How to import from Visio to WhimsicalCopied!Link to this section

1. Get your drawing as a .vsdx file. In Visio for the web, go to File → Download.
2. Drag the file onto a Whimsical board. You can also copy the file and paste it onto the board with Cmd + V (Mac) or Ctrl + V (PC).

Your drawing lands where you drop it. If a file has several pages, each page lands in its own section, titled with the page name. You can drop several files at once.

Import into a folderCopied!Link to this section

Drop Visio files into a Whimsical folder to turn each one into its own board, named after the file. A file with several pages becomes a multipage file, with one board for each page.

Open a Visio file without VisioCopied!Link to this section

You don't need Visio installed or a Visio license to open a .vsdx file in Whimsical. Whimsical reads the file itself, so you can drop it onto a board to view the diagram, edit it and share it with your team.

What comes acrossCopied!Link to this section

ObjectsCopied!Link to this section

• Flowchart and basic shapes, with their text
• Connectors, which stay attached to their shapes and keep their arrowheads and labels
• Groups
• Network devices, which become Whimsical icons
• Containers and swimlanes, which become sections
• Venn diagrams, as their circles
• Pictures
• Background pages, which appear under the pages that use them

FormattingCopied!Link to this section

• Rich text, with its size and alignment
• Rotated and flipped shapes
• Colors, including theme colors, matched to the closest color in your board's palette

LimitationsCopied!Link to this section

• Only .vsdx files can be imported. Macro-enabled drawings (.vsdm) and templates (.vstx and .vstm) work too. Older .vsd files need to be saved as .vsdx in Visio first.
• Some shapes. 5-point stars become starbursts, and rounded rectangles become regular rectangles.
• Colors are matched, not copied exactly. Each shape uses one color for both its fill and its border, and pale olive tints become yellow. You can update your color theme to match your brand.
• Fonts aren't carried over. Text is shown in our Dinsical font.
• Very large files can't be imported. Files can be up to 50 MB and 100 pages, with up to 20,000 shapes on a page.
• Pictures can take a moment to appear while they upload.

Tips for a smooth migrationCopied!Link to this section

• Import into a fresh Whimsical board first while you get a feel for it.
• Have a file with lots of pages? Drop it into a folder to keep each page as its own board.
• If you see Couldn't import, the message tells you which file and why. If a file is too large to import with the others, drop it on its own.

Frequently asked questionsCopied!Link to this section

Can I copy and paste from Visio instead?Copied!Link to this section

You can, but it pastes as an image. Visio only copies a picture of your selection, so import the .vsdx file to get editable objects.

Do I need Visio installed to import a file?Copied!Link to this section

No. Whimsical reads the .vsdx file itself, so you don't need Visio.

Can I import older .vsd files?Copied!Link to this section

Save them as .vsdx in Visio first, then import them.

What happens to a Visio file with several pages?Copied!Link to this section

On a board, each page lands in its own section, titled with the page name. In a folder, the file becomes a multipage file with one board for each page.