Work smarter, not harder

Miro gives you almost infinite possibilities of working with objects on a board, so here are some tips on how to achieve your goals easier and faster. 

In this article:

1. Board navigation
   1.1. Use mini-map
   1.2. Switching between select/pan modes
2. Working with widgets
   2.1. Smart duplicating
   2.2. Lock objects
   2.3. Protected lock
   2.4. Suggest object size
   2.5. Move objects between foreground and background
   2.6. Select and filter objects
   2.7. Rotate objects
3. Working with documents
   3.1. Split multipage docs
   3.2. Pin pages 
4. Working with images
   4.1. Replace images
   4.2. Crop images
5. Frequently asked questions

Board navigation

Use mini-map

Be sure to choose the appropriate navigation mode to smoothly navigate across the board and make use of a mini-map, which can be found in the bottom right corner of the board (or just press the M hotkey to open/close it).

Navigation toolbar

Switching between select/pan modes

Try using hotkeys to select a certain object or pan across the board:

• Use V and H hotkeys to switch between the select/edit mode (cursor tool) and the hand/pan mode
• Spacebar - temporarily activates the hand/pan mode. Keep Spacebar pressed to pan across the boards without messing up the built structures

✏️ You can also activate the select mode on the toolbar.

The select tool on the toolbar

Working with widgets

Smart duplicating

Speed up your work by using Ctrl + D shortcut to quickly and easily duplicate objects on the board.

Smart duplicating

✏️ You can also use Alt + arrows to duplicate an object vertically or horizontally.

Lock objects

Prevent objects from being accidentally moved, edited, or deleted by locking them on the board!

⚠️ Guest editors are not able to lock/unlock objects on the board.
⚠️ Content within tables, Kanban, mind map, USM can't be locked.

Select an object and choose Lock on the context menu or just select the object and use the Ctrl + L (for Windows) or Cmd + L (for Mac) shortcut. Note that the shortcut does not work in certain browsers.

Lock option

To unlock the object, use the shortcut again, or right-click the object and choose Unlock, or just long-press the button in the context menu.

⚠️ If you're not the Board owner you can't unlock protected lock elements.

Long press to unlock

To unlock all elements on the board at once, click three dots on a locked object's context menu and select Unlock all or click the board with the right mouse button and choose the option. 

✏️ Protected lock elements won't be unlocked if you don't have the ability to unlock them.

Unlocking all locked elements on the board

Protected lock

Set up by: Board owners, Board co-owners on Consultant and Enterprise plans
Available for: Team, Consultant, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans

Board owners/co-owners on paid plans can define whether items they lock can be unlocked by all Board editors or by them only. Use this feature to prevent your board content from accidental deletion and editing.

To enable protected lock, lock an item as normal and then click the shield icon. Once you click the shield icon, the board participants will not be able to unlock the object. You can disable the protected lock at any moment.

Enabling and disabling protected lock

This is how such objects look on your collaborators' end - the option to unlock them is not available:

Protected by Board owner widget

Suggest object size

The feature will allow you to resize an object on a board so that it matches the size of a similar object next to it.

Suggesting object size

You can enable/disable the feature in the board settings (open settings by right-clicking the board or in the top-right corner).

The option to suggest object size in board settings

Move objects between foreground and background

All objects on the board are placed relatively on top of each other. Though layers are not currently supported in Miro, you may define the order of the objects by using the options Bring to front or Send to back. To access the options, open an object's context menu and click the three dots. You can also use shortcuts PgUp, PgDn (for Windows)/ fn +↑, fn+↓ (for Mac). Note that the options are not available for frames as frames are always placed behind board objects.

Defining the order of objects

Select and filter objects

Filters are extremely helpful if you need to bulk change a particular type of object in a group: select several items, click Filter on the context menu, and choose an object type. Learn more about object selection in this article.

Selecting, filtering, and modifying multiple objects

Rotate objects

Easily rotate objects on the board to adjust your content. Find the icon in the lower-left corner of the object, click and drag it to change the position as shown below.

Rotating an object

Working with documents

Split multipage docs

Available on: browser version, Desktop App

A way for your team to collaborate on documents or PDF or Powerpoint files — expand any pages, lay them out on the board, and leave comments directly on pages.

To divide a PDF or a Powerpoint file into a certain number of pages:

1. Upload the file to the board
2. Click on the file, in the context menu choose Extract pages.
   ✏️ The option is available in the cursor (select) mode only. If the option doesn't appear on the menu, press V or select the cursor on the toolbar and click the object again
   
   The option to extract pages on the PDF context menu
   
3. Choose how you want to split the file - all or just specific pages and click Extract:
   
   Extracting pages

Expanded pages will appear right under the original file. If there is no need in the original file you can delete it - all extracted pages will stay on the board.

Pin pages

To pin a particular page of a document on a board, switch to this page on the document's context menu, select Pin, and choose Set current as start. Every time you open the board, this page will be set as the first one.

✏️ The option Set current as start is available in the cursor (select) mode only. If the option is greyed out, press V or select the cursor on the toolbar and click the object again.

Pinning a page

Working with images

Replace images

Any image on the board can be replaced without affecting other objects on the canvas. To update an image, take the following steps:

1. Select the image you want to change, click Replace image and choose the source of a new image. If you choose Replace from board, you will be suggested to pick another image on the board. You can also Upload from device or Upload via URL

2. Once the source is chosen, find the required image and select it

3. The new image will replace the initial one

Replacing an image from the device

Crop images

There is no need to use third-party software to crop images, as Miro has a tool for it. Double click the image or choose Crop on the context menu.

Crop icon

This enables the crop mode, which allows editing of the rectangular selection. When it is done, just click anywhere on the board.

Cropped image

💡 You can always revert your cropped image to its original, just double click and expand the crop selection to its original size.

Frequently asked questions

1. Can I align objects on the board?
   - Yes, find more details on this page.
   
   
2. Can I rotate text?
   - Yes, you can rotate text boxes by dragging the arrow icon.
   
   
3. Can I crop PDF files?
   - No, this is not possible at the moment.