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Create a Freeform board on iPad

You can use the Freeform app to create boards for brainstorming and collaborating. For example, propose a trip with friends and let everyone take part in the planning. You can add text, sticky notes, photos, videos, and other types of files. The canvas expands as you add content, so you’re never constrained by space limits or page formatting.

An iPad with the Freeform app open. The board includes handwriting, text, drawings, shapes, sticky notes, links, and other files.

Create a new board

  1. Go to the Freeform app on your iPad.

  2. Tap the New Board button.

  3. Tap one of the options at the top of the screen, such as a sticky note or text box , to start building your board.

    A new Freeform board with a drawing, sticky note, shape, text box, and image, corresponding to the buttons near the top of the screen.

  4. Move around your board by dragging your finger, and zoom in or out by pinching open or closed.

    Tip: To magnify more precisely, tap the current percentage in the bottom-left corner.

  5. Your board is saved automatically as you work. To name it, tap Untitled in the top left, then tap Rename.

    If you’re in Split View, tap the More button, then tap Rename.

To learn how to align items or move something to the background, see Position items on a Freeform board.

Create a board from another app

You can start a new Freeform board using content from another supported app, such as Notes, Maps, Safari, Files, Photos, and more.

  1. On your iPad, go to the app whose content you want to use on a new Freeform board.

  2. Open the item you want to place on the Freeform board (for example, a note, map, webpage, PDF, or screenshot).

    To share just one part of a file to a board (rather than the entire webpage or note), select the item. If your selection includes text, only the text is shared.

  3. Tap Share or the Share Board button, then tap the Freeform app icon .

  4. Tap New Board or the name of an existing board.

    Either a link or the item appears in the board.

Open a board

  1. Go to the Freeform app on your iPad.

  2. Tap a category in the sidebar, then tap the board you want to open, or do one of the following:

    • If you don’t see the sidebar: Tap the Show Sidebar button.

    • If you’re in a board: Tap the Back button in the upper-left corner.

      Note: Any collaborations you get invited to in the Messages app appear in an Invitations section on the Shared Boards screen until you accept them.

Freeform is open on iPad. All Boards is selected in the sidebar, and board thumbnails appear on the right.

Duplicate a board

When you want to copy an existing Freeform board, do one of the following:

  • While browsing All Boards: Tap Select in the top-right corner of the screen. Tap the boards you want to copy (a checkmark appears as you select each one), then tap Duplicate.

    Or touch and hold the thumbnail or name of the board, then tap Duplicate .

  • If you’re in a board: Tap the Actions Menu button, then tap Duplicate.

    If you’re in Split View, tap the More button, then tap Duplicate.

Note: If you duplicate a shared board, the copy isn’t shared.

Add a board to Favorites

  1. Go to the Freeform app on your iPad.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • While browsing All Boards: Touch and hold the thumbnail or name of the board, then tap Favorite .

    • If you’re in a board: Tap the Actions Menu button, then tap Favorite .

See alsoShare Freeform boards and collaborate on iPadDraw or handwrite on a Freeform board on iPadiCloud User Guide: Set up iCloud for Freeform on all your devices
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