# Microsoft Whiteboard

> Free collaborative canvas built into Microsoft 365 and Teams

Microsoft Whiteboard is a free-form digital canvas for inking, sticky notes and brainstorming, alone or with others in real time. It runs in a browser, inside Microsoft Teams meetings, chats and channels, and as apps for Windows, iOS, Android and Surface Hub. It is free to use with a personal Microsoft account and is switched on by default for most Microsoft 365 work and school tenants.

- **Category:** Whiteboards & Mind Maps
- **Made by:** Microsoft Corporation
- **Website:** https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-whiteboard/digital-whiteboard-app
- **Runs on:** Web, Windows, iOS, Android
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 5, 2026

## Pricing

Microsoft Whiteboard is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** Free
- **Free plan:** Free with a personal Microsoft account or a Microsoft 365 work or school account. Boards made with a personal account lack collaborative cursors, the laser pointer and a recycle bin.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 | The web, Windows, iOS and Android apps with a free Microsoft account. Work and school access comes with an organization's Microsoft 365 tenant, not as a separate purchase. |

Read from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-whiteboard/online-whiteboard on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Microsoft Whiteboard before buying.

## Key features

- **Infinite canvas with ink and sticky notes:** Pens, a highlighter, an eraser and a lasso sit alongside sticky notes, text, images and shapes, and the canvas works with a mouse, a touchscreen or a pen.
- **Whiteboard in Microsoft Teams:** A board can be shared in a Teams meeting, chat or channel and stays available afterwards. The meeting organizer can put other participants in read-only mode.
- **Templates:** More than 60 free templates give a starting structure for exercises such as brainstorming, sprint planning and project development.
- **Loop components:** Microsoft Loop components can be placed on a board and stay in sync with the same component in chats, meetings, emails and documents.
- **Copilot in Whiteboard:** Copilot suggests ideas as sticky notes, sorts notes into categories and summarizes a board. It requires a Microsoft Copilot license.
- **Automatic saving and share links:** Boards save to the Microsoft cloud automatically, a share link invites others to collaborate, and a board can be exported as an image or sent to a OneNote class notebook.

## Good for

- Teams meetings where participants sketch on one shared board
- Organizations on Microsoft 365, where it is enabled by default
- Schools: free for students and educators through Microsoft 365 A1
- Pen and touch devices such as Surface Hub and iPad

## Worth knowing

- Microsoft lists apps for Windows, iOS, Android and Surface Hub but none for Mac or Linux, where Whiteboard runs in a browser or in Teams.
- Boards made with a personal account are stored in Azure and lack collaborative cursors, the laser pointer, the roster, a recycle bin and retention policies.
- Whiteboard is not sold on its own: work and school use depends on the organization's Microsoft 365 tenant, where an admin can turn it off.
- Copilot features need a separate Microsoft Copilot license.

## What people say

- **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.6 out of 5 from 12,309 ratings in the United States, read Oct 5, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1352499399

## Works with

Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Loop, OneNote, OneDrive

**Tags:** Whiteboard, Real-time collaboration, Templates, AI features

## Alternatives

- [Miro](https://toolgpa.com/tools/miro): Online whiteboard for team brainstorming, diagrams and planning. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/microsoft-whiteboard-vs-miro)
- [Mural](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mural): Online whiteboard with built-in facilitation tools for workshops. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/microsoft-whiteboard-vs-mural)
- [FigJam](https://toolgpa.com/tools/figjam): Online whiteboard from Figma for brainstorms, diagrams and meetings. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/figjam-vs-microsoft-whiteboard)
- [Lucidspark](https://toolgpa.com/tools/lucidspark): Virtual whiteboard for team brainstorming and workshops. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/lucidspark-vs-microsoft-whiteboard)
- [Excalidraw](https://toolgpa.com/tools/excalidraw): Open-source whiteboard for hand-drawn style sketches and diagrams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-microsoft-whiteboard)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026:

- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-whiteboard/online-whiteboard
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-whiteboard/digital-whiteboard-app
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/whiteboard/sign-up-for-a-new-whiteboard-account
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/whiteboard/getting-started-with-microsoft-whiteboard
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/whiteboard/differences-between-azure-and-onedrive-work-or-school-whiteboards
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/whiteboard/welcome-to-copilot-in-whiteboard
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/whiteboard/manage-whiteboard-access-organizations
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-whiteboard/id1352499399

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/microsoft-whiteboard
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).