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How to Collaborate on a Mural Online Whiteboard

A virtual whiteboard like Mural lets a scattered team brainstorm together as if they were standing around the same board.

  1. Create a new mural

    Inside your workspace, click Create new, then start from a blank board or choose a template suited to your session.

  2. Add sticky notes

    Click the sticky note icon in the left toolbar, or double-click anywhere on the board, to drop a note wherever you want and type your idea into it.

  3. Use shapes, text, and drawing tools

    Choose shapes, text boxes, or the freehand pen from the toolbar to sketch diagrams or draw arrows showing how ideas relate to each other.

  4. Invite teammates to collaborate live

    Click Share in the top-right corner to invite others; each participant's cursor and name appear on the board in real time so you can see exactly who's working where.

  5. Use the template library

    Pick from hundreds of templates built for brainstorming, retrospectives, or stand-up meetings instead of designing a layout from scratch.

  6. Recolor and cluster sticky notes to organize

    Select notes to change their color, or drag similar ones together, making it easier to sort ideas by theme once the session winds down.

Why a virtual whiteboard replaces the physical one so well

A physical whiteboard limits brainstorming to whoever's actually in the room. A shared digital one removes that constraint entirely β€” remote teammates can add, move, and cluster sticky notes at the same time, seeing each other's cursors move in real time, which recreates much of the energy of standing around a board together.

Getting the most out of a Mural session

Sessions tend to go better with a light structure β€” a template that already frames the exercise, a time limit on the free-for-all sticky-note phase, and a clustering step at the end so ideas don't just pile up unsorted. Facilitator tools like a cursor spotlight or a voting feature can also help keep a larger group focused.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do participants need a Mural account to join a board?

It depends on how the board is shared β€” many workspaces allow guests to join and contribute via a link without a full account, though some settings restrict editing to invited members, so check your workspace's current sharing settings.

How many people can work on the same mural at once?

Mural is built for multiple simultaneous editors, with each person's cursor and name visible in real time, making it practical for anything from a small team to a larger workshop group.