Using Zoom Whiteboard in Zoom Rooms


Zoom Whiteboard allows you to brainstorm and collaborate on a persistent, expandable, digital canvas. Supported Zoom Rooms for Touch devices can create and save whiteboards. This feature is separate from the “classic” whiteboard feature. The administrative controls for the new Zoom Whiteboard are found in the Zoom web portal. 

This article covers:

Prerequisites for using Zoom Whiteboard in Zoom Rooms

How to enable whiteboard for shared Zoom Rooms

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. Click Room Management, then click Zoom Rooms.
  3. You can use location hierarchy to enable this setting for a specific room or location. Click Account Settings to enable it for the entire account. 
  4. Click the Whiteboard tab.
  5. There are two primary options that can be enabled or disabled:
    • Enable Whiteboard
    • Allow to save the whiteboard content
  6. Click the toggle to enable each option.
  7. (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing these settings, click the lock icon , and then click Lock to confirm the setting.

Note: For a detailed description of the different whiteboard settings, see the administrator guide.

How to use whiteboard on a shared Zoom Room

Shared Zoom Rooms are assigned to a conference room or workspace on the Zoom web portal. Users in a shared Zoom Room can create new whiteboards, or collaborate on whiteboards shared by others during a meeting.

In a meeting

  1. Start a meeting in the Zoom Room. 
  2. Tap the Whiteboard button on the screen, then tap Whiteboard NEW.
  3. Configure the participant permissions on the screen. Tap Open and Collaborate when you are finished.

Note: New whiteboards created in a meeting can be exported but are not auto-saved to the cloud. If a new whiteboard is not exported, it will not be saved. 

While attending a meeting, if another participant or host opens a new Zoom Whiteboard, it will load on the Zoom Room for Touch for collaboration. 

Out of a meeting

  1. Tap the Whiteboard button on the screen, then tap Whiteboard NEW.
  2. Configure the participant permissions on the screen. Tap Open and Collaborate when you are finished.

Note: Whiteboards created outside of a meeting are only available for the current session. They cannot be saved or exported.

How to enable whiteboard for personal Zoom Rooms

Personal Zoom Rooms follow the configuration set for Zoom users. If the whiteboard feature is enabled for a user, it will be enabled for that user's personal Zoom Room. See the Zoom Whiteboard administrator guide for how to enable. 

How to use whiteboard on a personal Zoom Room

Personal Zoom Rooms are assigned to specific users on the Zoom web portal. Personal Zoom Room users can create new whiteboards, open existing ones, and collaborate on whiteboards shared by others during meetings.

In a meeting

  1. Start a meeting in the Zoom Room. 
  2. Tap the Whiteboard button on the screen.
  3. Tap Whiteboard [New].
  4. Tap New at the top right, or tap the icon for an existing whiteboard you would like to open. You can tap the tabs at the top of the screen to filter existing whiteboards.
  5. Set the participant role permissions (Edit or View). Tap Open and Collaborate when you are finished.

Note: You can also tap Share in the meeting, and then select the Whiteboard tab on the menu to perform these actions.

Out of a meeting

  1. Tap the Whiteboard button on the screen.
  2. Tap Whiteboard [New].
  3. Tap New at the top right, or tap the icon for an existing whiteboard you would like to open. You can tap the tabs at the top of the screen to filter existing whiteboards.

Sharing a whiteboard

  1. Once you have created or opened a whiteboard, tap Share at the top right to send the whiteboard to other users.
  2. Enter the name or email addresses of the users you would like to share the whiteboard with, then set their permissions and the delivery method. Tap the Send icon.

Note: Exporting is unavailable for out of meeting whiteboards. 

How to use the whiteboard tools 

The whiteboard tools available for use are located on the left side of the screen. To activate a tool, click its icon. Once selected, the mouse cursor will change  to indicate the current tool mode. For most controls, clicking on the canvas will then create an object of that type. If using the select tool, you will be able to select one or more objects and change their properties.

Note: For a detailed description of the whiteboard tools, see the user guide.