If you’ve ever wished diagramming tools felt less like enterprise software and more like grabbing a marker and sketching on a whiteboard, you will like Excalidraw. It’s fast, intuitive, works offline, supports collaboration, and keeps things simple without getting in your way.

This post walks you through installation options and essential usage.

What Is Excalidraw?

Excalidraw is an open-source, zero-friction virtual whiteboard that produces hand-drawn-style diagrams. It’s used by engineers, product teams, DevOps, architects, and teachers.

Key highlights:

• Free and open-source
• Works in browser or as a desktop app
• Offline support
• Real-time collaboration
• A massive library ecosystem (AWS icons, k8s shapes, UML, etc.)

1. Installation Options

Use the approach that best fits your workflow.

Option A: Use the Web App (Fastest)

Open:

https://excalidraw.com

You’re drawing immediately. No sign-ups, no login, no clutter.

Option B: Desktop App (Windows / macOS / Linux)

Download from GitHub:

https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw-desktop/releases

Choose the installer for your OS:

• .dmg for macOS
• .exe for Windows
• .AppImage or .deb for Linux

Run it like any other application and you’re in.

Option C: Self-Hosted with Docker

If you want your own instance for a homelab, team, or offline environment, run:

docker run -d \
  --name excalidraw \
  -p 3000:80 \
  excalidraw/excalidraw

Then visit:

http://localhost:3000

Option D: Excalidraw Inside Obsidian

Obsidian + Excalidraw is a powerhouse combo for personal documentation.

1. Obsidian -> Settings -> Community Plugins
2. Browse -> search for Excalidraw
3. Install & enable
4. Create diagrams directly inside notes

Interface Overview

No matter how you installed, the UI should look similar.

The UI is deliberately minimal:

• Left Toolbar: settings, theme, save/export
• Top Bar: shapes, arrows, text, freehand
• Right Sidebar: sharing, libraries
• Bottom Bar: zoom controls, undo/redo, help

Core Drawing Tools

Shapes & Text

Keyboard shortcuts:

• R -> Rectangle
• O -> Ellipse
• X -> Draw
• A -> Arrow
• T -> Text
• P -> Pen

Hold Shift for straight lines & proportional shapes (eg. making a square/circle that is symmetrical).

Connectors

Arrows auto-snap to shapes and stay attached even when you move items. This works well for architecture and flow diagrams.

Styling

Use the left panel for:

• Stroke width
• Stroke style
• Background color
• Arrowheads
• Fonts
• Sloppiness

You can make something appear hand-drawn or appear clean and proportional.

Libraries

Open the right menu -> Library -> Select “Browse libraries”

This will allow you to find community created icons like:

• AWS / GCP / Azure icons
• Kubernetes shapes
• UML blocks
• Flowchart elements

Collaboration

If you use the hosted version: - Click Live Collaboration - Share the link - Work together in real time if you each have network access to each other

No logins required.

Closing thoughts

I do not make enough diagrams for my blog but I do make a lot of diagrams for my job. This tool is one I use frequently at work.