Drawing, writing, and shapes
The whiteboard toolbar. Pen, highlighter, text, sticky notes, shapes, arrows and frames, and how to select, style and arrange them.
Last reviewed October 11, 2026
This page covers the everyday tools on the Whiteboard's toolbar: drawing, writing, shapes and arrows, plus selecting, styling and arranging what you add. The Whiteboard is built on tldraw, so if you have used tldraw before, everything here will feel familiar.
What this page helps you do
- Draw with the pen and highlighter, and erase.
- Add text, sticky notes and shapes with labels.
- Connect shapes with arrows that follow when you move things.
- Select, style, group, lock and align what you have drawn.
You'll start from the toolbar at the bottom of the Whiteboard.
The toolbar
The toolbar runs along the bottom of the canvas. Hover a tool to see its name and keyboard shortcut.
Helpful details
- Key areas: Select, Hand (pan without moving anything), Draw, Eraser, Arrow, Text, Note (sticky note), Asset (images and videos), and a shapes menu with Rectangle, Ellipse, Triangle, Diamond, Pentagon, Hexagon, Octagon, Star, Rhombus, Oval, Trapezoid, Arrow left / right / up / down, X box, Check box, Cloud and Heart. The same menu holds Frame, Line, Highlight and Laser.
- What you can do: the style panel on the right changes Color, Opacity, Fill, Dash, Size, Font and Align for whatever you have selected or are about to draw.
- Good to know: Laser is a pointer for presenting; it leaves no marks. The lock button at the end of the toolbar (Toggle tool lock) keeps the current tool selected after each use, handy for a run of sticky notes.
Draw and erase
Pick Draw, then click and drag. Each stroke is its own object you can move or delete later.
Helpful details
- Key areas: Color and Size on the style panel; Dash switches between a hand-drawn look, dashed, dotted and solid lines. Highlight is a wide, see-through stroke for emphasis.
- What you can do: hold Shift while drawing to get a straight line.
- Good to know: the Eraser removes any shape you drag over, not just pen strokes. To remove only one thing, select it and press Delete.
Write
Pick Text, click on the canvas and type. Click away to finish.
Helpful details
- Key areas: Font (hand-drawn, sans, serif, mono), Size (small to extra large), Align and Color on the style panel.
- What you can do: drag the text box's side handle to set a wrap width. Double-click a shape to type a label inside it.
- Good to know: there is no bold, italic or underline. For a short, loud note use a Note: a colored sticky square with text that is easy to spot and easy to move.
Sticky notes
Pick Note and click on the canvas. Type, then pick a color from the style panel.
Helpful details
- Key areas: notes come in the same colors as every other shape, so a color code (green for "keep", red for "cut") works across the board.
- What you can do: one idea per note, then drag notes into clusters. Turn on Toggle tool lock to place several notes in a row.
- Good to know: notes resize their text to fit; long paragraphs belong in a Text box.
Shapes and arrows
Pick a shape, then drag on the canvas. Pick Arrow and drag from one shape to another.
Helpful details
- Key areas: shapes take a Fill (none, semi, solid or pattern), a Color, a Dash style and a Size. Arrows take arrowhead styles at each end and can bend when you drag their middle.
- What you can do: arrows snap to the shapes they start and end on. Move a shape later and its arrows follow, which is what you want for turn-flow diagrams and decision trees.
- Good to know: hold Shift while dragging a shape to keep it square or circular. Use Line for a plain segment without arrowheads.
Frames
A Frame is a labeled box that holds other shapes. Pick Frame, drag on the canvas, then click its title to name it.
Helpful details
- Key areas: anything placed inside a frame moves with the frame. The frame clips what sticks out of its edges.
- What you can do: right-click a frame for Fit to content or Remove frame (keeps the shapes). Frames can sit inside frames.
- Good to know: frames are the unit you export when you want one clean block of the board. See Exporting from the whiteboard.
Select, arrange and lock
Select is the default tool. Click a shape to select it, drag to move it, drag a handle to resize it, or drag the rotation handle above it.
Helpful details
- Key areas: drag a box across empty space to select several shapes, or Shift-click to add to the selection. Right-click for the context menu.
- What you can do: right-click for Group / Ungroup, Arrange (align, distribute, stack, pack), Reorder (Bring to front, Send to back), Duplicate, Flip horizontally / Flip vertically and Toggle locked. A locked shape stays put until you select it and choose Toggle locked again; the main menu's Edit submenu has Unlock all.
- Good to know: Cmd+Z / Ctrl+Z undoes and Cmd+Shift+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z redoes. Cmd+A / Ctrl+A selects everything on the page.
Tips & common questions
The canvas zooms when I scroll. That is normal on an infinite canvas. Pan with two fingers on a trackpad, with the Hand tool, or by holding Space while you drag.
Can I draw a perfect square or circle? Hold Shift while you drag the shape.
Can I copy shapes between pages, or into another team's board? Yes. Select, copy with Cmd+C / Ctrl+C, switch page (or team), paste with Cmd+V / Ctrl+V.
How do I change many shapes at once? Select them all, then change Color, Size or any other style once; every selected shape updates.
My strokes look rough when I zoom in. Pen strokes keep their drawn width. Export as SVG for a crisp result at any size; see Exporting from the whiteboard.