How to use SketchFlow

SketchFlow opens straight onto an empty board — there is nothing to sign up for. The toolbar holds the drawing tools, the top bar holds undo, redo, share and export, and the properties panel appears when something is selected.

If you would rather not start from a blank page, open the template gallery and choose Open in SketchFlow on any template. It loads onto the board as ordinary shapes you can edit.

Every tool has a one-key shortcut. Rectangles (R), ellipses (E) and diamonds (D) are the building blocks of most diagrams; frames (F) group a region such as a phone screen or a swimlane; sticky notes (N) are for brainstorming; the pen (P) draws freehand; and the laser pointer (K) leaves a fading trail for presenting.

• Click and drag to draw a shape at the size you want.
• Hold Shift while clicking to add or remove items from a selection.
• Drag the corner handles to resize and the round handle to rotate.

Choose the arrow tool (A) and drag from one shape to another. The arrow binds to both ends, so when you move a shape the arrow follows. In the properties panel you can switch between straight, elbow and curved routes, choose arrowheads and make the line dashed or dotted.

Use the line tool (L) for connectors without arrowheads, such as the branches of a mind map.

Press T and click anywhere to type. Double-click existing text to edit it. Labels in templates are text grouped with their shape, so they move together; select a label and double-click to change the wording.

Font, size and alignment live in the properties panel. Press Ctrl/Cmd+F to search for any text on the board.

With something selected, the properties panel sets stroke colour, fill colour and fill style, stroke width and style, roughness (from sketchy to clean), opacity and layer order. The board itself has light and dark themes and an optional grid.

Group related elements with Ctrl/Cmd+G so they move as one, and lock anything you do not want to nudge by accident. Duplicate a selection with Ctrl/Cmd+D. The command palette (Ctrl/Cmd+/) has Auto layout, which re-spaces a connected diagram, and Fit to screen (also Ctrl/Cmd+0).

The template gallery has ready-made boards for flowcharts, mind maps, wireframes, agile ceremonies, strategy frameworks and technical diagrams. Each template page explains when to use it and how to adapt it, then links straight to the board with that template loaded.

Use Export in the top bar. PNG is best for chat, email and tickets; SVG stays sharp at any size in documents and slides; a .sketchflow file saves the editable board so you can load it again later or on another device. Switch the background off to export a transparent image.

The share button copies a link that contains your whole board, compressed into the part of the address after the #. That part of a URL is not sent to the server, so the drawing goes straight from your browser to the recipient's. Opening the link gives them an editable copy; changes they make do not change yours.

Very large boards with many images can produce links that are too long for some apps. In that case, send the .sketchflow file instead.

Fit the board to the screen with Ctrl/Cmd+0, then switch to the laser pointer (K) to point at things as you talk — the trail fades on its own and never changes the drawing. Frames are a good way to split a board into sections you can zoom between.

SketchFlow has no accounts and does not upload your boards. Your work is saved automatically in this browser's local storage, which means it stays on this device and in this browser profile. Private or incognito windows, clearing site data or switching browsers will not show the same board — export a .sketchflow file whenever a board matters.

Images you insert are stored inside the board on your device in the same way.