Alternatives to Microsoft Teams Whiteboard

The short answer

If the whiteboard built into Teams does not suit your meetings, there are three main types of replacement. The first is a dedicated online whiteboard service, such as Miro, Mural, FigJam, Lucidspark, or open-source tools like Excalidraw and tldraw. The second is the whiteboard in another meeting platform, such as Zoom Whiteboard, which makes sense if your team already meets there. The third is a physical whiteboard or sheet of paper shown through a camera. Choose based on where your meetings happen, who needs to edit the board, and where the board's content is allowed to be stored.

Google Jamboard is no longer an option for new work, because Google discontinued it.

How meeting whiteboards differ

The Teams whiteboard is Microsoft Whiteboard opened inside a meeting. Participants from your organization can draw on the same canvas, and the board is tied to your Microsoft 365 account. In current Microsoft 365 setups, boards are generally saved as files in the meeting organizer's cloud storage. Storage location, retention and guest access are set by your organization, so confirm them with your administrator rather than assuming them.

Third-party whiteboard services work differently. Each one runs on its own vendor account, keeps board content on that vendor's servers under the vendor's terms, and has its own sharing permissions. Several of these services offer an app that can be added to Teams. Whether you can use that app depends on your organization's app policy. If you cannot install it, you can still share the board in the browser by sharing your screen. In that case, other participants see it but cannot edit it through Teams.

A physical board shown on camera is a different kind of tool. Participants see a video image, not an editable canvas. Nothing is stored unless someone records the meeting or takes a photo. How readable the board is depends on the camera, the lighting, and the connection quality.

Choosing an alternative for your situation

• You need everyone to edit together inside Teams: look for an online whiteboard that offers a Teams app, and ask your administrator whether that app is allowed.
• You regularly work with guests outside your organization: compare how each service handles guest or anonymous editing, and whether guests need their own account.
• You need quick sketches without signing up: lightweight browser tools such as Excalidraw or tldraw are worth checking. Review their sharing and storage terms before you put sensitive content on a board.
• You run long workshops with templates, voting or sticky notes: dedicated services such as Miro, Mural or Lucidspark are built for that kind of session. Feature sets and free-plan limits change, so check the current plans.
• You teach or explain by hand-writing: a physical whiteboard, notebook or document camera shown through your webcam can be the simplest option, because there is no software to learn.

Showing a physical whiteboard on camera

• Give Teams, or the browser you join from, camera permission in your operating system's privacy settings. Without it, no camera will appear in the meeting.
• In the meeting's device settings, check that the selected camera is the one pointed at the board, not your laptop's built-in camera.
• Place the camera square to the board, so the writing is not skewed, and fill as much of the frame as you can with the writing area.
• Use even lighting from the side or from above. Avoid lamps or windows that reflect straight off the board's surface into the lens.
• Use dark, thick markers. Thin or light-colored lines are usually the first thing lost to video compression.
• Test the view before the meeting, ideally with a second participant, so you know what others will actually see.

For readable writing, resolution matters more than frame rate, because the writing on a board stays still once it is drawn. A higher frame rate mainly makes hand movement look smoother. Keep in mind that the meeting service may lower both resolution and frame rate when the connection is weak. That means a camera's maximum settings are not a guarantee of what participants receive.

Limits and related questions

Can I export or keep the board after the meeting? With online services, this depends on each product's export formats and your plan. With a physical board on camera, you only keep what you record or photograph, and recording should follow your organization's consent rules.

Is a third-party board allowed for work data? That is a policy question, not a technical one. Before putting confidential material on any external service, check its terms, where it stores data, and your organization's approval rules.

Why does my board look reversed? Many meeting apps mirror only your own preview, while other participants see the image the right way round. Ask a participant what they see before you change any settings.

Why is small writing unreadable on camera? Video is compressed, and it is often shown in a small tile. Write larger, move the camera closer, improve the lighting, and ask participants to pin or enlarge your video when you are presenting the board.