Meet the new Microsoft Whiteboard designed for Hybrid Work
Published Jun 17 2021 06:00 AM 157K Views
Microsoft

*Check out the newest features now available in Microsoft Whiteboard in this Welcome to the new Whiteboard blog post (published September 28, 2021).

 

We introduced Microsoft Whiteboard with the goal of bringing people together for visual collaboration, working across a range of devices and ecosystems including Microsoft Teams.

 

Over the past 18 months, while many people were working remotely, we learned that customers needed virtual-first tools to creatively problem solve with others. To help people thrive in a more flexible work environment, we have reimagined the Whiteboard experience to help our customers collaborate, wherever and whenever.

 

Today we’re excited to announce a completely new Microsoft Whiteboard, the visual collaboration workspace in Microsoft 365, designed for hybrid work.

 

 

With the new innovations in Microsoft Whiteboard, we’re providing better hybrid work and collaboration experiences, whether or not you’re physically in the room together. To achieve this, our innovations focus on five key areas: guided collaboration, new content types, new user interface, improved inking experience and expanded Microsoft 365 integration. Let’s look at what’s new in each key area.

 

Make real-time collaboration easier

Collaboration that just works is core to the new Whiteboard experience, and we’re introducing a number of new features to make this a reality. Collaboration Cursors help you be remote, but feel together, by showing where and what other collaborators are doing on the whiteboard. Get other people’s attention as you share your best ideas with the new Laser Pointer. Reduce distractions while guiding users through ideas with Follow Along. And finally, easily get started with the most common scenarios like problem-solving, planning, and workshops, with our wide array of new Templates. Together, these features improve collaboration, engage all participants, and reduce hybrid work barriers—no matter where you are.

 

 

Boost creativity with rich and interactive content

Collaboration powered by rich content is a key part of the new Whiteboard experience. This allows everyone to contribute in the way that best suits their idea, device type, or personal preference. Combine shapes, lines, text and ink to create Collaborative Diagrams. Make connections, annotate, and iterate together across multiple types of content with our new Insert Image and Document capabilities. Organize related thoughts, ideas or solutions in an auto-layout grid with Notes Grid. Provide lightweight, contextual feedback via a range of engaging and fun Reaction Stickers. Collaborate across apps by bringing in Fluid Components like tables or task lists. Yes, you can still use Whiteboard for inking, but all of these new capabilities transform Whiteboard into a rich visual collaboration workspace that lets you and your team be more creative together.

 

 

Experience a unified modern look and feel

With the introduction of so many new collaboration features and content types, we’ve created a new user interface to support our ever-growing capabilities. Our new Fluent Toolbar adds a modern visual refresh to our expanded set of visual collaboration tools. The new Creation Gallery provides a highly discoverable, intuitive and responsive layout across devices as large as a Surface Hub and as small as a phone. See who is on the board and collaborating with you at all times in the new Top Bar. The new Whiteboard provides a Single Unified User Experience across all devices, operating systems, and platforms. Ultimately, the new Whiteboard user interface emphasizes what matters most—people and content—so you can do your best work.

 

Experience a unified modern look & feel in the new Microsoft WhiteboardExperience a unified modern look & feel in the new Microsoft Whiteboard

Maximize creativity with ink for everyone

Digital ink is an important part of whiteboarding, whether used to express your own ideas or to comment and annotate on others’ ideas. The new Whiteboard is empowering everyone, no matter if you have a pen or not, to leverage the unique visual expression capabilities that ink can offer. Improved Mouse Inking smoothes ink, making it easier than ever for those with a mouse or trackpad to visually communicate ideas that are hard to write in words. Pen Support for Whiteboard in Teams allows you to ink automatically or get the unique benefits of using a pen, such as the tail eraser. Quickly draw shapes and watch them automatically straighten with Shape Recognition. Spark the imagination and creativity of your team with Rainbow & Galaxy Ink.

 

 

Integrate seamlessly across Microsoft 365

The new Whiteboard is now integrated into even more areas across Microsoft 365 to more seamlessly fit into your existing workflows. Whiteboard is now available in Teams Channels & Chats. The new Share Content experience in Teams Meetings allows you to easily start a collaborative whiteboard for everyone in the meeting with just one click. Pre-prep or reuse whiteboards across multiple Teams Meetings with the new Open Existing Board functionality. Search and discover whiteboards on Office.com and SharePoint, and leverage the rich content management features of OneDrive for Business.

 

The new Microsoft Whiteboard is integrated seamlessly across Microsoft 365 such as Teams, Office.com, OneDrive and SharePoint.The new Microsoft Whiteboard is integrated seamlessly across Microsoft 365 such as Teams, Office.com, OneDrive and SharePoint.

 

We hear from customers every day that while the future of work may be evolving, one thing remains clear—it's never been more important for people to be able to collaborate effectively wherever and whenever. We’ve created the completely new, hybrid work focused Whiteboard experience to meet this need, so both remote and in-person attendees can visually collaborate across the same digital canvas. To get started, try the new Whiteboard today. Note: All features in the new Whiteboard are rolling out throughout this summer as they are generally available.

 

To learn more, visit the Whiteboard product page or read the FAQ.

 

75 Comments
Silver Contributor

I have used the Whiteboard app and while it was helpful, it wasn't much productive.

Seeing this new design, it is what I have been looking for and it is exactly what I want.

Thank you 

Brass Contributor

Any updates on co-authoring the whiteboard with guests/external users? This is one of the main features people don't use MS Whiteboard and look for alternatives such as Miro. This would be the main killer feature many are looking for.

Iron Contributor

When is this new version of Whiteboard going to be available?

Bronze Contributor

@Ian Mikutel This is really exciting and long overdue.  Is there a way to sign up to be part of a preview program for new Microsoft Whiteboard?  My organization (AdventHealth) would be interested in using this as soon as possible.  My email address is eric (dot) davis (at) adventhealth.com.  Thank you.  

Microsoft

@Reza_Ameri Great to hear, we hope you enjoy the new Whiteboard. Don't hesitate to reach out to me on Twitter @ ianmikutel with feedback.

@pieterodb External access for Whiteboard in Teams is coming this Fall and on the M365 public roadmap here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=whiteboard

@Kevin McKeown The new Whiteboard is available today in Teams, Web (https://whiteboard.microsoft.com) and the Android Preview app. More features will continue rolling out on a weekly basis throughout this summer. 

@Eric Davis Thanks for your interest! Whiteboard does not have a Preview program yet but we're working to make this available soon. Stay tuned.

Brass Contributor

@Ian Mikutel - Are government SKUs (specifically GCC Moderate) getting this updated experience?

@Ian Mikutel  Thanks for the update here. Some really great feature updates and it is so nice to see the focus on the web experience that everyone can use.

 

>The new Whiteboard is available today

Not in my tenant...  (or, at least nothing looks different than it did before)

Microsoft

@Stephen Brown Whiteboard is rolling out for GCC environments and will get this updated experience when it launches. We are sending Message Center posts as each environment becomes available. 8)

@Kevin Crossman Many things should be there today that have rolled out recently, such as shapes/arrows for diagramming, new pen colors/thickness, highlighter, Fluent Toolbar, Teams Channel & Chat integration, and more. As mentioned above, we'll continue to roll out all of the new announcements from today every week throughout this summer and fall as soon as they're ready. 

Copper Contributor

This new version looks very good! The current (old?) version of Whiteboard is extremely painful to use. There are some features that I hope this new version will have, including:

 

  • The ability to easily save a whiteboard and share with anyone, regardless of tenant. As a file, preferably, that can be easily imported into Whiteboard as a starting point. This would greatly simplify using this tool for training or customer engagements when you want to start with a template but load it into any tenant.
  • Use SVG or other vector images. This is crucial for using icons for architecture diagrams and the like, so they can easily be scaled without losing quality.
  • The ability to save the output of the Whiteboard to multiple formats, including PNG, SVG, Visio, and Whiteboard (whatever that file type would be)

 

With these features, Whiteboard will be able to better compete with tools like Miro and Klaxoon.

 

Thanks and keep up the great work!

Iron Contributor

Looking forward to checking out these improvements, and the ability to collaborate with guests later this year!

Copper Contributor

@Ian Mikutel Just to verify, the Fluid Framework pieces are coming later this summer or fall correct?

Copper Contributor

The update looks good. Any update on if/when the Windows version of Whiteboard is going to get the update?

Brass Contributor

Hi...@Ian Mikutel Is there any way to get at the back end data to facilitate interaction?  Is there a MS Graph/API reference?  I see references to data being stored on onedrive, but will that be in a query-able format?

Brass Contributor

This is so good, I am looking forward to this being available in my tenant! I love a good whiteboard session

Copper Contributor

Looking smooth! Will this whiteboard be compatible with one drive for busisness on prem ?

Silver Contributor

Thank you @Ian Mikutel , unfortunately I am not using Twitter but I will try to share feedbacks in this forum.

Brass Contributor

@Ian Mikutel this is amazing i have long been a whiteboard champion and i am excited for the new version.

 

I see you mention web/teams/android but what about the full existing versions on win10 and IOS when will the get this update as well as on Surface Hub?

 

Please advise.  Thanks.

Brass Contributor

I still don't understand how to get this new version.  There's no update available within the app.

Is this something the organization must do?

 

Looks like the web version is ok but not the desktop one

@Ian Mikutel  can you clarify the future for the Windows and iOS app? I assume these will be deprecated eventually, or turn into web-view apps like the Android app possibly?

Copper Contributor

When will be available as stand alone app for windows? and for Ipad?

Iron Contributor

I think this video shows a lot of features that are still in development, so it looks significantly different than the "updated" version we apparently already have access to. For example, the video clearly shows a left-side vertical toolbar instead of the horizontal one we currently see.

 

I can only assume that we are not yet seeing these two features: Inking Improvements (68351) and User Experience (82034), which I imagine will provide some of the UI updates to Whiteboard that we aren't seeing.

 

Roadmap for Whiteboard:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=Whiteboard%2CIn%20development

Brass Contributor

Hey @Ian Mikutel,

you mentioned earlier that the guest feature will be released this fall.
However, when I look at the roadmap, I only see that guest access is available during a meeting.

Are there plans to share the whiteboard with others via link and password, so that they can also access it outside of the meeting?

Brass Contributor

My current whiteboard version on Web is the following, but I can not see any update. 

Microsoft Whiteboard

21.10517.123

 

The new function is rolling out now and we need to wait for reflect this to our tenant ?

 

Brass Contributor

@Ian Mikutel  is there any difference in access to whiteboard and features depending on if you are E3 or E5 customer?

 

I know previously there was a documented list of differences depending on which Whiteboard Plan you qualified for.

 

Can you advise at your earliest convenience. 

 

Thank you.

Copper Contributor

@Ian Mikutel

Great to see what could be possible.

But when will it be availible in a Tenent in Germany. Which release number will show the features? Actuall we have 21.10517.123 and there is no new feature. 

 

Brass Contributor
Copper Contributor

When will "the new" whiteboard experience be available?

Copper Contributor

When will it be released pls? My org is currently looking to onboard MIRO because it has all the features we need. The sooner MS can get this new version of Whiteboard up, the better. 

Copper Contributor

Hi all I am wanting to know if this is available to windows 10 users who are not using 365.

 

Since I now have the old whiteboard app natively installed on my new laptop.

I want to use the new version (since old version does not have enough features for a decent call on teams)

 

Will 365 be required to use the new features?

Iron Contributor

I confirm by now I can't see most of the mentioned feature. I can exploit some functionality in the windows 10 app while on the web version, the teams version and android mobile app we are still waiting. 

I hope to see soon updates also on our tenant because the look and file looks like great.

Brass Contributor

Unfortunately our company has been decided to use Miro....  :-<

Brass Contributor

The look is less important than the functionalities.  Many little things will be missing which would make Whiteboard experience better.

See my UserVoice above to vote!

 

Copper Contributor

Currently exploring a whiteboard solution, looking at MIRO and MS. Would like to see these new features ASAP before making a decision. 

Iron Contributor

Hi @root101jp and @DJRory 

I work for a tech consulting company: we use both solutions, nothing to say Miro is a vertical application and it solves some use cases while on the other hand we are starting to spread adoption of the Microsoft Whiteboard for all the population.

 

Copper Contributor

But when will these features be available?

Copper Contributor

why  don't you update the Microsoft white board for windows

Copper Contributor

when can I see the whiteboard with new features in windows?

 

Brass Contributor

My whiteboard version is updated 21.10607.108 from 21.10517.123.

But we can not use all new functions.

According to

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=Whiteboard

Only [Microsoft Teams and Whiteboard: Additional content types] has been launched in June.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=Whiteboard&searchterms=66757

root101jp_1-1625621770485.png

I can use new type contents as the following.

root101jp_0-1625621745136.png

 

But other new functions is planed to launch in July.

Copper Contributor

Microsoft Whiteboard did not have Shapes. It was missing before.  Teams whiteboard shared in meetings would have shapes and then those shapes would not be recognised when opened in the Microsoft Whiteboard app.  A basic feature like shapes is essential. Relieved it has been corrected.  All the other stuff is a bonus.  Love the templates based on internationally recognised practices everyone understands.

Brass Contributor

Teams whiteboard shared in meetings would have shapes and then those shapes would not be recognised when opened in the Microsoft Whiteboard app

Uhm.... This is right... orz....

root101jp_0-1626145392638.png

 

Copper Contributor

Super was ihr vor habt.

 

Leider bringen uns solche Ankündigungen nichts wenn ihr nicht liefert - im Gegenteil wenn das Produkt / die Funktion noch nicht verfügbar ist - haben wir nur Ärger mit unseren Usern die immer fragen:

-- warum geht das noch nicht bei uns? 

-- wann kommt das Update endlich?

 

Das ist nicht professionell - das ist reiner Populismus und Zeitverschwendung!

 

---> also bitte: Synchronisiert endlich euer Marketing mit dem tatsächlichen Rollout --> oder veröffentlicht zumindest einen verlässlichen Zeitplan für den Rollout !!!

 

 

Copper Contributor

Wow, it looks amazing. Great job done so far.

 

It is important to have such info as soon as possible because we thought about introducing Miro. Having this information now, we will wait with Miro and looking forward to the new whiteboard!

 

Rgds

Thomas

Iron Contributor

When is Whiteboard in Teams to be updated. So far behind the app version now with all the template stuff etc.

 

Any news?

Brass Contributor
Copper Contributor

Microsoft Whiteboard didn't have Shapes. It was missing previously. Groups whiteboard partook in gatherings would have shapes and afterward those shapes would not be perceived when opened in the Microsoft Whiteboard application. A fundamental element like shapes is fundamental. Eased it has been amended. The wide range of various stuff is a reward. Love the layouts dependent on universally perceived practices everybody gets it.

Copper Contributor

It was a painful experience on the old whiteboard. However, the new update looks promising. I hope this update also comes along with the ability to share the board with guess on Teams meeting.

 

Copper Contributor

As a regular whiteboard user, one feature I seriously miss is option of having multiple scales on board. I work a lot with 0° and 90° angle. Every time I have to keep manually switching between the two and adjusting the angle to accurate which unnecessarily consumes time. I really wish this feature to be incorporated in upcoming releases.

Copper Contributor

I would like to know if ink to shape is still a feature. I use that a lot.

Copper Contributor

Hi @Ian Mikutel 

Is there a plan to make this available for MacOS? 

@RalfvanHoorn Mac users use the web version of Whiteboard (which is where all the changes / upgrades are happening).

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‎Sep 28 2021 09:47 AM
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