How to Change Text Font Size on Microsoft Teams Whiteboard

Text on a shared whiteboard has to be readable for everyone in the meeting, including people on small laptop screens or phones. This guide covers how to adjust text size on Microsoft Whiteboard inside Teams. It also covers what to do when the control you expect is not there.

Before you start

Whiteboard in Teams is a cloud service, not a local drawing tool. The board is hosted by Microsoft and synced between participants, so you need a working internet connection and an account that is allowed to use Whiteboard in your organization. Your administrator can turn Whiteboard on or off, and can limit what external or guest users are allowed to do. Where board files are stored and who can open them later depends on your organization's setup, so check those details with your administrator instead of assuming them.

• You can open a whiteboard during a Teams meeting through the share options, or as a Whiteboard tab in a chat or channel.
• You need editing rights on the board. Some meeting organizers give view-only access to some participants.
• The Teams desktop app, Teams on the web and the mobile apps do not always show the same Whiteboard controls. If an option described here is missing, try the desktop or web version.
• Both typed text and sticky notes can be resized. Handwriting drawn with a pen has no font size, only pen thickness.

Step-by-step instructions

Microsoft updates the Whiteboard interface regularly, so button names and positions can change. The steps below describe the general approach, not an exact menu path.

• 1. Open the whiteboard in your Teams meeting, chat or channel and confirm that you can edit it.
• 2. To add new text, choose the text tool from the creation tools and type your text on the board. To change existing text, click or tap that text box once to select it.
• 3. Look at the small toolbar that appears next to the selected object. If your version includes a text formatting or font size control, open it and pick a larger or smaller size.
• 4. If there is no font size control, drag a corner handle of the selected text box. Dragging outward makes the text larger, and dragging inward makes it smaller.
• 5. For a sticky note, select the note and drag its corner handles. Text inside a note usually adjusts to fit, so a bigger note gives the text more room.
• 6. Click an empty area of the board to deselect the object, then check the result.

Each of these changes can be reversed. If a resize goes too far, use Undo, which is Ctrl+Z on Windows or Cmd+Z on Mac, or drag the handles back. Zooming in or out changes only your own view of the board. It does not make the text bigger for anyone else, so resize the object itself if you want everyone to see larger text.

Check the output

Zoom out until you can see the whole area other people are likely to look at, and check whether the text is still easy to read. It also helps to ask a participant who is on a smaller screen whether they can read it. Resized text should look the same to every editor, but each person controls their own zoom, so the same board can look different from one device to another.

If you export or save the board as an image, the result depends on the export option your version offers. Very small text may be hard to read in the exported file. Open the exported image and check it before you share it. Very large text can push content off the area other people are looking at, so it is often better to keep headings large and body text moderate.

Common problems and next steps

• No font size option appears: the formatting controls may not exist in your version or app. Resize the text box with its handles, or open the board in the Teams desktop app or on the web.
• You cannot select or resize text: you may have view-only access, or the board may be restricted for guests and external users. Ask the meeting organizer or your administrator to check the board and meeting settings.
• Text looks bigger for you but small for others: you probably zoomed in instead of resizing the text. Reset your zoom and resize the object.
• Handwriting is too thin or small: ink has no font size. Pick a thicker pen and write larger, or replace the handwriting with a typed text box.
• Changes do not show up for others: Whiteboard syncs through the service. Check your network connection, wait a moment, or reopen the board.
• Whiteboard is missing from Teams entirely: it may be disabled for your account or organization. Your administrator can confirm whether it is available.