Find work again

Start with the clue you still have

The fastest way back to lost work is not opening every menu in ALLO. It is naming the clue you still have: a title fragment, the person who shared it, a file name, the project, a comment, or the fact that you opened it recently.

Start with that clue, then choose the right recovery path. Home is best for work you touched recently. Search, All canvases, Files, Shared with me, and Trash are better when Recent is not enough.

One rule is worth keeping: do not recreate important work until you have checked the workspace, Search, the owning area, Shared with me, and Trash. Recreating too early is how teams end up with two half-correct versions.

Availability

The short recovery path

1. Check Switch workspaces first. Recent work, Search results, Files, People, and permissions are workspace-specific.
2. Open Home and scan Recent, Mentions, Today, and Activity.
3. Open Search from the topbar, or press Command+K on Mac and Ctrl+K on Windows or Linux. Search by title, keyword, person, file name, or a phrase from the work.
4. If it is a canvas, open All canvases, clear filters, and check grid or list view before deciding it is missing.
5. If the clue is an attachment, open Files, find the file, then open the containing work for the comments and decisions around it.
6. If someone sent it to you directly, check Shared with me.
7. If the item was deleted, check Trash before the recovery window ends.

Choose the right place

Search by the clue, not the whole story

Use Search when you have a title, keyword, project name, teammate, file name, command, or phrase from the work. Open Search, then type the most specific word you remember.

Shorter searches help when the exact title fails. Teams rename work, shorten campaign names, and use different punctuation than you remember. For a canvas called Q4 enterprise launch review, search enterprise or launch before typing the full title.

Search only returns work your account can access in the current workspace. If a teammate sees a result and you do not, check workspace, account, role, project access, canvas share, and deletion state before changing the search text again. When you can't access work gives the wider access checklist.

Follow a file back to its work

Use Files when you remember the attachment but not the canvas. Search by file name, type, uploader, project, or canvas scope. When you find the file, open the containing canvas or project so you can see the comments, decisions, and owner around it.

Files is contextual, not a separate drive. A file row points back to where the material was used. If the same file appears in more than one canvas, confirm the containing work before downloading, removing, or asking someone to upload it again.

If a file appears unavailable, check the containing work and Trash. The file can be visible as a record of where it belonged even when preview or download is restricted.

Use a link as evidence

Open the link while signed in with the account that should have access. If the link fails, ask the sender which workspace it belongs to and whether they shared it with the email address you use for ALLO.

If the sender can open it and you cannot, the next problem to solve is access. Ask the owner or the person who shared it to share the work again, or use When you can't access work.

A broken link with a known owner is an access question first. It is not proof that the work is gone.

When access and deletion are the real issue

Work can look missing when you are in the wrong workspace, signed in with the wrong account, looking at a filtered list, missing permission, or opening work after it was deleted. Identify which condition is true, then choose the matching recovery path.

What can go wrong

The item is not in Recent. Recent is a compact shortcut, not a complete archive. Use Search, All canvases, Files, Shared with me, or Trash.

Search misses the work. Confirm the workspace, then try fewer words. Search by person, client, project, file name, or a unique phrase instead of the whole title.

A teammate can see it, but you cannot. Ask them to send the link and confirm the workspace. If the link fails for you, ask the owner or the person who shared it to review your access.

A file appears without the surrounding work. Open the containing canvas or project from Files. The file name alone will not show the decision, comment, or owner that explains why it exists.

The work was deleted. Check Trash before recreating it. If Trash does not show it, the item was restored, hidden by permission, already permanently deleted, or outside the recovery window.

You still cannot find it. Gather the workspace name, likely title, owner or sender, project, file name, last time you saw it, and the paths you checked. Send that to the owner, admin, or support so they can trace the right item instead of guessing.