calendar planning to find the right work. See Use project views, Use tags and filters, and Use the project calendar.

If you received a notification but cannot find the item, check the current workspace, clear unread filters, and search Shared with me by title if search is available. Then use Search across ALLO or ask the sender to resend the link.

If a shared item vanished, it may have been unshared, deleted, restored elsewhere, or permanently removed after the retention window. Check When work looks missing and How Trash works.

What Shared with me does not do

Shared with me does not replace project membership. If you need ongoing access to every canvas in a project, ask for project or workspace access rather than relying on individual canvas shares.

Shared with me does not manage billing, storage, or workspace roles. If shared files are unavailable because of storage state, use Files, storage, and quota. If your role needs to change, use Change a member's role.

Shared with me does not guarantee that deleted or unshared items remain visible forever. If the owner removes your access or the item is permanently deleted, the shared list may no longer be able to open it.

If Shared with me looks wrong

Refresh the page, confirm the workspace, and check the signed-in email. Then ask the sender whether they shared a canvas, a project, or only a link. Those are different access paths.

If you can open the direct link but the item does not appear in Shared with me, the share may not be recorded as a direct shared item for this list, or the list may need to refresh. Keep the link if it works, and ask the owner to confirm the sharing settings.

If you see the item but cannot open it, use Fix shared access. Include the workspace name, item title, sender, and the exact error or read-only state when you ask for help.