Works with Wi-Fi switched off

An infinite whiteboard that never needs the internet.

Sticky notes, a freehand pen, pan and zoom, templates and JSON export, all saved in your own browser. Plan on a train, in a classroom or on a plane. The board below is real: drag a note, draw on it, reload the page.

Live demo Everything on this board is editable. It saves to this browser, separately from your full board.

On a touch screen, choose the hand tool to pan the demo, pinch to zoom, and double-tap empty space to add a note. Each tool also has a keyboard shortcut, listed under Shortcuts in the board's top bar.

The toolbar, explained

Six things, done properly.

Offline Boards does not try to be everything. It keeps the parts of a whiteboard you reach for every day, and makes each one work with a mouse, a finger or just the keyboard.

  1. Sticky notes N

    Press N or double-click empty space to drop a note, then type. Drag it where it belongs, sort ideas with four colors, and press Delete to remove it. Arrow keys nudge a selected note when you need things to line up.

  2. Freehand pen with undo P

    Draw arrows, circles and underlines in ink, indigo or rose, fine or bold. Undo takes back the last stroke, move or edit, for up to sixty steps in a visit. There is a keyboard pen too: arrow keys steer a cursor and Enter lowers or lifts it.

  3. Pan and zoom H + -

    The canvas has no edges. Drag empty space or hold Space to pan, scroll the wheel on the full board or press plus and minus to zoom, and press 1 to fit everything on screen. The mini-map shows where you are and jumps where you click.

  4. Autosave, no button

    Every change is written to your browser a moment after you make it. Reload, close the tab, come back next week: the board is where you left it, provided you have not cleared this site's data. A small badge in the top bar tells you when saving works and when it does not.

  5. Templates

    Start from a team retro, a weekly plan or a brainstorm. They are ordinary notes and lines, so rewrite, move or delete anything. Load one beside your current notes, or replace the board and keep a copy of what you had.

  6. JSON export and import

    Download the board as a small JSON file, copy it as text, or import one. It is how you back up, how you move a board between devices, and how you share one without a server in the middle.

Read this before you rely on it

Offline, and honest about it.

Working offline means your board is stored on your device, and that comes with trade-offs. Here they are, up front.

Your board lives in this browser.

Boards are kept in your browser's local storage on this device. Another browser, another profile or another device starts with a blank board.

Clearing site data erases it.

If you clear cookies and site data, use a private window or reset the browser, the board goes with it. Export a JSON backup of anything you would miss.

No account, no sync.

Nothing is uploaded, so nothing can be recovered for you and nothing is shared with anyone. For two devices, export on one and import on the other.

Hands on the keys

Every drag has a keyboard twin.

Click into the board and these work straight away. On the full board press the question mark key to see them again.

V H P
Select, pan or pen tool
N
Add a note in the middle of the view
Enter
Edit the selected note, Escape to finish
Arrow keys
Nudge a selected note, or pan the board
Delete
Remove the selected note
C
Cycle the selected note's color
Ctrl / Cmd + Z
Undo, add Shift to redo
+ - 0 1
Zoom in, zoom out, 100%, fit everything
Space + drag
Pan while any tool is active

Don't start from nothing

Three ready-made boards.

Each one is a handful of notes with prompts and a few ink lines to hold it together.

Team retro

Went well, could be better, ideas to try and actions, each with starter prompts.

Weekly plan

Three priorities up top, then a column for every day with room to focus and room for appointments.

Brainstorm

One question in the middle, six prompts that push past the obvious, then dot-voting.

Your next plan fits on a board that is already open.

No sign-up, no download, nothing to install. Open the board, add a note, and carry on even if the connection drops.

Open the full board