What is the draw.io Scratchpad?

Quick access to customized shapes

The Scratchpad in draw.io is your personal space for frequently used shapes and diagrams, to use again and again.

Use the Scratchpad to store shapes, groups of shapes, and even entire diagrams, that you wish to use repeatedly. This is perfect if you have a number of customized shapes, say in a given color or with text in a particular font style that you want to have at hand for future visualizations.

In this blogpost, we’ll go over the Scratchpad basics: where to find it and how to add shapes to the Scratchpad. We’ll then dig a little deeper and look at how to export your Scratchpad shapes as an XML file, for example if you want to share these with colleagues.

Locate the draw.io Scratchpad

The Scratchpad is typically visible by default. To show or hide the Scratchpad, head to View and check or uncheck the box next to Scratchpad.

Add your shapes

Left click on a shape to select it, or select a group of shapes. Either:

• Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) and left click the individual shapes, or,
• Left click on a blank area of the canvas, then drag your mouse over the the group of shapes.

Once your shapes are selected (if they are, you will see a blue border around the shape(s), as well as the blue dots around them indicating the connection points), simply drag and drop them onto the Scratchpad, or use the plus (+) icon.

Add Scratchpad shapes to the canvas

To add shapes from your Scratchpad to the canvas, either left click on the shape or groups of shapes, or click and drag them to where you want them to be placed.

If you want to add a shape from the Scratchpad to your diagram that is attached by a connector, click and drag the shape across the target shape until you see a blue directional arrow, then release your mouse.

Remove shapes from the Scratchpad

Click on the edit pencil icon to the right of the Scratchpad, then click on the (x) in the top-right corner of a shape, to remove it.

In this modal, you can also rename elements in your Scratchpad, as well as import additional shapes, images, or URLs, via the Import button.

Export your Scratchpad

If you want to export your Scratchpad library, click on the edit pencil icon as described above, then click Export. You will then be asked to rename the file, and where you would like to save it. The shapes will be exported as an .XML file.

Did you know?

The Scratchpad is for your personal use – no one viewing or collaborating on a diagram with you will see your Scratchpad.

If you’re looking to create a library to share with your colleagues, custom libraries is the way to go. To find out more, see, Create custom shape libraries in draw.io for Confluence Cloud.

Want to dive deeper into the world of draw.io? Access our linktr.ee page to follow us on social media and learn how others use draw.io, as well as pick up some helpful tips and tricks.