Retention window

Deleted work is recoverable for a limited time

In production workspaces, the standard Trash recovery window is 30 days from deletion. During that window, deleted work may be restorable by someone with the right permission. After the window ends, ALLO can automatically remove the deleted work from Trash, and normal restore is no longer available.

The recovery window is a deadline, not a storage strategy. If you need the work, restore it before the window ends. If you need a long-term record, restore it and handle it through your workspace’s export, archive, or records process.

For restore steps, see Restore deleted work.

What the 30-day window means

The 30-day window starts when the item is deleted and enters Trash. It is not extended because someone viewed it in Trash, searched for it, or meant to restore it later. If the item is deleted again after being restored, a new deletion can create a new Trash entry and recovery timing for that new deletion.

Automatic retention runs independently of whether you are watching the item. You do not need to click Delete forever for old Trash items to disappear. If the retention window has passed, the item may be removed without a manual admin action.

If an item disappeared from Trash, check whether it was restored, permanently deleted, or removed by retention.

Retention versus Delete forever

Retention is time-based automatic cleanup. Delete forever is a manual permanent deletion action. Empty Trash is a broader admin action that permanently deletes the workspace Trash snapshot.

All three can make normal restore unavailable. The difference is how the item leaves Trash:

For manual permanent deletion, see Delete work forever and Empty Trash.

Retention and permissions

Retention does not wait for the original owner, project manager, or workspace admin to review every item. If the recovery window ends, automatic cleanup can remove the item regardless of whether a particular user still had permission to restore it.

That is why urgent recovery should not be postponed. If you cannot restore because you lack permission, ask an owner or admin immediately. Waiting can turn a permission problem into a permanent recovery problem. See Members, guests, and external collaborators if you need to understand who can help.

For role questions, see Members, guests, and external collaborators.

Retention and files

Files in Trash are usually recoverable while their deleted file record is still inside the retention window. If that record is removed by retention, the normal user-facing restore path is gone.

If the containing canvas or project is also deleted, restore order can matter. Restoring the parent work first may be necessary before a file can return meaningfully. If the parent was permanently deleted or removed by retention, the file may not be recoverable through normal controls.

For visible but unavailable file rows, see Unavailable and retention-locked files.

How to avoid losing work to retention

Review Trash regularly if your team deletes active work often. Do not wait until a launch, client review, or quarterly planning deadline to discover that a needed canvas was deleted weeks ago.

Restore work that might be needed, then archive, rename, move, or organize it from the normal surface. Trash is a recovery area, not a clean archive. For projects, use clearer project names and ownership. For canvases, use All canvases and Starred to keep important work findable.

If deletion is part of an offboarding or cleanup process, decide up front what should be restored, exported, permanently deleted, or left for retention.

If the retention window already ended

If the item is gone from Trash and the recovery window has ended, normal restore is not available. Check whether another teammate restored it under a new location or name. Search All canvases, Projects, Files, Dashboards, or Search across ALLO.

If the work was business-critical, contact support with the workspace name, item type, title, deletion date if known, and why it needs recovery. Do not create confusing duplicate replacement work until the team agrees that recovery is not possible or no longer needed.

For missing-work triage, see When work looks missing.