Freehand whiteboard app for Microsoft Teams

With the Freehand by InVision app, you can harness the collaborative power of Freehand directly inside Microsoft Teams.

Be sure that the admin of your Office 365 organization has toggled on the ability to allow external apps in Microsoft Teams. When enabled, users can add tabs and bots that are available to the Office 365 tenant. To learn more, visit the Microsoft Teams help center.

Does Microsoft Teams have a whiteboard?

Yes, Microsoft Teams uses Microsoft Whiteboard as well as InVision’s Freehand. Microsoft Whiteboard offers several pen tools, text, and sticky notes. InVision Freehand integrates seamlessly into Teams and offers pen and shape tools, text tools, image uploading, sticky notes, voting, and emoji reactions (and more).

Enable the Freehand sidebar app

To enable the Freehand app:

1. In the Microsoft Teams sidebar, click the Apps icon.
2. Search for and click Freehand.
3. Click Add to enable Freehand on your sidebar.
4. Click Sign in and enter your InVision credentials. Alternatively, click Sign up to create a new account.

You will see all freehands your account has access to, and have the option to create new freehands.

Once added, the Freehand app will be accessible via the Apps menu, or directly in the sidebar panel if you pin it.

Add a freehand document to a channel or chat

Once the app is installed, you can embed an existing or new freehand in a channel or chat. Everyone in the channel will be able to join the freehand and collaborate in real-time.

To add a freehand to a channel or chat:

1. Open the appropriate Microsoft Teams channel or chat.
2. At the top of the page, click the + icon.
3. Click Freehand, and click Add.
4. Select an existing freehand or click + Create new.
5. If you choose a new freehand, enter a name, and then click Save.

You can now begin collaborating in your freehand.

Rename a Freehand tab in a channel

You can rename a Freehand tab in a channel.

This action does not rename the freehand in InVision—it only renames the tab in that specific channel.

To rename the tab:

1. Open the appropriate Microsoft Teams channel.
2. At the top of the page, click the tab associated with the freehand.
3. Next to the tab name, click the drop-down and select Rename.
4. Enter a new name and click Save.

Use the Freehand app during a meeting

Before you start, please note:

• The meeting organizer needs to have the Freehand app for Microsoft Teams already installed. Other participants don’t need to have the app installed.
• Only the meeting organizer has the ability to add a freehand during a meeting.
• In order to edit the freehand, all meeting participants need to be added as a member or guest in your InVision team, and have editing access to the document.

To add a freehand document when organizing a meeting:

1. Schedule a new meeting in Microsoft Teams.
2. In the calendar view of Microsoft Teams, click the meeting and select Edit.
3. In the menu bar, click the + icon.
4. In the Add a tab modal, search for “Freehand” and click the search result.
5. Click Add.
6.  Sign in to InVision.
7. Select the freehand you want to add, or create a new one.
8. Click Save.
9. In the meeting invite, click Close.

To collaborate in the Freehand canvas live in a meeting:

1. During your meeting, click the More menu.
2. In the drop-down menu, select Add an app.
3. Search for “Freehand” and click the search result.
4. In the modal, select an existing freehand in your account, or click + Create new.
5. Click Save. The Freehand canvas will appear in your meeting so that all participants can collaborate live.
6. You can repeat these steps to add other Freehand documents.

To remove the freehand from the meeting:

1. During your meeting, click the More menu above the freehand.
2. Select Remove.
3. To confirm, click Remove.

Remove a freehand from a channel

To remove a freehand from a channel:

1. Open the appropriate Microsoft Teams channel.
2. At the top of the page, click the tab associated with the freehand.
3. Next to the tab name, click the drop-down and select Remove.
4. To confirm, click Remove.

Uninstall the Freehand app from Microsoft Teams

To uninstall the Freehand app:

1. Right-click the Freehand app.
2. Select Uninstall.
3. In the confirmation modal, click Uninstall.

To learn more about InVision and Microsoft Teams, check out this article: InVision app for Microsoft Teams.