Zoom Whiteboard Administrator Guide
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Zoom Whiteboard settings can be configured by administrators from the web portal. These settings include options for in-meeting and out-of-meeting whiteboards, in addition to sharing options. All whiteboards created by users on the account can also be managed by administrators from the web portal. Whiteboard content is visible to account owners and other roles that have been granted Whiteboard Content view access.
Zoom Whiteboards are enabled by default for most accounts, but can be toggled on or off for certain users (by way of user groups) or the entire account.
This article covers:
- How to enable Zoom Whiteboard for your account
- How to manage the Whiteboards on your account
- How to view user role permissions
Prerequisites for enabling Zoom Whiteboard as an administrator
- Administrator privileges on the Zoom web portal
Note: If you do not see the option to enable Zoom Whiteboards on your account, submit a request to Zoom Support.
How to enable Zoom Whiteboard for your account
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- Click Account Management, then click Account Settings.
- Click Whiteboard.
- There are three primary options that can be enabled or disabled:
- In-meeting Whiteboard
Whiteboards created in a Zoom meeting by the Host or any of the attendees. Applies to Zoom desktop clients. - Out-of-Meeting Whiteboard
Whiteboards created outside of Zoom meetings in the Zoom desktop client, Zoom PWA, or web portal. - Whiteboard cloud sharing
Enables users to share their whiteboards only with users within their organization, or to include users from outside their organization.
- In-meeting Whiteboard
- Click the toggle
to enable the option. (Enabled
by default)
Note: You can also use groups to enable these options for a specific set of users, rather than the whole account. - (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing these settings, click the lock icon
, and then click Lock to confirm the setting.
Enable the settings for In-meeting Whiteboard
The settings below are enabled by default if Enable In-Meeting Whiteboard is enabled.
- Allow whiteboards to be saved to cloud
Allows users to save whiteboards to the cloud. The Allow export of whiteboard content feature must also be enabled for this to apply. - Allow export of whiteboard content
Allows users to export in-meeting whiteboard content and save as PDF or PNG formats to the Zoom folder on your device. Select the users who are allowed to save content and determine if you would like to automatically export the content when a share is stopped.
Enable the settings for Out-of-Meeting Whiteboard
The settings below are enabled by default if Enable Out-of-Meeting Whiteboard is enabled.
- Allow whiteboards to be saved to cloud
Allows users to save whiteboards to the cloud. - Allow export of whiteboard content
Allows users to export content and save as PDF and PNG formats to the downloads folder on your device.
What happens if saving Whiteboards to the cloud is disabled
Whiteboards with the cloud saving option turned off are temporary in nature and not saved permanently in the Zoom cloud. As long as there is a single active user on the whiteboard, others can join by any of the following methods:
- refreshing an inactive browser tab
- opening a previously bookmarked link
If saving whiteboards to the cloud is disabled after whiteboards are created, the whiteboard lifespan is limited to the session of the last user. If there are no active users for the whiteboard, it will no longer be available, even if the collaborators have bookmarked or saved the link to it. This includes the following cases:
- The collaborator closed the browser or loaded a different URL in the same browser tab.
- The collaborator is inactive for a predefined period of time. This is currently defined as 60 minutes. After this period the user is disconnected from the whiteboard.
- If all collaborators are offline because of any of the above reasons, the whiteboard will no longer be reopened.
Enable the settings for Whiteboard cloud sharing
This setting allows users to choose which groups their whiteboards are shared with. The Only users in the same organization option is selected by default. Click Allow sharing with anyone with a Zoom Account (same organization and external orgs) to allow users to share with others outside your organization who have a Zoom account. This setting applies to whiteboards created both in-meeting and out-of-meeting.
How to manage the Whiteboards on your account
Zoom account owners and admins with the Zoom Whiteboard permission can view a list of the whiteboards created by users within their organization and help manage them.
Note: Account owners cannot view the content of the whiteboards from the Whiteboard Management page. The whiteboard must be shared for the content to be viewed.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- Click Account Management, then click Whiteboard Management.
- In the Active Whiteboards tab, click the ellipses
to the right of a whiteboard to choose from the following options:
- Share: Select other users on the account to share with.
- Lock: Temporarily prevent editors, commenters, and viewers from opening and editing a document, while owners and co-owners retain full editing functionality.
- Rename: Change the name of the Whiteboard.
- Duplicate: Make an exact copy of the whiteboard. The title can be changed before the copy is created.
- Change Owner: Change the owner of the whiteboard.
Note: This requires edit access for the Zoom Whiteboard Management role. - Move to Trash: Move the whiteboard to the owner's Trash tab on their personal Whiteboards page.
- (Optional) Click the Trash tab if you would like to restore or permanently delete a whiteboard.
- To the right of a whiteboard, click the ellipses
to choose from the following options:
- Restore: Move the whiteboard out of the trash and return it back to Active Whiteboards.
- Delete Forever: Completely remove the whiteboard in the owner's Trash.
Note: Files in Trash tab will be permanently deleted after 30 days.
- To the right of a whiteboard, click the ellipses
How to view user role permissions
When a whiteboard is shared with other users, the owner determines which roles are assigned to those users. Although the whiteboard owner can change an assigned role later, the permissions available to the role itself cannot be edited. If it is necessary to review a detailed list of what each role's permissions are, this can be done on the Zoom web portal.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- Click User Management, then click Roles.
- Click Whiteboard, then click the Role Name you want to view.
- Click Back to roles when you are finished.
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