Fix Excalidraw editor problems
Three problems account for nearly all Excalidraw reports, and each has a quick answer.
The most common is text that looks invisible or clipped, which is almost always a font that has not finished loading.
#What this is for
Text that is invisible or cut off.
A library that will not restore.
A canvas showing an old version after a restore.
#How it works
Action | How |
|---|---|
Invisible or clipped text | Reload the page so the fonts load fully, then reopen the editor. |
Library will not restore | Check the file is an Excalidraw library file; draw.io libraries are a different format. |
Canvas ignores a restored version | The canvas seeds once at mount. Close and reopen the editor. |
Editor will not load | Hard reload, then try a private window to rule out extensions. |
Slow with many elements | Very large scenes get heavy. Split the board into frames or separate diagrams. |
#A few things that catch people out
Reloading fixes more Excalidraw problems than anything else, because of the font loading behaviour.
Excalidraw and draw.io libraries are not interchangeable, and the error is not always obvious.
Broader symptoms are covered in Troubleshooting.
#Related
Rough on purpose.
