The Hand mode turns a drag on empty canvas into a pan, so you move your view instead of drawing a selection box. Pressing an element still selects it, and dragging it still moves it. Choose it from the tool picker at the start of the palette strip, or press H.
Panning the canvas
Grab the surface and drag to move your view in any direction. This is the quickest way to navigate a large canvas when the part you want is off-screen. Zooming works as usual, with a pinch or the zoom controls.
Why a dedicated mode
You can pan from any tool without switching: drag with the middle mouse button, hold Space and drag, or scroll with two fingers on a trackpad (see Pan and Zoom). Those all rely on an extra key, button or gesture. The Hand mode makes a plain drag on empty canvas pan instead of drawing a selection box. A drag that starts on an element still moves that element, so start on empty space to get around.
Where Hand is the starting tool
- On a phone, the editor opens on Hand, so a one-finger drag moves the canvas rather than drawing a marquee.
- In Plan mode, you start on Hand, because a board's cards handle clicks and drags themselves.
- An embedded diagram always opens on Hand.
Press V or pick Select when you want to edit again. If an element is selected, press Esc first, since with one element selected a letter key types into its label.
Hand is available everywhere: to view-only visitors (press H), and in Draw mode, where H works even though the palette shows Draw's own tools.
Hand mode is handy when you are presenting or reviewing a busy canvas and want to scroll freely without disturbing anything.
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