Access a deactivated workspace

Deactivation blocks the workspace relationship

If your workspace member access is deactivated, old links should not reopen the workspace. This is stricter than read-only access. Read-only means you can open the work but cannot edit it. Deactivated means your membership relationship to the workspace is blocked.

This boundary protects private workspace data. A former member should not be able to keep using an old canvas link, project URL, notification, or live connection after the workspace relationship is deactivated.

For the broader access model, read Members, guests, and external collaborators. For admin member controls, read Manage workspace members.

Availability and permissions

What deactivation is and is not

The important edge case is a person who used to be a workspace member and now should only access one shared item. If they still have a deactivated workspace member record, that deactivation can block them before item sharing helps. An admin may need to resolve the old member state and then share the specific work as an external collaborator or guest.

Where admins should check

Admins should start in Workspace settings → Members or the member management surface available in the workspace. Search by the person’s exact email. Check whether the member is active, invited, removed, or deactivated.

Then decide what access the person should have now:

What affected users should try first

If you see an access error, sign out and sign back in with the account that belongs to the workspace. If you have multiple Google, Microsoft, work, school, or personal accounts, the browser may have opened ALLO with the wrong identity.

Next, confirm the workspace name and the link you are trying to open. If the link came from an old email, old Inbox item, or saved bookmark, the work may have moved, been deleted, or changed permissions.

If you still cannot access the workspace, contact a workspace admin. Send the workspace name, your signed-in email, the link you tried to open, and the time of the failed attempt. Do not send passwords, verification codes, or private credentials.

Why old links stay blocked

Old links are useful for navigation, but they should not override deactivation. If the workspace relationship is blocked, ALLO should not fall back to a softer read-only mode through an old project or canvas URL. That would make member offboarding unreliable.

This also means that support may need to distinguish a deactivated former member from a true external collaborator. A true external collaborator has no active workspace member relationship and can be granted item-specific access. A deactivated member has a blocked workspace relationship that must be handled first.

Examples

A former employee clicks an old canvas link and sees an access error. That is expected if they were deactivated. An admin should not share screenshots or ask them to keep retrying. The admin should decide whether they should return as a member or remain blocked.

A client used to be a workspace member during a project, then later needs to review one final canvas. If their member access was deactivated, the admin may need to resolve that state and share the canvas as an external collaborator instead of reactivating full workspace membership.

A teammate is active in the workspace but sees a read-only canvas. That is not deactivation. Check the canvas Share dialog and grant edit access if appropriate.

A user cannot see any workspace after signing in. They may be using the wrong email, their invite may not be accepted, or their member access may be deactivated. Check sign-in first, then ask an admin to review member status.

Common mistakes

Do not treat deactivation as a password or browser problem. Refreshing, clearing cache, or opening the desktop app will not fix a deliberately blocked workspace relationship.

Do not send a new invite before checking the old member state. Duplicate invites can make the account story harder to understand.

Do not make a deactivated former member an external collaborator without thinking through the data boundary. If they should not access workspace data, keep them blocked. If they should access one item, use the narrowest item permission after admin review.

Do not confuse guest access with deactivated access. A guest may have never been a workspace member. A deactivated member had a workspace relationship that is now blocked.

Recover when access should be restored

If the person should return to the workspace, a workspace admin should reactivate or invite them, confirm their role, and ask them to sign in with the correct email. Then review teams and item permissions.

If the person should access only one item, use Invite guests and external collaborators or the item’s Share dialog after resolving any old member block.

If the person believes they were deactivated by mistake, they should contact the workspace admin, not only ALLO support. The workspace owner or admin is usually the authority on whether the person should belong to that workspace.

If the admin confirms access should work but it still fails, contact support with the workspace name, affected email, link, approximate time, and screenshot of the error. Use Contact support with the right details for what to include.