Use an idea workspace

An idea workspace is a freeform canvas owned by the selected Personal or team context. Use it when the position and relationship between small pieces of information matter more than a document order.

Create a workspace from Idea Workspaces, open it, then add text, image, or link items. An item added from the toolbar goes in the part of the canvas you can see, beside the items already in view without covering them, or at the top left when the view is empty. Double-click the canvas, or right-click it and choose a New item, to add one at that spot instead. Move and resize items on the canvas. Rename the workspace from its title. Changes to positions and item content are saved to that workspace.

Zoom and find your items

A workspace opens zoomed so every item is in view, down to 50%. A bigger workspace opens on its top-left items at 50% instead. Use the controls at the bottom right of the canvas to zoom:

• − and + zoom out and in. Zooming out stops once the whole canvas is in view.
• The percentage shows the current zoom. Select it to go back to 100%.
• Fit zooms so every item is in view, up to 100%.

To zoom around the pointer, pinch on a trackpad or hold Ctrl while you scroll. With the keyboard, press + or −, Shift 1 to fit, or Shift 0 for 100%. Zoom does not change the workspace for anyone else, and it resets each time you open the workspace.

Paste from other apps

Press Cmd+V or Ctrl+V on the canvas, not in an item you are editing, to paste from another app:

• a picture, such as a screenshot, becomes an image item. It is uploaded to your image library;
• a web address becomes a link item;
• any other text becomes a note.

Pasted items go where the pointer is, or in the part of the canvas you can see. Items you copy from a workspace paste back as items. Copying also puts their text on your clipboard, so you can paste it into another app.

In the mobile app

The native mobile app can list authorized workspaces, show a bounded summary of their canvas items, let an editor rename or delete a workspace, create and edit a note, to-do, link or column item, change its bounded position and width, and delete an individual canvas item after confirmation. An editor can also move a note, to-do or link into a column, or out of it, with Column on the item. Open the workspace on the web to drag items, share the workspace or change advanced item types such as images, comments and connectors.

Ask the Workspace assistant

Workspace admins can ask the Workspace assistant to find Idea Workspaces by title, search the items inside selected canvases, and calculate exact item counts. Counts can be grouped by canvas or item type. Empty canvases appear with zero items in a canvas breakdown.

Follow-up questions can reuse the canvas selection from an earlier assistant result. The follow-up reads the current canvas items unless you ask for the earlier saved result. Access is checked again whenever current items are read.

Items, limits and problems

An image item can use an image you have access to; a link item keeps a web address with its visible label. Do not use a public workspace link as a secure file store unless the page explicitly says outside access is enabled.

Free and Pro plans have different workspace and item limits. Removing unused items frees item capacity; deleting a workspace removes the items inside it.

If changes made in two open tabs overwrite one another, keep the newer tab and reload before continuing. For a workspace that does not load its saved items, Contact support.