# WelcomeScreen

When the canvas is empty, Excalidraw can show a welcome _splash_ screen with a logo, a few quick action items, and hints explaining what some of the UI buttons do. Once the user picks a tool, or has created an element on the canvas, the welcome screen will disappear.

You can enable this behavior by rendering a `WelcomeScreen` component like this:

```jsx live
function App() {
  return (
    <div style={{ height: "46rem" }}>
      <Excalidraw>
        <WelcomeScreen />
      </Excalidraw>
    </div>
  );
}
```

You can also customize the welcome screen by passing children to the `WelcomeScreen` component. See below.

## <WelcomeScreen/>

This is the main component. If you render it without any children, we will render the default welcome screen.

You can customize which welcome screen subcomponents are rendered by passing them as children.

The welcome screen consists of two main groups of subcomponents:

1. [WelcomeScreen.Center](#welcomescreencenterlogo).
2. [WeelcomeScreen.Hints](#welcomescreenhints).

<img
  src={require("@site/static/img/welcome-screen-overview.png").default}
  alt="Excalidraw logo: Sketch hand-drawn like diagrams."
/>

### Center

`<WelcomeScreen.Center/>` subcomponent is the center piece of the welcome screen, containing the `logo`, `heading`, and `menu`. All three subcomponents are optional, and you can render whatever you wish into the center component.

```jsx live
function App() {
  return (
    <div style={{ height: "500px" }}>
      <Excalidraw>
        <WelcomeScreen>
          <WelcomeScreen.Center>
            <WelcomeScreen.Center.Logo />
            <WelcomeScreen.Center.Heading>
              Welcome Screen Heading!
            </WelcomeScreen.Center.Heading>
            <WelcomeScreen.Center.Menu>
              <WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItemLink href="https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw">
                Excalidraw GitHub
              </WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItemLink>
              <WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItemHelp />
            </WelcomeScreen.Center.Menu>
          </WelcomeScreen.Center>
        </WelcomeScreen>
      </Excalidraw>
    </div>
  );
}
```

#### Logo

Use the `<WelcomeScreen.Center.Logo/>` to render a logo. By default it renders the Excalidraw logo and name. Supply `children` to customize.

#### Heading

Use the `<WelcomeScreen.Center.Heading/>` to render a heading below the logo. Supply `children` to change the default message.

#### Menu

`<WelcomeScreen.Center.Menu/>` is a wrapper component for the menu items. You can build your menu using the `<WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItem>` and `<WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItemLink>` components, render your own, or render one of the default menu items.

The default menu items are:

- `<WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItemHelp/>` - opens the help dialog.

- `<WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItemLoadScene/>` - open the load file dialog.

- `<WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItemLiveCollaborationTrigger/>` - intended to open the live collaboration dialog. Works similarly to [`<LiveCollaborationTrigger>`](/docs/@excalidraw/excalidraw/api/children-components/live-collaboration-trigger) and you must supply `onSelect()` handler to integrate with your collaboration implementation.

#### MenuItem

The `<WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItem/>` component can be used to render a menu item.

| Prop | Type | Required | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `onSelect` | `function` | Yes |  | The handler is triggered when the item is selected. |
| `children` | `React.ReactNode` | Yes |  | The content of the menu item |
| `icon` | `JSX.Element` | No |  | The icon used in the menu item |
| `shortcut` | `string` | No |  | The keyboard shortcut (label-only, does not affect behavior) |

**WelcomeScreen.Center.MenuItemLink**

To render an external link in a menu item, you can use this component.

| Prop | Type | Required | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `href` | `string` | Yes |  | The `href` attribute to be added to the `anchor` element. |
| `children` | `React.ReactNode` | Yes |  | The content of the menu item |
| `icon` | `JSX.Element` | No |  | The icon used in the menu item |
| `shortcut` | `string` | No |  | The keyboard shortcut (label-only, does not affect behavior) |

### Hints

These `<WelcomeScreen.Hints.*>` subcomponents render the UI hints. Text of each hint can be customized by supplying `children`.

```jsx live
function App() {
  return (
    <div style={{ height: "500px" }}>
      <Excalidraw>
        <WelcomeScreen>
          <WelcomeScreen.Hints.ToolbarHint>
            <p> ToolBar Hints </p>
          </WelcomeScreen.Hints.ToolbarHint>
          <WelcomeScreen.Hints.MenuHint />
          <WelcomeScreen.Hints.HelpHint />
        </WelcomeScreen>
      </Excalidraw>
    </div>
  );
}
```

#### MenuHint

`<WelcomeScreen.Hints.MenuHint>` hint subcomponent for the main menu. Supply `children` to customize the hint text.

#### ToolbarHint

`<WelcomeScreen.Hints.ToolbarHint>` hint subcomponent for the toolbar. Supply `children` to customize the hint text.

#### Help

`<WelcomeScreen.Hints.Help>` hint subcomponent for the help dialog. Supply `children` to customize the hint text.
