On this page
- How saving works
- Save, rename and load a board
- Backgrounds: upload, colours, readability
- Move boards between devices
- Troubleshooting lost boards
- FAQ
How saving works
MyClassScreen has no accounts, so there is nothing to sign in to. A saved board is written to your web browser's local storage, a small storage area each browser keeps for each website [1]. The board then appears in the My Boards panel every time you open the board in that same browser on that same computer.
Three consequences are worth knowing before you build a week of boards:
| What you might expect | What actually happens |
|---|---|
| Changes save automatically | They do not. Press Save Board again after you edit, or a refresh loses the changes. |
| Boards follow you to other computers | They stay in one browser. Use Copy link to carry a board to another device. |
| Boards are backed up online | They live only on that device. Clearing browser data deletes them. |
A saved board keeps every screen inside it, along with each screen's background, widget positions, timer lengths, text and name lists.
Save, rename and load a board
Save a new board
- Build your layout on the free board, or open a template and edit it.
- Press the green Save Board button.
- Type a name in the "Board name..." box. The Save button stays greyed out until you type something.
- Press Save. The board now appears under My Boards.
Pick names a colleague or substitute could understand, such as "Period 4 Biology" or "Friday Review Game".
Load a saved board
- Open the board and press My Boards.
- Click the board you want. Its screens, background and widgets load straight away.
- Press full screen before students arrive.
If the panel says "No saved boards yet", you are probably in a different browser, a private window or on another computer. See troubleshooting.
Rename or update a board
Once a board is open, Save Board updates that same board instead of making a new one. To rename it, press Save Board, type the new name and press Save. The same step stores any edits you have made.
Keep a copy before big changes
Because saving overwrites the open board, make a copy first if you want to keep the original. Press Copy link, paste the link into a new browser tab, then press Save Board there and give the copy a new name. The copy holds the screen that was showing when you copied the link.
Delete a board
In My Boards, use the delete button next to a board and confirm. This cannot be undone, so copy its link first if you might need it again.
Use screens for one lesson
A board can hold several screens, like slides. Open the screens drawer, press Add New Screen, and move between them with Next Screen and Previous Screen. Example: a science teacher might keep a warm-up screen, a lab screen with a stopwatch and an exit screen inside one board called "Period 2 Science".
Backgrounds: upload, colours, readability
Each screen has its own background, and the saved board remembers it.
- Built-in styles: Dots, Grid, Lines, Navy, Cream, Rose, Teal, Sky and Dark.
- Your own image: choose Upload Custom Background in the board settings and pick an image file.
Readability matters more than decoration on a projector. Pale patterns such as Dots or Cream keep dark widget text sharp, while Navy or Dark suit rooms where a bright screen causes glare. A busy photo behind text makes it hard to read, so a blurred or plain image works better. WCAG asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text, which is a sensible target for anything students must read [2].
Keep uploaded images small. Browsers allow about 5 MiB of local storage per website [3], and a large photo can fill most of it. If a board with a big image will not save, try a smaller version of the image, for example under 1 MB.
Move boards between devices
There is no sync, so moving a board takes one link.
- On the computer where the board is saved, open it and press Copy link. The button shows "Copied".
- Send the link to yourself by email or paste it into your planning document.
- On the other computer, open the link. The board appears with its name, background and widgets.
- Press Save Board there so it appears under My Boards on that device too.
Know the limits:
- The link carries the screen that is showing. For a board with several screens, copy a link from each screen.
- An uploaded photo makes the link very long. A board that started from a template may then copy the plain template link instead, and other long links can be cut off by some apps. Add the image again on the new device.
- Anyone with the link can open the layout, including name lists. Use first names or table numbers in boards you share.
Example: a teacher who works in two rooms keeps one link per class in a planning document, opens the right link at each bell and saves it once on each room's computer.
Troubleshooting lost boards
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| My Boards is empty | Different browser, profile or computer | Open the board in the browser where you saved it |
| Boards vanished overnight | Browser data was cleared, or the school computer resets daily | Keep each board's link in your plans and reopen it |
| Nothing saves in a private window | Private windows erase storage when closed [4] | Use a normal window for saving |
| Edits disappeared after a refresh | The board was not saved again after editing | Press Save Board after every change you want to keep |
| A board will not save | Local storage is full, often from large images [3] | Delete old boards or use a smaller background image |
Clearing "cookies and other site data" in Chrome deletes local storage along with cookies [5]. If your school's IT team clears this data on a schedule, ask whether myclassscreen.org can be excluded, or rely on links. For more fixes, see the troubleshooting guide.