43 posts tagged with "features"

Many diagrams in companies contain highly sensitive data - you don't want to share this data outside of your company's cloud systems. A stricter content security policy lets you diagram securely with draw.io via our online editor at se.diagrams.net, storing your diagram file in your Google Workspace or Google Drive account.

Features that require conversion tools on our servers, required to import and export files in a couple of formats, are not available when you use se.diagrams.net.

All other features that require processing of your diagram data are done directly in your browser. This ensures your diagram data is only communicated between your browser and your Google Workplace account.

Diagram securely​

draw.io is a unique security-first diagramming tool in that we provide the application platform, but your diagram data only lives in your browser while you are working on it, and in your Google Drive or Workspace account at rest.

We are dedicated to data security - we don’t use any trackers within our diagram editor or store your diagram data. Your diagram data is secure and private when you use draw.io. The few conversion tools that require remote server functionality are not available on se.diagrams.net.

Protect sensitive diagram data​

Many types of diagrams require stricter data security in a corporate context: entity relationship diagrams for modelling or documenting databases, infrastructure and network diagrams, sensitive business processes and BPMN diagrams, supply chain dependencies, business models, attack trees and flows in threat modelling, and even UML diagrams that expose the inner workings of your applications' code.

Because your sensitive diagram data doesn't leave your infrastructure and is never stored on the our servers, se.diagrams.net is a tool which lets you comply with data protection certifications such as ISO 27000, 27001 and 27002.

Impact on editor features​

Import: .vsd, .gliffy and .lucid file formats are not available.

Export: Export to .vsd and .pdf file formats.

• When you select File > Export As > PDF, it will automatically open a dialog where you can print your diagram to a PDF file.
• The conversion to a .vsdx file is done in your browser. Select File > Export As > VSDX to export to this format.

Use the Mermaid syntax instead: Arrange > Insert > Advanced > Mermaid

Storage location: Google Drive is the only cloud storage location available for both diagram files and custom shape libraries.

Use a secure online whiteboard​

Change the se.diagrams.net editor theme to show a minimal whiteboard-like collection of tools and panels.

1. If you don't already have this editor theme enabled, select Extras > Theme > Sketch.
2. Reload your browser tab to switch to the simpler editor theme.

Atlassian has encouraged all Connect apps to transition to Forge where their modernised Forge architecture can provide increased data security, updated integrated tools and UIs and other useful features. Our hybrid Connect/Forge draw.io app is currently migrating to be fully Forge-only, allowing for enough time to troubleshoot before the first migration deadline in January 2026, should any problems arise.

You should see no difference in functionality - the diagram editor is not changing, and your existing diagrams and draw.io macros will not be changed through this transition.

No full-screen custom macro UI on Forge

We, like many other app developers, delayed moving draw.io to Forge as Atlassian has not yet implemented the full-screen custom UI dialog that is widely used by many Marketplace apps.

A reduced diagram editor size may impact productivity or cause distractions as it does not fully cover the page behind. Some have also reported related display issues with dialogs not appearing correctly on mobile devices in the Forge-only apps.

While we reported this issue back in November 2021, it is currently scheduled by Atlassian to be implemented in FY26Q2 (although, it is not yet included in the Connect-Forge capability equivalence roadmap).

If full-screen diagramming or mobile diagramming is a priority for your teams, or if you are an app developer that is affected by this bug, please do comment on the original FRGE-557 issue and the more recent ECO-195 issue.

As soon as this issue has been implemented by Atlassian, the draw.io macros in your Confluence Cloud instance will once again work in full screen.

Updating your draw.io app​

Atlassian may choose to rollout these updated Forge-only apps automatically, or your administrator may need to manually update the draw.io app.

If your teams require the full-screen app functionality as described above, we recommend not updating the draw.io app until Atlassian has resolved this issue.

Note: No diagrams or macros will be removed from any pages in which they are used or edited in any way. There is no danger of losing data on this update.

Migrating from DC to Cloud?​

Atlassian has also recently announced the end of life for Data Center, with a three-year staged transition period starting in March 2026.

If you are migrating from Confluence DC to Cloud because of this, or to take advantage of the enhanced security features of Atlassian's modernised Forge architecture, migrate your draw.io diagrams in Confluence using the PageID method that preserves in-diagram links and embedded diagrams.

Which draw.io app for Confluence Cloud?​

The draw.io for Confluence Cloud app that is transitioning to Forge is available in two editions - Standard and Advanced. The diagramming features of these two editions are the same.

The Advanced edition of the draw.io app includes premium support, custom security reviews, and additional data security options.

The draw.io Zero Egress app is already Forge-only, and provides strict data security, ensuring no diagram data leaves your Confluence instance (zero egress). For customers with such strict data security requirements, Atlassian plans to offer a single tenant Isolated Cloud and their Atlassian Government Cloud. The draw.io Zero Egress app is designed to work with Atlassian's new secure Cloud offerings.

Read more about the differences between the draw.io apps for Confluence Cloud

Like many software apps, diagramming tools now have AI-powered features that 'help' you diagram. These can be premium features and may not be easily disabled. With the free online draw.io editor, you have access to the diagram generation features by default. It's easy to disable this in draw.io - configure the editor or use the fully offline draw.io Desktop app.

Note: Diagram generation features are disabled by default in the draw.io apps for Confluence - ask your instance administrator to configure the draw.io editor if you want to (and are allowed to) use this feature.

While draw.io only shares the text you enter as the query to generate a diagram, and only at the time of generation.

draw.io does not share your diagram data with these LLM tools unless you specifically request that the generator modify your diagram or a selection of your diagram (this behaviour can be customised or disabled in the draw.io configuration).

Note, other diagramming applications typically share your diagram data in full and by default with these generation tools, and do not allow you to customise or limit this behaviour.

If you need to include sensitive data or draw confidential diagrams, your diagramming application must not share your diagram data.

Use an offline tool like draw.io Desktop​

Since version 10.7.5, draw.io Desktop has been a fully offline application. You do not need a connection to the internet to use all the built-in shape libraries and templates, or use your own custom shape libraries, fonts or templates stored on your device.

Diagram generation features are not available in draw.io Desktop.

Choose your platform (Windows, macOS or Linux), and download draw.io Desktop to start diagramming securely and privately.

Tip: Many extra template and example diagrams are available in the JGraph/drawio-diagrams repository on GitHub. Download these in advance to use them in draw.io Desktop.

Configure the draw.io web application​

Alternatively, you can run the web app while offline as a progressive web app, or configure the editor in your browser to disable the diagram generation features.

All versions of the draw.io application are highly configurable, including but not limited to:

• default palette colours and styles
• default and custom fonts
• custom templates and a customised template library
• default and custom shape libraries to automatically open by default
• default page and grid size

Here's a full list of the draw.io editor configuration options for the web application, draw.io Desktop, and the draw.io apps for Confluence Cloud and DC.

Only the online draw.io web application has the diagram generation enabled by default. To disable the diagram generation features, add a line to the editor configuration and refresh the tab to reload the draw.io editor.

Disable diagram generation in the draw.io configuration​

This removes the Generate tool from template library and menu, the Generate option from the search field, and the sparkle tool from the toolbar.

Note: Be careful about capitalisation - draw.io configuration options are written using lower camel case (Java).

1. Select Extras > Configuration from the menu, or ... > Settings > Configuration from the toolbar.
   
2. Add the following JSON string to the configuration: "enableAi": false
   
3. Click Apply to save your changes. Reload the browser tab to load the new draw.io configuration and disable the diagram generation features.

Note: If you set the lockdown option to true in the draw.io configuration, this will also disable the diagram generation features.

Retention rules in Confluence Data Center allow you to automatically delete historical versions of pages and attachments that you no longer need. draw.io diagrams are stored as page attachments. Therefore, the data retention settings you choose will apply to older versions of those diagrams.

To implement a retention strategy, Confluence DC administrators need to set several rules.

• Apply global rules to all spaces in your Confluence instance, including archived and personal spaces.
• Apply different rules for pages and for attachments.
• Set exemptions and individual rules for spaces with longer data history requirements.
• Set permissions that allow space administrators to set their own retention rules in their spaces.
• Set a global rule or space exemptions for purging any manually deleted items that are in the trash.

Important: Historical draw.io diagram versions, pages and other attachments that are deleted using these retention rules cannot be restored. Make sure your backup strategy takes this into account.

Set the coverage level to Advanced or higher to ensure the audit log records all deletions and purges.

Why use retention rules?​

When collaborating on a draw.io diagram in Confluence DC, diagram attachment versions will be saved regularly to record everyone's contributions. If those diagrams include many embedded images, the size of those attachments can become quite large. Diagram versions will accumulate quickly during collaboration.

Setting automatic deletion of old versions will reduce the size of the Confluence database and attachment directory, and thus speed up backups and upgrades.

Note: One of the main considerations for your data retention strategy is where teams are required to keep records of their work for compliance and auditing purposes.

Which retention approach is best for diagrams?​

Retention rules apply to all page attachments, not just attached diagrams. Choose rules that are appropriate for all attached content.

Important: The order in which you set rules is important - when you set a global rule, it will be implemented immediately.

Choose one of these retention strategies:

• Set the global rule to keep all for both page and attachment versions, then set space exemptions to clean up specific spaces.

• Add space exemptions to keep all in spaces where you must retain the version history, then set a global rule to clean up all remaining non-critical spaces. This is useful when audits are required only on documentation in specific spaces.

The default retention setting is to keep all pages and attachments and not purge the trash automatically.

If you find your instance is growing too large and slow, choose which versions of pages and attachments that you want to keep.

• keep by age
• keep by version number, where the most recent x versions are kept

The second approach is likely more useful if you need to see how a diagram was developed and by whom.

Refer to Atlassian's documentation to see how to set retention rules as an administrator.

The latest versions are never deleted even if that version is older than the retention rule - only the historical versions are deleted.

When are old versions deleted?

A scheduled job will run every 10 minutes to permanently delete a small batch of outdated versions so as not to overwhelm your instance.

As an administrator, you can manually run the 'hard' job which will delete all outdated versions. Only do this when your instance is not busy.

Migrating to Cloud - set retention rules before migration​

Purge older versions of pages and attachments before you start migrating so there will be much less data that needs to be copied and ensure your migration happens more quickly.

See how to update pageIDs to migrate with draw.io from Confluence DC to Cloud

When you change from light to dark mode in draw.io, the colours automatically switch intensity so that your diagram and its labels are easy to read. You can set now specific colours for shapes, connectors, text and the diagram page background for both light and dark modes via the updated colour palette.

Adaptive colours are important when part of your team prefers to work in dark mode, and the rest prefers light mode.

Colour style - use a specific dark and light colour​

1. Select one or more shapes, connectors, text labels, or the diagram background, then click on a colour block to open the colour palette, for example, the Fill colour of a shape.
   
2. Click Advanced to see the dark mode colour settings in the palette.
   
3. Enter a colour value in the Light mode field (sun). The dark mode value will update automatically to its inverse if you are using the Automatic adaptive colour setting.
4. To use a specific dark mode colour instead, enter a different colour value in the Dark mode field (moon). This colour is now User-defined.
   
5. Click Apply to save the colour style to your selected shapes, connectors, text or diagram page background.

You'll notice that the colour block now has two triangles, in both dark and light mode.

Tip: To use the same colour in dark and light modes, enter the same value in both fields.

Adaptive colour settings​

Each page in a multi-page diagram has its own adaptive colour setting.

With nothing selected in your diagram page, click on the diagram Style tab. Change the Adaptive Colors setting. Alternatively, select Extras > Adaptive Colors from the menu.

• Automatic: Changes the intensity to enhance the contrast of all coloured elements in a diagram. This is set by default.
• Simple: Improves the contrast of only the black and white elements, and retains all other colours. Thus the same palette can be used in dark and light modes.
• None: Disables adaptive colours in dark mode completely. Diagrams will appear as they would in light mode even if you enable dark mode in the draw.io editor.

Set defaultAdaptiveColors in the draw.io configuration to simple or none when you want your diagram colours to stay the same in light and dark modes.

Step by step: Configure default adaptive colours

Sharing diagrams with adaptive colours​

The adaptive colour settings are saved in the diagram file. When you share your diagram file, a URL link with the diagram or HTML code with the diagram embedded, when it is reopened in the editor, the diagram will display with the adaptive colour settings it was saved with.

Related​

Diagrams pose a particular challenge when automatically adjusting colours for readability in dark mode.

If you want to reset a diagram to automatically adapt to dark mode, you can remove all the user-defined dark-mode colours.

See how to set custom dark-mode colours in the style and colour palettes with the light-dark function for each color definition.

Learn more about how adaptive colours work when you export to an SVG image.

App editions for Atlassian Confluence Cloud will soon be available for customers who sign up for Atlassian's early-access program. App editions is a new Atlassian Marketplace feature introduced with Forge, and draw.io will be available in Standard and Advanced editions.

If you are not in the early access program, your draw.io Confluence Cloud app will continue to receive regular updates and support as in your current subscription, and of course, the full features of the draw.io diagram editor, including AI-generated diagrams.

If you sign up for the new early access programme for app Editions in the Atlassian Marketplace, draw.io will be available in the following two editions for Confluence Cloud.

• The Standard edition includes all the diagramming features of the draw.io editor, including AI-generated diagrams. When you need support, your Confluence Cloud administrators can submit support tickets and receive the standard level of support (9/5 business hours).

• The Advanced edition of draw.io for Atlassian Cloud products is for large enterprise customers who require advanced support and stricter data security. Along with the fully featured draw.io app from the Standard edition, you will receive the following additional support:

  • Extended support hours and shorter initial response times.
  • A dedicated account manager as your single point of contact for enquiries.
  • Custom security reviews for compliance submissions.
  • Access to development feature previews.
  • In-depth and targeted training materials.
  • A zero-egress switch that can disable all data egress except for Atlassian API calls in the draw.io Forge app version.

Related​

See how to use draw.io in Confluence with diagram files stored in Google Drive.

Administrators can configure the draw.io app in Confluence Cloud in the Advanced edition to enable the lockdown option.

You can diagram offline with the draw.io desktop app if you need to work in a highly secure environment.

We are fully committed to data security and privacy - learn more about data protection while diagramming and using draw.io.

Atlassian has recently released Jira Software 10.0 and Data Center Platform 7, which includes a large collection of security and automation improvements. The draw.io app has been updated to support Jira Software 10.0 and its long awaited dark theme - your diagrams will switch to dark mode automatically to match your Jira user settings.

Important

If you are planning to upgrade to Jira 10.0, Atlassian recommends you update all Marketplace apps that support the new version - like draw.io does - beforehand.

Dark theme Jira issues and diagrams​

1. In Jira, click on your user profile image in the top right, then select Theme.
2. Choose Dark theme, Light theme, or to Match System to match your operating system's theme.
   

To add a new diagram to a Jira issue, click on More > Add draw.io Diagram to open the draw.io editor.

Once you have saved your diagram to the issue, the Draw.io Diagrams section will be added in the right column.

Diagrams in the Draw.io Diagrams section will be displayed in whichever theme you selected in Jira automatically.

Note: The draw.io diagram in the Attachments section of the Jira issue is saved and shown as if it were light mode. To edit or open a larger version of the diagram, click on the diagram in the Draw.io Diagrams section of the issue.

Hover over the diagram and click on the edit pencil to open it in the draw.io editor.

Using draw.io in Jira DC​

• Migrate from Jira Server or DC to Jira Cloud.
• Work with diagram revisions on Jira DC issues.
• Convert a Gliffy diagram stored on a Jira DC issue to a draw.io diagram.

Atlassian has just released Confluence Data Center 9.0, with a wide range of security improvements and user-friendly updates. The draw.io app is fully compatible with Confluence DC 9.0 - when you use the new Dark theme in your Confluence instance, you'll automatically see draw.io diagrams in dark mode.

Dark mode diagrams in Confluence DC​

Just as Confluence has updated their colour palette for accessibility contrast to ensure text page content remains readable on a dark background, draw.io automatically switches to an enhanced dark-mode palette.

Dark mode colours with improved contrast are automatically applied to the diagram previews when you look at any Confluence DC 9.0 page, and also when you click on the diagram to open it in the draw.io lightbox viewer.

Edit draw.io diagrams in dark mode​

If you use the Confluence Dark theme, draw.io diagram macros and draw.io board macros will open the draw.io editor automatically in dark mode.

Improved contrast dark mode palette by default

The draw.io dark mode palette in Confluence DC 9.0 uses improved contrast colours by default, ensuring maximum readability of your diagrams when viewed in both dark and light modes.

draw.io board macro in dark mode

The whiteboard-like simple interface of the draw.io board macro also uses dark mode automatically when you have enabled Dark theme in Confluence DC 9.0.

Switch to light mode

To edit a diagram in light mode, change your Confluence Theme to Light first. Select your user icon in the top right, then select Theme > Light from the menu.

Search for diagrams with OpenSearch​

The new integration of OpenSearch will find draw.io diagrams in the same way the built-in Confluence search does - your diagrams are fully searchable via the Confluence search.

draw.io provides the file names and diagram label text to the Confluence search index used by both the built-in basic and advanced search functionality and OpenSearch.

See how searching for diagrams in Confluence Cloud and Data Center works and compare it with other diagramming tools.

Filename	Label text

To set up your Confluence DC 9.0 instance to use the new optional search integration, please refer to Atlassian's OpenSearch documentation.

See all the security and usability updates available in Confluence DC 9.0.

Mermaid is a text-based syntax that you can use to describe a diagram, and automatically lay it out neatly on the diagram canvas. Enter your Mermaid diagram description in draw.io via Arrange > Insert > Mermaid in the draw.io menu or + > Mermaid from the toolbar. draw.io has updated to Mermaid version 10.9.1 to support the new ELK automatic layout.

Text to diagram tools in draw.io​

There are several text-to-diagram tools built into draw.io:

• Mermaid diagrams
• SQL to entity shapes
• Specially formatted CSV data
• Basic text-to-diagram converter for trees and lists.

Example Gantt chart generated from Mermaid syntax

Some of these text-to-diagram features generate a diagram as an image on the drawing canvas, and some use draw.io shapes to automatically layout your diagram and let you continue adding draw.io shapes and connectors to it.

You can choose your preferred output when you generate a diagram from Mermaid syntax, although some diagram types - like the Gantt chart above - will only generate to an image.

Insert a Mermaid diagram in draw.io​

An example coffee machine debugging flow is described in Mermaid syntax below.

graph TD
   A(Coffee machine <br />not working) --> B{Machine has power?}
   B -->|No| H(Plug in and turn on)
   B -->|Yes| C{Out of beans or water?} -->|Yes| G(Refill beans and water)
   C -->|No| D{Filter warning?} -->|Yes| I(Replace or clean filter)
   D -->|No| F(Send for repair)

Add this Mermaid diagram to draw.io.

1. Select Arrange > Insert > Mermaid from the menu or + > Mermaid from the toolbar if you are using the Simple mode or the Sketch editor theme.
   
2. Enter the text description of your diagram using Mermaid syntax in the large text box.
3. From the drop-down list, select whether you want to insert the diagram with draw.io shapes (Diagram), or as a single image (Image), and click Insert.
   

Diagram (default): When you insert the Mermaid diagram using the draw.io shapes, you can connect additional shapes and connectors and style your diagram. To change the original Mermaid syntax, first delete the previously inserted shapes, and re-enter the Mermaid description of your diagram by repeating the steps above.

Image: To generate the Mermaid diagram as a single SVG image on the drawing canvas instead, select Image from the drop-down list before you Insert. If you hover over the SVG image, the Mermaid syntax is visible in the tooltip. Note that you can't edit or style the individual shapes or connectors in this SVG image version.

To change a Mermaid diagram added as an image, double click on the SVG on the drawing canvas and edit the Mermaid syntax to regenerate the image.

Please refer to the Mermaid documentation for the complete syntax and styling options.

New ELK layouts for large flowcharts​

The new ELK layout option, introduced in Mermaid version 9.4, can generate compacter versions of large and complex flowcharts.

Add the following renderer directive to the top your Mermaid diagram text description:

%%{init: {"flowchart": {"defaultRenderer": "elk"}} }%%

For example, to layout the example Mermaid graph shown above with the ELK renderer command, the insert Mermaid dialog looks as follows.

Click Insert, and the Mermaid diagram will be generated ad drawn with draw.io shapes.

While this example is small and simple, larger flows with complex decisions and many branches may be displayed better using this ELK renderer option.

Note: As this is an experimental feature from the Mermaid developers, it currently only supports the flowchart layout.

Large Mermaid flowchart with and without ELK

Below, one of the more complex draw.io flowchart templates has described in text using Mermaid syntax and inserted as an image. The more compact version on the left used the new ELK renderer directive, and the one on the right did not.

With the ELK renderer directive, the Mermaid code for this flowchart looks as follows.

%%{init: {"flowchart": {"defaultRenderer": "elk"}} }%%

graph TD
  A[\Replenish Value Add stock/] --->C
  B(Order product with Value Add) --->C
  C{Frequent process?} --->|Yes|D 
  C --->|No|F
  D{New template?} --->|Yes|E 
  D --->|No|G
  E(Create work order template) --->G
  F(Create work order) --->H
  G(Copy template to work order) --->I
  H(Add materials to work order processes) --->J
  I(Adjust material quantities) --->J
  J(Monitor work orders) --->K
  K{Material quantities in stock?} --->|No|L 
  K --->|Yes|M
  L(Procure materials) --->M
  M(Change status to In Progress) --->N
  N{External Vendor to perform step?} --->|Yes|O 
  N --->|No|P
  O(Add vendor costs) --->Q
  P[\Perform work order step/] --->R
  Q([Ship materials to Vendor]) --->S --->X
  R{Additional processing required?} --->|Yes|N 
  R--->|No|T
  S[\Perform work order step/] --->U
  T(Receive final stock) --->V
  U(Receive product from vendor) --->W
  V(Ship product on order) --->Y
  W{Partial quantity received?} --->|Yes|X 
  W --->|No|Z
  X[Create work order backorder] ---> J
  Y(Change status to complete) --->AA
  Z(Pay vendor invoice) --->R
  AA([Finish])

Data security and privacy are central to our draw.io diagramming tool - using our application platform, your diagram data storage means saving and loading is direct between your browser and whichever location your choose to save your diagram file. We don't allow your diagram data to be stored on our servers.

We take the same privacy and security focused approach to non-diagram data too here at JGraph - we don't use cookies or tracking pixels on our website.

Of course, if you contact us here at JGraph for support via GitHub, Google Groups, or one of our social channels, we will have your contact details - necessary to resolve your query.

In our updated privacy policy, we have now clarified that we will not send you any marketing communication using your details or data. We will also not share your personal data with any third-party company for marketing purposes.

Note: The draw.io app listings in the Atlassian Marketplace for Confluence and Jira are managed by Seibert Group GmbH, and therefore are governed by their privacy policy.

Use draw.io Desktop to diagram offline​

Our draw.io desktop app runs fully offline on your local device, and your diagram data stays on your local device. The only external communications from the software are to check for application updates.

draw.io runs on Windows, macOS and Linux - download the draw.io Desktop installer for your operating system.

Configure data transmission lockdown​

Set "lockdown": true in the editor configuration. Lockdown options only apply to cloud-based draw.io versions.

This will disable data transmission apart from directly between your browser where you are editing your diagram, and the cloud platform or location you have chosen to store the diagram file.

1. In the online version of draw.io at app.diagrams.net, select Extras > Configuration in classic mode, ... > Settings > Configuration in Simple mode or the Sketch editor theme to open the configuration.
2. Enter the "lockdown": true JSON string and click Apply.

In the draw.io app for Confluence Cloud (advanced edition only), go to the administration area, then the draw.io Configuration tab. Add "lockdown": true to the UI Configuration, and click Save changes.

Note: There are few functions that use the draw.io servers to perform operations that browsers are not capable of, including to generate a PDF version of your diagram, and import a diagram file in .gliffy format. These functions won't be available if you lockdown data transmission.

Learn more about configuring the draw.io diagram editor

Collaborative editing has long been possible in draw.io for Confluence Cloud. From the draw.io for Confluence DC release 13.0, you and your team will be able to edit the same diagram and see each other's changes.

Collaborative editing works in both the draw.io Diagram macro and the draw.io Board macro in Confluence DC. Note the collaboration isn't real-time, we need to ensure a slower update rate is stable and causes no performance issues in the first release.

Real-time multi-user diagramming​

Just like in draw.io for Confluence Cloud, the new collaborative editing feature in draw.io for Confluence DC uses the built-in auto-save feature.

1. When you make a change to a draw.io diagram - add, style, or delete shapes, text and connectors, the diagram will be automatically saved to the Confluence page attachments.
2. The draw.io diagram editor regularly polls the Confluence DC instance to see if any changes were made by other users, then loads these changes into your editor.

You don't need to manually save or synchronise the diagrams - changes will automatically appear in the draw.io editor for everyone editing the diagram.

No shared cursors?

As Confluence DC is not a cloud service with web sockets, there is no way to share and synchronise users' cursors as they work inside the diagram editor.

You can still make gestures on the diagram with the freehand brush to discuss a draw.io diagram in online meetings with your team - the freehand shape will appear in the other users' draw.io editor shortly after you draw it.

Changes are merged from multiple users​

If several users add shapes to the same location on a diagram, draw.io will take all those shapes and simply overlap them.

If one user adds and connects a new shape to an existing shape, but another user deletes the existing shape, both user's changes are saved:

• The child shape will appear to stand alone as its parent was deleted.
• The existing parent shape and any connectors from it to new shapes added by other users will be deleted.

This is the same process followed by the collaborative editing function in draw.io for Confluence Cloud.

Because draw.io merges all the changes made to a diagram, and does not overwrite the attachment with the most recent saved state from one user, you won't lose any data when you are editing a diagram as a team.

Change the synchronisation speed and auto-save interval​

If your Confluence DC users find that changes appear in diagrams they are editing together too slowly, an administrator can increase the polling speed in the draw.io app configuration, by specifying the number of seconds between each poll in the Add-on Configuration field.

Also, you can shorten the time between auto-saving the diagram. A shorter interval will mean more attachment versions of diagrams will be created and added to a Confluence page.

1. Go to the administration area of your Confluence DC instance.
2. Go to the Configuration tab in the draw.io Add-on Configuration section.
3. Add the following lines to the Add-on Configuration text field: pollingInterval=10000 and maxAutosaveDelay=5000
4. Click Save changes to update the draw.io configuration.
   

In the example above, we have set the polling interval to 10 seconds (which is 10,000 milliseconds).

Note: If you collaborate on extremely large and complex diagrams, you may need to set a longer polling interval.

See how to configure the draw.io editor for Confluence DC

The new high contrast mode is available in draw.io: High Contrast makes the editor interface easier to read without adjusting your monitor's contrast settings, similar to the accessibility options in your operating system.

High contrast mode simplifies and removes non-essential backgrounds and increases the definition between interface elements by adding clear outlines. You may find it is easier to read text and it can reduce eye strain.

High Contrast mode​

Choose Settings > Appearance > High Contrast from the draw.io menu.

When you enable high contrast modes or themes in your operating system, the range of colours in the interface is reduced and visual elements are simplified. Panels, tools, buttons, and toolbars have simpler backgrounds (white in light mode, black in dark mode), with a clear outline to better separate the various parts of the application's interface.

In the draw.io editor, High Contrast mode works in the same way.

• Panel backgrounds are simplified to off-white (light mode) or nearly black (dark mode).
• Text labels, shapes, and tools that were previously grey are clearer - black (light mode) or white (dark mode).
• Strong contrasting outlines are added around buttons, between the shape libraries, around the format panel tabs and other elements in the editor interface: a crisp white outline in dark mode, and a black outline in light mode.

The default dark mode is on the left in the screenshot below, and High Contrast mode on the right.

High contrast mode works with all draw.io themes in both dark and light mode, including the Sketch online whiteboard theme.

Better colours for dark mode​

Dark mode is often used to reduce eye strain - with draw.io you can diagram in dark mode using any of our editor themes (click the sun/moon icon in the top right and select the mode you want to use. Alternatively, select Settings > Appearance > Dark Mode from the menu).

A while back, we updated colours automatically change when working with draw.io in dark mode, but continue to use the light mode palette as the default. When you switch to dark mode, by default, shapes, connectors and text change intensity to ensure an improved contrast that remains readable.

• To disable adaptive colours for light and dark mode, make sure nothing is selected in your diagram, then in the document Style tab of the format panel, set Adaptive Colors to None. (Also available in the Classic mode menu via Extras > Adaptive Colors).
  

• If you want only the black and white parts of your diagram to invert in dark or light mode, set Adaptive Colors to Simple.

• If you want to choose specific dark mode colours for shapes, connectors and text instead of using an automatic adaptive colour, add the dark mode colour for that shape in the colour palette under Advanced.

Note: draw.io Desktop uses the original simple adaptive colours. Set Adaptive colour