If you’ve landed here, you’re probably staring at a Jamboard link that doesn’t work anymore. You’re not alone — thousands of teams woke up to find their go-to whiteboard tool simply… gone.

Google officially shut down Jamboard, and the transition wasn’t exactly smooth for everyone. Let’s break down what happened, what it means for your workflows, and — most importantly — what to do next.

What Actually Happened to Google Jamboard?

Google announced the sunsetting of Jamboard as part of a broader shift in their Workspace strategy. The timeline went roughly like this:

• Late 2023 — Google announced Jamboard would be wound down
• Mid 2024 — Migration tools became available; Google partnered with FigJam as a recommended alternative
• Late 2024 — Jamboard stopped accepting new content creation
• 2025 — The service was fully discontinued; existing Jams became read-only, then inaccessible

The Jamboard hardware (those expensive 55-inch touchscreen displays) lost their companion software entirely. Teams that had invested in the physical boards were left with very expensive paperweights.

Why Did Google Pull the Plug?

Short answer: Jamboard never really kept up.

Google’s whiteboard tool launched in 2017, and while it had the advantage of being free with Workspace, it stagnated. The collaborative whiteboard market exploded — Miro, MURAL, FigJam — and Jamboard just didn’t evolve. No voting, no anonymous mode, limited templates, basic integrations.

Rather than invest in catching up, Google chose to exit the space. They pointed users toward FigJam as a migration path, though that partnership felt more like a handoff than a real solution for most teams.

Honestly? The writing was on the wall for a while. Jamboard was always the weakest link in the Workspace suite.

📖 Explore more: our retrospective tools comparison

What This Means for Your Team

The impact depends on how you were using Jamboard:

If you used it for retrospectives — You probably already felt the limitations. No voting, no anonymous feedback, no retro-specific templates. The shutdown is actually an opportunity to upgrade to something purpose-built. We’ve written a full guide on the best Jamboard alternatives for retrospectives.

If you used it for general brainstorming — You’ll need a new whiteboard tool. The good news is that every alternative on the market today offers more features than Jamboard ever did.

If you have Jamboard hardware — This is the painful one. Miro has worked on compatibility with large touchscreen displays, but it’s not a 1:1 replacement. Consider repurposing the hardware as a general display.

How to Export Your Jamboard Data

If you haven’t already saved your old Jams, here’s what you should know:

1. PDF export — If you still have access to cached or downloaded Jams, convert them to PDF
2. Screenshots — Take screenshots of any boards you need to preserve
3. Google Takeout — Check if your Jamboard data is still available through Google Takeout (Workspace admins may have a longer retention window)
4. Recreate key content — For anything critical, it’s faster to recreate in a new tool than to try complex data migration

Don’t panic if you’ve lost some Jams. Most whiteboard content is ephemeral by nature — the real value was in the conversations and decisions, not the sticky notes themselves.

Most tools support multiple formats. See which ones to try in our retrospective formats guide.

What to Look for in a Replacement

Not all alternatives are created equal. Here’s what actually matters when choosing a Jamboard replacement:

Factor	Why It Matters
Free tier	Jamboard was free — your team expects that
Low friction	Jamboard was easy to start. If the replacement needs 10 minutes of onboarding, you’ll lose people
Real-time collaboration	This was Jamboard’s strongest feature
Purpose-fit	A general whiteboard tool might be overkill if you mainly ran retros

Our Top 3 Recommendations

For Retrospectives: RetroFlow

If you used Jamboard primarily for sprint retrospectives, RetroFlow is the most natural replacement. It’s free, doesn’t require signup, and has built-in features Jamboard never offered — voting, anonymous mode, retro templates, and action tracking.

The migration takes about 30 seconds: open the site, create a retro, share the link. That’s it. We cover the full process in our migration guide.

For General Whiteboarding: Miro

If you need a full visual collaboration platform — brainstorming, diagramming, planning — Miro is the most popular option. It has a free tier (limited to 3 boards) and extensive templates. The learning curve is steeper than Jamboard, but the capabilities are leagues ahead.

For Google Workspace Teams: Google Docs + RetroFlow

If staying in the Google ecosystem matters to your team, you can use Google Docs for basic retrospective documentation combined with RetroFlow for the interactive parts. Docs handles the record-keeping, RetroFlow handles the collaboration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Google Jamboard completely gone?

Yes. The Jamboard service has been fully shut down. You can’t create new Jams or access existing ones through the app. Some cached data may still be available through Google Takeout for Workspace admins.

Can I still use my Jamboard hardware?

The hardware still functions as a touchscreen display, but the Jamboard software is no longer available. Some teams use them with Miro or other web-based whiteboard tools in kiosk mode.

What’s the best free alternative to Jamboard?

For retrospectives specifically, RetroFlow — it’s 100% free with no feature limits and doesn’t even require signup. For general whiteboarding, Miro and FigJam both have limited free tiers.

Did Google recommend a specific replacement?

Google partnered with FigJam for a migration path, but that requires a Figma account and has its own limitations. It wasn’t a seamless transition for most teams. You can read our FigJam comparison for more context.

How do I convince my team to switch tools?

Start by picking something low-friction. The biggest risk is choosing a tool that requires too much setup — people will just stop doing retros altogether. Tools like RetroFlow that don’t require accounts remove the biggest adoption barrier.

The Silver Lining

Here’s the thing — Jamboard was holding your team back. It sounds harsh, but it’s true. No voting meant your retros lacked prioritization. No anonymous mode meant people held back honest feedback. No action tracking meant insights got lost.

Whatever tool you switch to, you’re almost certainly upgrading. The Jamboard shutdown isn’t a setback. It’s a nudge toward something better.

If retrospectives are your main use case, give RetroFlow a try — no signup, no cost, just better retros.

Keep Reading

• Best Jamboard Alternatives for Retrospectives — Full comparison of 7 alternatives
• Jamboard vs RetroFlow — Direct head-to-head comparison
• How to Migrate from Jamboard to RetroFlow — Step-by-step guide
• Virtual Whiteboard Tools for Retrospectives — Broader whiteboard comparison
• 5 Free Jamboard Alternatives for Collaboration — Free options beyond retros