How Trash works

Trash is the recovery place for deleted work

Use Trash when a canvas, project, OKR session, dashboard, or file was deleted and you need to find out whether it can still be restored. Trash gives teams a time-limited recovery path before deleted work is permanently removed.

Trash is not a permanent archive. It is also not a private personal bin. It is a workspace recovery surface governed by the item type, your permission, and the retention window. If something important was deleted, restore it quickly or ask an admin to help before the recovery window ends.

For direct restore steps, see Restore deleted work. For deletion timing, see Retention window.

What you can find in Trash

Trash can show several types of deleted work. The exact tabs and rows you see depend on your workspace, your role, and which item types have deleted content.

Trash may include an All view or resource-specific tabs. The All view is useful for quick scanning, while resource tabs are better when you know the deleted item type. In large workspaces, each resource tab can load more items separately, so checking only the first screen is not always enough.

Where Trash appears

Open Trash from the workspace navigation or Home area when your workspace exposes it. Some item-level menus can also send deleted work to Trash after you confirm deletion. If you do not see Trash, your workspace role or app surface may not expose it. Ask a workspace admin if you need recovery access.

If you are using a scoped surface like a project, Files, or dashboard list, remember that Trash is broader than the current page. A file removed from a canvas may appear under file-related deleted work, while a deleted project appears under project resources.

What you can do in Trash

Restore puts recoverable work back where ALLO can reopen it. Restore is the first action to try when deletion was accidental or when the team still needs the work. Restoration depends on permission, item type, retention, and whether the parent context still exists.

Delete forever permanently removes the item from normal recovery. It is stricter than restore and should be reserved for work the team is sure it no longer needs. See Delete work forever.

Empty Trash is a workspace-level action for admins. It can permanently delete the current Trash snapshot across supported resource types and may continue in the background. See Empty Trash.

Review item details before choosing an action. The title, type, deletion time, project location, owner, and available actions can help you avoid restoring or deleting the wrong item.

Permissions in Trash

Trash actions are permission-sensitive. You may be able to see or restore work that you can access, while permanent deletion may require a stronger role. Empty Trash is more restricted because it affects the workspace Trash as a whole. For role boundaries, see Members, guests, and external collaborators.

If an action is missing, your role probably does not allow it for that item. Ask the item owner or a workspace admin to help. Do not ask someone to permanently delete work unless the team is sure recovery is no longer needed.

If you are a guest or external collaborator, your Trash visibility may be limited to shared work or may not be available. Guest access is intentionally narrower than workspace membership. See Invite guests and external collaborators.

Files in Trash

Files in Trash are tied to the canvas or work context where the team used them. Restoring a file usually means putting it back into that context. If the containing canvas or project was permanently deleted, the file may not have a place to return.

This distinction explains why a file can be visible in Files, unavailable for preview, removed from a canvas, and later appear in Trash as a recoverable item. For file behavior, see Files overview, Remove a file from a canvas, and Unavailable and retention-locked files.

Retention is time-limited

In production workspaces, the standard Trash recovery window is 30 days from deletion. After the retention window, ALLO can automatically remove deleted work from Trash. Once work is permanently deleted or removed by retention, normal restore actions are no longer available.

If the work matters, do not wait until the last day. Restore it or ask an admin to restore it. If you need to preserve something for compliance or records, restore it and export or manage it through the appropriate workspace process before the retention window ends.

See Retention window for details and edge cases.

Common recovery scenarios

If a canvas was deleted from a project, open Trash, choose the canvas tab, search or load more until you find the canvas, and restore it if the action is available. Then open the project and confirm the canvas appears where the team expects.

If a project disappeared, check Trash under projects. Restoring a project can bring back the project container, but separate item states and permissions can affect what reappears. After restore, review project views and canvases.

If a file was removed from a canvas, check Trash under file-related deleted work. Restore the file if the parent canvas still exists and you have permission.

If a dashboard was deleted or archived, check the dashboard-related Trash area and Archive and restore dashboards.

When Trash does not show the item

Check the workspace first. Trash is workspace-specific. Then check the correct resource tab and load more if the list is long. Clear any search or filter that could hide the item.

If the item was already restored, it will no longer appear as deleted. Look in its normal location: All canvases, Projects, Files, Dashboards, or OKRs.

If the item was permanently deleted or the 30-day retention window ended, it may no longer be recoverable through Trash. Use Troubleshooting and When work looks missing.