Workspace navigation

What it is

A narrow strip of icons on the left switches between chats, spreadsheets, files and projects; help, notifications and the profile are at the bottom of the strip. There is no common header: the work area starts at the top edge. Next to the strip, a list of chats, spreadsheets or settings sections opens.

The strip of icons sits right on the window background, without its own backing. The list, the main window and the right-hand panels (Materials, a file or spreadsheet viewer) form one window: they stand close together with a thin line between them, and only the outer corners of the window are rounded. When the list is hidden, the main window is rounded; when the list is open, the left edge of the list is rounded.

How to use it

1. Point the cursor at a section icon, or move to it with the Tab key: its name appears.
2. To the right of the list heading are the buttons for creating a chat or spreadsheet (plus), search (magnifier) and hiding the list. Each button has a tooltip with its name.
3. A button that appears over the DUOSHAO mark when you point at it brings back a hidden list; it is also available from the keyboard. Ctrl/⌘+Shift+S hides and shows the list.
4. Change the width of the list by dragging its right edge.
5. Ctrl/⌘+K opens the general search, even when the list is hidden. It finds chats, spreadsheets, projects, settings and saved files by name. Choosing a file downloads the original. Each result row shows the name and the type; the highlight covers both rows; a long list scrolls.
6. In the profile menu: settings, spaces, theme and sign-out. The profile menu works with the arrow keys, Home, End and Escape (focus returns to the button). On a narrow screen, space names and plans wrap as a whole.
7. In settings, the list shows the sections, and the Search field filters their names. The chosen section stays open after a reload and after the browser’s Back and Forward buttons.
8. The question-mark icon above the notifications bell (tooltip Help) opens the help in a new tab.
9. On a phone, the Menu button at the bottom opens the list and the rows Settings, Help, Notifications and the profile; Help opens in a new tab.
10. The look of the window changes in Appearance: Material (Flat, Matte or Glass) and Corner radius.

Limits

• There is no separate row of tabs. Sections, chats and spreadsheets open in ordinary browser tabs, with Ctrl/⌘-click, the middle mouse button or the link menu. Each chat and spreadsheet has its own address, and the tab title is the document name (Chats and spreadsheets in browser tabs). The sheet tabs inside a spreadsheet work as before.
• The list width is from 176 to 320 points. The width and whether the list is open are remembered for you in each space. When hiding and showing the list, the text and buttons do not shrink: the content fades out and in. If reduced motion is turned on in the system, the change is immediate.
• On a screen up to 1199 points wide, the list slides over the page as a separate card with rounded corners and a shadow. It closes with Escape, a click outside it, or by choosing a section. Whether it is open is not remembered.
• The Flat material is a window without rounded corners or gaps. On a phone there are no rounded corners either, and the sections at the bottom are labelled. In an open spreadsheet there is no bottom navigation: leave it with its Back button.
• Search covers only what you have access to. For files, it covers up to the latest 200 saved attachments of accessible chats; unsent attachments and the contents of files are not searched.
• Labels are in Russian, English and Chinese. When the theme changes, all colours change at once.

If something goes wrong

What you see on the screen	Why	What to do
In search, no spreadsheets or files, with Retry next to them	One of the parts did not load; the other results work	Click Retry
In the settings search: Nothing found	No section matches the query	Clear the Search field
Could not mark as read in the notifications window	The read mark was not saved; the error stays in the notifications window	Close the window and open it again. Going into the spreadsheet works without the mark
After a reload, the list has the wrong width	The browser did not allow the setting to be saved	Set the width again; until the next reload, it holds
A link to a settings section opened Appearance	The section is available only to administrators	Choose an available section in the list