draw.io is a diagramming editor for flowcharts, UML, BPMN, network topologies, and org charts. It is used to build technical and business diagrams that stay editable and portable, whether the file lives on your device or in shared cloud storage.
draw.io is a diagram editor that covers technical and business drawings in one canvas: flowcharts, UML models, BPMN processes, network topologies, floor plans, org charts, and infographics. Shapes are dragged from libraries onto an infinite canvas and connected with lines that reroute as the layout changes; labels are added by double-clicking any element. Templates provide a starting structure, and auto-layout tools can tidy a tangle of boxes into something presentable. Because the same editor runs as a desktop application and in a browser, a diagram created in one place opens in the other, and files can be kept on a device or in cloud storage the user already pays for. Nothing is locked behind an account.
Most people meet draw.io through a document or a wiki rather than a desktop icon. A diagram is embedded in Confluence, Jira, Notion, or a markdown page, and editing happens inside that page without exporting anything or converting formats. Files are plain XML, so the same drawing opens in the desktop application, the browser editor, or a viewer embedded in another site, and diagrams written years ago still load. New users come from tools such as Dia and expect the same fundamentals: libraries, connectors, and layers. Here they also get shape search across open icon sets and mathematics typesetting in labels. Collaboration runs through whatever storage you already use, with live cursors for shared files.
draw.io's main advantage is that the file, not the tool, owns the diagram. Drawings are plain XML, so they open in the desktop application, in a browser, in an embedded viewer, or in a wiki page years later, and nobody has to buy a seat to look at one. That portability removes the usual friction around diagramming: no export step to share a picture, no format conversion when a colleague works elsewhere, and no risk that an old file becomes unreadable. The editor itself covers more ground than most single-purpose tools, with libraries for UML, BPMN, network racks, floor plans, and threat models, plus imports from Mermaid code, CSV data, and SQL so a diagram can be generated from something you already have. Advanced tools stay optional: layers and tags organise complex drawings, shape metadata and tooltips add information without cluttering the canvas, and custom libraries keep house notation in one place. For teams that document systems, that combination is hard to match.
Key capabilities and highlights.
The desktop application runs the same editor as the browser version and needs no connection while you work, which suits diagrams that cannot leave a controlled machine. Files open and save from local storage, and the complete shape and template set stays available.
Libraries cover flowcharts, UML, BPMN 2.0, entity relationship models, network and rack diagrams, floor plans, org charts, kanban boards, attack trees, and more. Shapes can be searched by name, including across open icon sets, so the right symbol is found without scrolling through palettes.
Diagrams can live on the device, in the browser, or in Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, GitHub, or GitLab. Teams keep their existing backup, permissions, and version history, and draw.io never holds the file itself, which simplifies data protection reviews.
Files can be dragged in from other diagram formats and continue editing after import. Export covers SVG, PNG, PDF, and editable embeddings, so a drawing can be dropped into documentation, a slide, or a wiki page without losing the shapes behind it.
A Mermaid code block, a CSV file, or a SQL statement can be turned into a diagram instead of drawn by hand, and a written description can be handed to an AI tool to produce a first draft. Auto-layout then arranges the result.
Layers separate optional detail from the main drawing, and tags filter which shapes are shown for a given audience. Metadata, tooltips, links, and placeholders attach extra information to a shape without adding more text to a crowded canvas.
Organisations can define their own shapes and bundle them into libraries that travel with a diagram file, which keeps company notation consistent across teams. Palettes, fonts, and the editor layout can be configured once and shared across a whole team.
A diagram can be embedded in a wiki, a documentation site, or an internal tool with the viewer, keeping it interactive rather than frozen as an image. Readers can pan, zoom, and follow links, and diagrams with an edit link stay in sync with the source file.
Browse historical releases and previous builds.
Common questions about draw.io.
It is used to create and maintain diagrams: flowcharts, UML and BPMN models, network topologies, org charts, floor plans, and technical infographics. Because files stay editable and portable, it works well for documentation that is updated as systems change.
Yes. The desktop application is a standalone editor that needs no connection for drawing, saving locally, or exporting. The browser version can also continue working after a diagram is loaded, though cloud storage, template browsing, and clipart search need a connection again.
Wherever you prefer. Files can sit on your device, in the browser, or in Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, GitHub, or GitLab. The company behind the editor does not store diagram data, so your existing backup and permission settings continue to apply.
Yes, when the file is kept in shared cloud storage such as Google Drive or OneDrive. Several people can open the same drawing, see each other's cursors, and edit at once, while the version history of that storage platform records earlier states.
Diagrams can be exported to SVG, PNG, PDF, and HTML, or embedded as editable artwork, and many other diagram formats can be imported and then edited. Keeping the source file means the same drawing can be re-exported whenever it changes.
Yes. Mermaid code, CSV data, and SQL statements can be inserted to build a diagram, and a text description can be passed to an AI tool for a first draft. Auto-layout can then arrange the shapes into a readable structure.
draw.io is a diagramming editor for flowcharts, UML, BPMN, network topologies, and org charts. It is used to build technical and business diagrams that stay editable and portable, whether the file lives on your device or in shared cloud storage.
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