Zen mode is a distraction-free focus mode for the editor. It hides the toolbars and panels so only the canvas remains (in Facilitate and Plan mode the Session strip stays, so a facilitator can still run the session, and so does the Following banner while you follow someone), which is ideal for reading, sharing your screen, or thinking without the toolbars in the way. It is purely a view setting: it changes nothing on the canvas and is not synced to anyone else, so each person can focus independently.
What it hides and keeps
When zen mode is on, the editor hides the header, the tab bar, the palette strip, the menu button, the inspector and the panels such as Layers and the minimap, the Explorer, the Collaborate panel, the AI Assistant panel, your role badge, the empty-canvas prompt, and the undo/redo dock.
What stays is the part you came for:
- the canvas and everything on it, with selection, alignment guides, laser trails, and remote cursors all working as normal,
- the zoom controls in the bottom-right, so you can still zoom and fit,
- an Exit zen mode button on those controls, shown while you are in zen mode, so there is always a visible way out.
Interaction is unaffected, so you can still pan, zoom, and (if your role allows) edit; keyboard shortcuts keep working too. Zen mode is available to everyone, including view-only visitors, since focusing is read-only. It also only ever affects your own screen: the people you are working with keep their chrome.
Turning it on and off
There are three ways to turn zen mode on:
- The canvas-tool dropdown. Open the Selection Mode picker at the left of the toolbar and choose Zen, in the Preview group under Isometric. It acts immediately and leaves your current tool selected. Viewers and Participants also have a Zen button on the zoom controls. On a Draw tab and on an Event Storming board there is no picker, so use Z or the command palette.
- The keyboard. Press Z. It never fires while you are typing into a label or text field, and it is listed under Tools in the shortcut reference (the Keyboard category in Settings). If you have switched keyboard shortcuts off there, use one of the other routes.
- The command palette. Press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux) and run "Enter zen mode". See The Command Palette.
To come back, use the compress icon labelled Exit zen mode on the zoom controls, or press Z, or Escape (if something is selected, the first Escape clears the selection). Zen mode is not remembered: reloading the page brings the chrome back.
Reach for zen mode when you share your screen on a call: the canvas fills the view with no toolbars to distract from what you are showing.
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