> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Workspaces

> A workspace is the container for your team, clients, projects and data. Learn how workspaces work, how to switch between them, and what the workspace URL means.

A **workspace** is the container for everything: your team, your clients, your
projects, your hours, your invoices and your settings.

Everything in TimeTracker lives inside exactly one workspace. Nothing is shared
between workspaces – not a client, not a project, not an hour.

## Why workspaces exist

Most people need one workspace and never think about it again. Workspaces matter
when you have genuinely separate businesses:

* Maya runs Northwind Studio, and also does freelance consulting on the side. Two
  businesses, two sets of books, two workspaces.
* A holding company with two agencies that share nothing keeps them apart.
* You are a member of a client's workspace as a contractor, and also run your own.

If your teams share clients and invoices, they belong in **one** workspace – use
[projects](/projects/overview) and [groups](/team/groups) to separate them, not
whole workspaces.

## The workspace URL

Every workspace has a short name called a **slug**, and it appears in every URL:

```
app.timetracker.in/northwind/projects
 ^^^^^^^^^
 the slug
```

The slug is generated from the workspace name when the workspace is created, and it
is **fixed from then on**.

<Note>
  **Renaming the workspace does not change the slug.** That is deliberate – it means
  every link you have shared, every bookmark and every link in an old email keeps
  working, even after a rebrand.
</Note>

So pick the name carefully at creation time. If you later trade under a different
name, change the workspace name freely; the URL keeps the original short
form.

## What lives in a workspace

| Inside the workspace            | Notes                                                               |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Members and their roles         | A person can be in several workspaces with a different role in each |
| Groups                          | Standing teams                                                      |
| Clients and projects            | Never shared across workspaces                                      |
| Tasks, time entries, timesheets | Always belong to one workspace                                      |
| Rates, budgets, invoices        | Money settings are per workspace                                    |
| Apps, roles and every setting   | Configured independently                                            |
| The subscription                | Each workspace is billed separately                                 |

<Note>
  **Each workspace has its own subscription.** If you run two workspaces, you pay for
  two. Seats are not pooled. See [seats](/billing/seats).
</Note>

## Workspace-wide settings

A handful of settings apply to everything in the workspace at once:

| Setting              | What it does                                             | Where                                      |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Name                 | What people see in the switcher                          | [General](/settings/general)               |
| Default currency     | The currency invoices and budgets report in              | [General](/settings/general)               |
| Timezone             | The workspace's reference timezone                       | [General](/settings/general)               |
| Date and time format | How dates and times display everywhere                   | [Formats](/settings/date-and-time-formats) |
| Week start           | Which day a timesheet week begins on                     | [Formats](/settings/date-and-time-formats) |
| Timesheet period     | Whether a submission covers a week, two weeks or a month | [Time policies](/settings/time-policies)   |
| Trash retention      | How long a trashed record stays recoverable              | [Trash](/settings/trash)                   |
| Apps                 | Which parts of the product are switched on               | [Apps](/settings/apps)                     |

<Tip>
  The workspace has a timezone, but a **person's** timezone comes from their work
  schedule, not the workspace. That distinction matters for distributed teams. See
  [dates, times and timezones](/concepts/dates-times-and-timezones).
</Tip>

## Belonging to more than one

If you belong to several workspaces, you see a picker at `/spaces` when you sign in,
and a switcher inside the app.

Your identity – your name, email and avatar – is the **same person** everywhere. Your
role is **not**. Maya is the Owner of Northwind Studio and a plain Member of a
client's workspace, using one login.

See [switching workspaces](/getting-started/switching-workspaces).

## Two kinds of membership

Not everyone in a workspace is a colleague.

| Kind         | Who                                  | What they see                            |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------- |
| **Internal** | Your team – Owner through Contractor | The product, filtered by role and scope  |
| **Portal**   | A client contact                     | Only their own company's work, read-only |

A portal contact signs in to the same workspace but lands somewhere completely
different. See [what clients can see](/portal/what-clients-can-see).

## Creating a workspace

Anyone can create one, and the person who creates it becomes its Owner.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the workspace switcher">
    Choose **Create workspace**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name it">
    Use your business name. The slug is suggested from it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the basics">
    Currency, timezone and date format. All of these can be changed later.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Invite your team">
    Or do it afterwards. See [invite your team](/getting-started/invite-your-team).
  </Step>
</Steps>

See [create a workspace](/getting-started/create-a-workspace) for the full walkthrough.

## Leaving and deleting

**Leaving** a workspace removes your access. Your recorded hours stay – they belong
to the workspace, not to you, because invoices and reports depend on them.

There is no self-service "leave" button. Ask an Owner or Admin to remove you, since
removing access is an administrative decision. An **Owner** must transfer ownership
before they can be removed, otherwise the workspace would have nobody who can
administer it. See [leave a workspace](/account/leave-a-workspace).

**Deleting** a workspace destroys it for everyone. It is irreversible, it is
Owner-only, and it asks you to type the workspace name to confirm. See
[delete a workspace](/data/delete-a-workspace).

## Permissions

| Action                    | Capability                 | Roles          |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------- | -------------- |
| Change workspace settings | `workspace.updateSettings` | Owner, Admin   |
| Delete the workspace      | `workspace.delete`         | **Owner only** |
| Manage the subscription   | `billing.manage`           | Owner, Admin   |

`workspace.delete` is the single capability an Admin does not have. It cannot be
granted to a custom role.

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I move a project to a different workspace?">
    No. Projects, clients and hours belong to their workspace. If you need work in a
    different workspace, it has to be recreated there.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I merge two workspaces?">
    Not automatically. If you have split work that should be together, contact
    [support](/troubleshooting/contact-support) before you build up more history.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I pay twice for two workspaces?">
    Yes. Each workspace carries its own subscription and its own seat count.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can one person have different roles in different workspaces?">
    Yes. Role is per workspace. The same login can be an Owner in one and a
    Contractor in another.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens to my hours if I leave?">
    They stay in the workspace. Invoices, budgets and reports depend on them, so they
    are not removed when a person goes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Should I use one workspace per client?">
    No. Use one workspace for your business and one
    [client](/clients/overview) record per customer. A workspace per client would
    split your reporting and multiply your bill.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a workspace" icon="plus" href="/getting-started/create-a-workspace">
    Set one up from scratch.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Switching workspaces" icon="right-left" href="/getting-started/switching-workspaces">
    Moving between the workspaces you belong to.
  </Card>

  <Card title="General settings" icon="gear" href="/settings/general">
    Name, slug, currency and timezone.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Your team" icon="users" href="/team/overview">
    Who is in the workspace and what they can do.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>