Every board in your space has a mode that controls what participants can do on it — from full editing down to just looking. Switch modes to match what's happening: open collaboration, a focused sticky-note activity, or a presentation where you don't want stray clicks.
Note: Board Modes are per-board, not space-wide. For whole-session video layout (Conference, Sidebar, Interactive), see Space Modes Explained — a different setting entirely.
The Four Modes
| Mode | What Participants Can Do |
|---|---|
| Collaborate | Everyone edits freely — the normal, default Kolab experience |
| Brainstorm | Create, edit, move, and delete sticky notes (any sticky, not just their own). Nothing else. The usual one-editor-at-a-time lock still applies |
| Present | Fully view-only — no toolbar, no interaction |
| Custom | Only the tools you choose, picked from sticky, text, rectangle, circle, and image |
Collaborate is the default for every new board.
Switching a Board's Mode
From the Canvas Toolbar
The fastest way, with all four modes available:
- Find the board mode button at the bottom of the canvas toolbar (facilitators and hosts only). Its icon color shows the current mode — violet for Present, amber for Brainstorm, sky-blue for Custom.
- Click it to open the mode menu.
- Choose Collaborate, Brainstorm, Present, or Custom.
- If you choose Custom, a checkbox picker appears — select exactly which tools participants can use.
Note: Leaving the Custom tool list empty behaves like Present — nobody can interact.
From Space Settings
Open the space settings menu and look under Board Settings for a Board mode dropdown. This entry point offers Collaborate, Brainstorm, and Present — not Custom.
When Creating or Editing a Board
You can set a board's mode ahead of time from the board's own settings form, including Custom with its full tool picker. This is handy for prepping an activity before your session starts, so the board is already locked down when people arrive.
Ask Kola
You can ask Kola, the in-product assistant, to set a board's mode too — "put this board in brainstorm mode" or "make this board present-only." Kola can set Collaborate, Present, or Brainstorm, but not Custom.
Whichever way you switch it, the change applies live to everyone in the space immediately.
Blind Brainstorm: Private Sticky Notes
Blind Brainstorm is a toggle available only while a board is in Brainstorm mode. It lets participants write sticky notes without seeing what anyone else is writing — great for honest, unbiased input before a group discussion.
Turning It On and Off
Look for the envelope icon in the toolbar (only visible in Brainstorm mode):
- Turning it on hides notes instantly — no confirmation needed.
- Turning it off ("Reveal to everyone") asks you to confirm first, since revealing can't be undone.
What Participants See
- Their own notes always show normally, in full.
- Other people's notes stay visible and blank until there's actually something to hide. The moment a note has real text — or the instant someone starts typing, even before it syncs — it flips to a plain face-down card. No name, no color, nothing that identifies the author.
- A sticky nobody has touched yet stays visible and blank. It doesn't flip face-down just because someone could write on it.
- While a note is face-down, its reactions and "someone is editing this" indicator are hidden too, so identity can't leak through those either.
- Participants can't select, move, or edit someone else's sticky while it's concealed — whether it's currently showing blank or face-down.
- Peer cursors are hidden from participants during Blind Brainstorm, so a labeled cursor hovering a hidden note can't give away who's writing it.
What Facilitators See
Facilitators are never blinded — you always see every note as it's written, plus everyone's cursor (peer cursors are only hidden for participants). You'll also see a standing on-canvas banner ("Participants can't see each other's notes right now") with a Reveal button right there when you're ready to open things up.
Participants get a small, persistent on-canvas label ("Writing privately — others' notes are hidden until reveal") instead of a one-time popup, so the reminder stays visible the whole time they're working.
Note: Leaving Brainstorm mode automatically turns Blind Brainstorm off.
Tips
- Switching to Present mid-activity? Present mode blocks participants from flipping card decks. If a live activity depends on people flipping cards, switch modes only once that's done.
- Pre-set boards before your session. Setting a board's mode (including Custom) while building it means it's already locked down the moment participants arrive — no scrambling mid-session.
- Use Custom for guided activities. If you only want participants placing sticky notes and shapes, pick just those and leave images off — Custom keeps the canvas focused.
Related Guides
- Space Modes Explained - Whole-session video layout (Conference, Sidebar, Interactive)
- Using the Canvas - Canvas interaction basics
- Sticky Banks - Generate stacks or grids of sticky notes