If you ever wanted one hub for scribbling ideas, putting images text, or objects in one place, then Microsoft has your back. You can do all this and a lot more in Microsoft Whiteboard, a freeform digital canvas where ideas, content, and people come together.
The app is available on Windows 10, and can also be found on the iOS and Android app stores, too. It’s a pretty comprehensive solution and from sharing and saving, converting text and shapes, there’s a lot you can do with it. So, here’s a look at some of our favorite tips and tricks for using Microsoft Whiteboard.
Share and save your Whiteboard
First up is a tip that’s one of the most obvious. It is fun to use Whiteboard on Windows 10 on your own as a place to take notes or gather thoughts, but why not try sharing the moment? In Whiteboard in Windows 10, you can invite your friends or colleagues to ink alongside you.
To do this, click the blue icon next to your profile photo. Then, toggle the switch for web sharing. You should then see the link appear on your screen, and you can copy and share this to have others join you. If you change your mind, you can turn off sharing at any time if you want to keep the Whiteboard private.
Related to this is saving your Whiteboard. You can do this by clicking the hamburger menu to the far right of the screen. Then, choose Export. You can then choose either PNG or SVG files. Your Whiteboard will become an image that’s sharable on social media, via email, and more.
Use the toolbar location to your advantage
Next up on our list is another basic tip. The toolbar in Microsoft Whiteboard is your best friend. You use it to access all the common functions such as pens, lasso, or text insertion tools, but did you know you can move its location? This is super useful if your whiteboard is running out of space or if it is getting in the way. Just click the hamburger menu on the right of the screen, then choose Toolbar location. You can put it to the right, left, or bottom of the screen, depending on your preferences.
Convert your writing to legible text
Writing something down on your Whiteboard but your coworkers are having some trouble understanding you because you have messy handwriting? Well, Whiteboard has you covered. You can convert your writing into text. To do this, click the Lasso Select tool in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. It’s the tenth icon from the left side of the screen. Then, draw a box around the text you wrote by hand.
After you do that, you can choose the first icon on the pop-up menu that appears. It’ll say Ink Beautification. Once you click it, your writing will be turned into text. Your handwriting will never look any better!
Convert your hand-drawn shapes and tables to digital ones
Now that you know how to convert your handwriting into more legible text, you can also do the same for shapes, and tables too. To do this, all you need to do is activate a setting in the menu. Again, click the hamburger menu to the right of the screen, and then choose Ink to shape and Ink to table.
Once this setting is activated, you can hand draw a shape, and it’ll automatically switch over to a cleaner more symmetrical version. And, for drawing tables, you can do this by first drawing a square, and then drawing a line through the middle of that square. Once you finish, you should see that a box with a plus and minus will appear at the side and the top of your square. You can click these buttons to add more columns and rows. It’s quite seamless. You even can change the height of the rows by using the lasso select tool and hovering your mouse over the row or column and dragging it.
Use the ruler
Want to draw a straight line or draw something that’s a bit technical? Just like a real Whiteboard, you can use a virtual ruler inside of Microsoft Whiteboard on Windows 10. To do this, just summon the ruler from the toolbar. It should be the ninth icon from the left. Once you have it on screen, you can use your fingers to drag it around or change the angle. When you finish, you can hide the ruler again by just clicking the ruler icon in the toolbar.
Lock an image to the background
Ever wanted to trace over an image, or maybe keep it in the background so it’s out of the way of new things being added to the Whiteboard? That’s what our next tip is all about. You can lock an image to the background by hovering over it after you add it, and choosing Lock to Background, or the lock icon. Again, this is a great way to trace over an image if you’re trying to learn to draw, too.
Group your objects
Adding multiple objects to your Whiteboard? Just like in real life, you can create a stack of objects on your whiteboard. This will help you conserve space, and allow you to move the objects around the board together. You can group objects by moving on onto the other. When you finish, you’ll see a little circle icon in the middle, allowing you to drag more and more items on top of each other. It’s yet another nifty trick!
Create different whiteboards
You might have thought that you only could use one Whiteboard at a time, but did you know that you can have multiple whiteboards for different topics or purposes? It’s really easy to do this. Just click on the back button on the left side of the screen, then choose to Create new Whiteboard. You’ll be able to create and see multiple whiteboards here.
Other tips
These are just eight of our favorite tips relating to Microsoft Whiteboard. There’s a lot more that you can do. Some examples include inserting lists, PDFs, and even word documents from the “+” menu in the Toolbar. Additionally, you even can enjoy additional templates to create a Whiteboard that matches something you might need in your work life. These include Brainstorming, Kanban, SWOT, and a whole not more. Explore Microsoft Whiteboard now, and let us know how it’s working for you by dropping us a comment below.
