A canvas that grew organically can end up slightly misaligned or tangled. The layout tidiers clean up the active tab in one step, so you do not have to nudge elements into place by hand.
Two ways to tidy
In Diagram mode, the quickest way is the Tidy Up button in the bottom-right corner, just left of Layers. It shows each layout style as a small picture, and resting the mouse on one previews it on the canvas before you click.
Or open the command palette (Cmd / Ctrl + K) and type Auto Layout or Auto-align. The tidiers appear under Actions:
- Auto Layout (tidy up) recomputes positions from the arrows, laying the diagram out from scratch based on how its elements connect, in the arrangement that best fits its current rough flow. Reach for it when you want the structure rebuilt rather than nudged.
- Auto-align to Grid snaps the current positions and sizes onto a tidy grid, straightening rows and columns while keeping your overall arrangement. Reach for it when the layout is basically right but a little ragged.
- Auto Layout: Flowchart (down), Auto Layout: Flowchart (right), Auto Layout: Tree and Auto Layout: Mindmap run Auto Layout in that particular style: a flowchart running down or to the right, a tree with parents centred over their children, or a mindmap radiating from a central topic.
Every tidier acts on the whole tab at once, and each is a single step you can undo (Cmd / Ctrl + Z) if the result is not what you wanted.
More on layout
These are the Layout Cleanup tools. See that guide for the details of how Auto-Align and Auto Layout decide where things go.
A locked tab can't be tidied until you unlock it, and the tidiers aren't offered on a view-only share link.
Try Auto-align first, it is the gentler of the two and keeps your layout recognisable. Fall back to Auto Layout when a canvas needs rebuilding from its connections.
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