How to Use Microsoft Teams Whiteboard in a Meeting

Microsoft Whiteboard is a shared digital canvas built into Teams meetings. When you share it, participants can draw, type and add sticky notes on the same board at the same time, and the board stays linked to the meeting afterwards. This guide covers how to start a whiteboard during a meeting, how to control collaboration, and how to check what was saved.

Before you start

Whiteboard is a cloud service, not a local drawing tool. The board is created and synced online through Microsoft 365, so every participant needs a working internet connection. It is mainly intended for work or school accounts. Whether it works for personal Teams accounts, guests or people joining from outside your organization depends on the account type and on your admin's policies.

• A Teams meeting where you are allowed to share content. If the organizer limited who can present, you may need presenter rights first.
• Whiteboard enabled for your organization. Admins can turn it off. If the option is missing for everyone, ask IT before troubleshooting your own device.
• An up-to-date Teams client on desktop, web or mobile. The share menu differs between classic Teams and new Teams, so the labels in this guide may not match your screen exactly.
• A mouse, touchpad, touchscreen or pen. Touch and pen input make freehand drawing easier, but they are not required.

File handling: whiteboards are stored as files in Microsoft 365 cloud storage, not on your computer. Which account's OneDrive holds the board, and who keeps access after the meeting, depends on your organization's configuration. Confirm this with your admin before you put sensitive information on a board.

Step-by-step instructions

These steps follow the desktop and web versions of Teams. Mobile apps use the same general flow, but they offer a smaller toolbar, and some options may only be available on desktop.

• Join the meeting and open the sharing control in the meeting toolbar. Depending on your version, it is labelled Share or Share content.
• In the sharing options, choose Microsoft Whiteboard. Some versions start a new board straight away, while others first show a list of existing boards.
• Wait for the board to load. Other participants see it on the meeting stage and do not need to open a separate app.
• Choose a tool from the Whiteboard toolbar. Use pens and the highlighter for freehand drawing, sticky notes and text for typed ideas, shapes and lines for diagrams, and templates for structured activities such as brainstorming or retrospectives. The set of tools changes as Whiteboard is updated.
• Decide who can edit. The board's settings during a meeting include an option that controls whether others can edit. Turn it off if you only want to present.
• When you are finished, stop sharing with the same control or the stop sharing button. This ends the share only. The board itself is kept.

Edits sync live for everyone who has edit access, so a busy board fills up quickly. Agree on a structure before people start writing, for example one area or one colour of sticky notes per person or topic. Participants can usually zoom and move around the board on their own, so say clearly which part of the canvas you are talking about.

Sharing a physical whiteboard or a sheet of paper is a separate feature. Teams can share content from a camera, which depends on camera permission and the selected camera rather than on Microsoft Whiteboard. Where it appears in the share menu varies by version and device. Even lighting and a straight-on camera angle help keep handwriting readable.

Check the output

During the meeting, ask one participant to add a sticky note or draw a line. This confirms that they see the same board and have the access you intended. After the meeting, open the meeting chat or meeting details and look for the whiteboard. It is usually available as a tab or a linked file there, and you can reopen it to continue editing.

To keep a copy outside Teams, open the board in Whiteboard and use its export option. Check which formats your version offers. An exported image is a flat snapshot that can no longer be edited, so before you send it on, zoom in and check that small handwriting and text are still readable.

Do not assume that a meeting recording includes the whiteboard. Play the recording back to confirm, and export the board separately if you need a reliable copy of its content.

Common problems and next steps

Whiteboard is missing from the share options: update Teams or try the web version, and check that you are in a meeting where you have presenter rights. If it is still missing, ask your admin whether Whiteboard is enabled for your account.

Participants can see the board but cannot edit it: check the editing setting on the board. Guests, external participants and anonymous attendees may be limited to viewing by organization policy, and a meeting organizer cannot change that setting from inside the meeting.

The board is blank or will not load: check the network connection, then sign out of Teams and back in. If the problem only affects one person, ask them to rejoin or to use Teams in a supported browser.

You cannot find the board after the meeting: look in the meeting chat first, then in the list of boards in Whiteboard for the account that created it. If you do not have access, ask the organizer or the board owner to share it with you.

To practise before a real session, start a meeting on your own and share a whiteboard there. This is a safe way to try the tools, templates and editing settings without an audience. Whiteboard receives new features regularly, so check your app's release notes or update information when a tool looks different from what you expect.