Workspaces
Switching, and what changes
Five things change at once when you switch, which is why the workspace is the first thing to check when a number looks wrong.
The workspace switcher sits in the workspace home. Picking a different one changes five things simultaneously, and that simultaneity is what makes it confusing the first few times. ## What moves | Changes | To | |---|---| | Boards | Only the boards in the workspace you switched to | | The library | That workspace's assets, and only those | | Search results | Scoped to that library | | Credit balance | That workspace's balance | | Storage | That workspace's allowance and usage | What does not change: your login, your profile, your plan, and the tools available to you. Those belong to your account rather than to the workspace. ## Missing work is almost always a workspace mismatch Nearly every "this is broken" report about missing work is a workspace mismatch. The pattern is always the same: - **"My board is gone."** It is in the other workspace - **"Search cannot find an asset I definitely made."** You made it in the other workspace - **"My balance dropped."** You are looking at a shared pool rather than your own - **"I am suddenly out of storage."** Same reason Check the workspace name before checking anything else. It is right almost every time and it costs one glance. :::tip[The habit worth building] Read the workspace name when a board opens, the way you would read the account name in a banking app. It costs a glance and it heads off most of the confusion above. ::: ## Opening a link straight into the right place A board link carries its workspace. Following a link from a colleague puts you in the workspace that owns the board, which is why the switcher sometimes appears to have moved on its own. That is worth knowing before you generate, because what you make gets billed and stored according to where you are, not according to where you started the day. ## Guest access looks like a switch and is not Opening a board somebody shared with you outside your workspaces does not make you a member of theirs. You can work on the board, and what you generate goes to your own personal workspace rather than to theirs. That behaviour surprises people and it is deliberate. [Moving work between workspaces](/docs/using-plnty/workspaces/moving-work-between-workspaces/) explains what happens and why. :::note[Boards do not move between workspaces] A board belongs to the workspace it was created in and stays there. Getting the same content into a different workspace means copying it across rather than reassigning the board. :::The workspace switcher sits in the workspace home. Picking a different one changes five things simultaneously, and that simultaneity is what makes it confusing the first few times.
What moves
Section titled “What moves”| Changes | To |
|---|---|
| Boards | Only the boards in the workspace you switched to |
| The library | That workspace’s assets, and only those |
| Search results | Scoped to that library |
| Credit balance | That workspace’s balance |
| Storage | That workspace’s allowance and usage |
What does not change: your login, your profile, your plan, and the tools available to you. Those belong to your account rather than to the workspace.
Missing work is almost always a workspace mismatch
Section titled “Missing work is almost always a workspace mismatch”Nearly every “this is broken” report about missing work is a workspace mismatch. The pattern is always the same:
- “My board is gone.” It is in the other workspace
- “Search cannot find an asset I definitely made.” You made it in the other workspace
- “My balance dropped.” You are looking at a shared pool rather than your own
- “I am suddenly out of storage.” Same reason
Check the workspace name before checking anything else. It is right almost every time and it costs one glance.
Opening a link straight into the right place
Section titled “Opening a link straight into the right place”A board link carries its workspace. Following a link from a colleague puts you in the workspace that owns the board, which is why the switcher sometimes appears to have moved on its own.
That is worth knowing before you generate, because what you make gets billed and stored according to where you are, not according to where you started the day.
Guest access looks like a switch and is not
Section titled “Guest access looks like a switch and is not”Opening a board somebody shared with you outside your workspaces does not make you a member of theirs. You can work on the board, and what you generate goes to your own personal workspace rather than to theirs.
That behaviour surprises people and it is deliberate. Moving work between workspaces explains what happens and why.