How to Back Up Excalidraw to Google Drive (Manual + Automatic)

Can you save Excalidraw to Google Drive?

Yes, though Excalidraw has no built-in Google Drive button. Drawings live in your browser by default, so backing up to Drive means either exporting files yourself or adding a tool that syncs for you. Both keep a durable copy in cloud storage you control.

Method 1 — Export and upload manually

In Excalidraw, open the menu (top-left) and choose Save to disk. This downloads a .excalidraw file that stays fully editable.
Go to drive.google.com and drag the file in, or use New → File upload.
Repeat whenever you make meaningful changes.

Tip: Save to disk keeps the editable .excalidraw format. Export image gives you a PNG or SVG — great for sharing, but you can't re-edit it as a drawing.

The downside: it's fully manual. Forget to export after a big edit and that work isn't backed up. For anything you care about, automatic is safer.

Method 2 — Automatic backup with Excacloud

Excacloud is a free Chrome extension that saves every Excalidraw drawing to your own Google Drive in the background.

Install Excacloud from the Chrome Web Store.
Sign in with Google. It creates an Excacloud folder in your Drive using the least-privilege drive.file scope — it can only touch files it creates, not the rest of your Drive.
Draw on excalidraw.com. Each drawing becomes a real .excalidraw file in that folder and re-syncs automatically as you edit — about every 60 seconds and when you return to the tab.

Which method should you use?

	Manual export	Excacloud
Setup	None	One-time, ~1 min
Ongoing effort	Export every time	None — automatic
Risk of forgetting	High	None
Multiple drawings	Track files yourself	Managed library in the popup
Cost	Free	Free

Back up Excalidraw automatically

Every drawing, saved to your own Google Drive — no exporting, no forgetting.

Install Excacloud for Chrome

Frequently asked questions

Can you save Excalidraw drawings to Google Drive?

Yes — export a .excalidraw file and upload it, or use Excacloud to auto-save every drawing to a Drive folder in the background.

How do I export an Excalidraw file?

Open the menu and choose Save to disk for an editable .excalidraw file, or Export image for a PNG/SVG to share.

Does Excacloud upload my drawings to its own servers?

No. It saves directly to your Google Drive with the drive.file scope, so it only accesses files it created. Nothing is stored on Excacloud servers.

What file format are the backups?

Standard .excalidraw files — the same native format Excalidraw uses, openable any time with or without the extension.

Excacloud is an independent extension and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Excalidraw team.