Fall 2023 update: Introducing new icons, shapes, and templates in Microsoft Visio for the web

The Visio team is excited to share a roundup of the newest icons, shapes, and templates available in Visio for the web, but before we dive into all the new content, let’s look back on the first half of 2023, when we introduced new capabilities to help you create and further customize your org charts in Visio for the web, the Visio app in Microsoft Teams to further enable collaborative diagramming, the new Visio Templates page on Microsoft365.com to improve the start experience, and new capabilities to view and edit shape data in Visio for the web.

 

Now, to the (other) good stuff. Read on to learn about new icons, shapes, templates and sample diagrams, and color themes—now available to Visio for the web users with a Visio Plan 1 or Visio Plan 2 license, unless noted otherwise.

 

TLDR: Don’t have time to read the entire blog post? Here’s what’s new:

• Dynamics 365 and Power Platform icons. Illustrate your solutions and applications built on Dynamics 365 and Power Platform with two new stencils and 46 new icons.
• Kubernetes shapes. Visualize your Kubernetes architecture with 40 new Kubernetes shapes.
• Audit diagrams. Create audit diagrams from a blank template using new audit diagram shapes or start from one of nine customizable sample diagrams.
• Event-driven process chain (EPC) diagrams. Create EPC diagrams from a blank template using new EPC diagram shapes or start from one of nine customizable sample diagrams.
• New sample diagrams for organization charts. Choose from four new sample diagrams to create your small team, large team, family tree, or small restaurant org chart.
• Additional color themes. Select one of four recently added predefined sets of colors to create your next best diagram – also available in Visio in Microsoft 365!

 

Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Icons

We’ve added two new stencils and 46 new icons to help you illustrate your solutions and applications built on Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. These icons are available for Visio for the web users with a Visio Plan 1 or Visio Plan 2 license.

 

To find the new icons, open a New blank drawing from the Visio home page at www.microsoft365.com/launch/visio. Type “Dynamics 365” or “Power Platform” in the Search box at the top of the Shapes pane and select the corresponding search result.

 

A cropped image of the Shapes pane in Visio for the web demonstrating how to search for the Dynamics 365 Icons stencil.

 

Select the magnifying glass to see a preview of the stencil, then select the Add button to pin the stencil to the Shapes pane.

 

A cropped image of the Shapes pane in Visio for the web highlighting how to preview the Dynamics 365 Icons stencil.

 

A cropped image of the Shapes pane in Visio for the web demonstrating how to add the Dynamics 365 Icons stencil to the palette.

 

A cropped image of the Shapes pane in Visio for the web demonstrating how to add the Power Platform Icons stencil to the palette.

 

Once the stencil is added to the Shapes palette, you can select and drag the icons from the stencil onto the canvas. Learn more about how to manage shapes in Visio for the web.

 

Kubernetes Shapes

Understanding Kubernetes, or K8s, architecture is critical for deploying and maintaining containerized applications. And while you might work with experienced K8s users, you might also run into those who are completely new to Kubernetes. A diagram can help all users, regardless of their expertise, in absorbing Kubernetes concepts—which is why we’re so excited to also introduce a new Kubernetes® Shapes stencil and 40 new shapes. These shapes are available for Visio for the web users with a Visio Plan 1 or Visio Plan 2 license.

 

A cropped image of the Shapes pane in Visio for the web demonstrating how to add the Kubernetes® Shapes stencil to the palette.

 

Audit Diagrams

Audit diagrams can be helpful when documenting and analyzing processes, such as financial transactions and inventory management. Earlier this year, we added the Audit Diagram Shapes stencil to help users create an audit diagram from a new blank drawing. The stencil comes chock-full of useful audit flowchart shapes, such as tagged process, decision, tagged document, I/O (short for input/ output), manual operation, and more.

 

A cropped image of the Shapes pane in Visio for the web demonstrating how to add the Audit Diagram Shapes stencil to the palette.

 

After the stencil is added to the Shapes palette, you can select and drag the audit flowchart shapes from the stencil onto the canvas. To note, the process and document shapes default to tagged. To replace the tagged shape with an untagged shape, simply right click the shape and select Untagged from the right-click menu.

 

An audit diagram in Visio for the web demonstrating how to replace a tagged shape with an untagged shape.

 

Last month, we expanded on these diagramming capabilities by introducing the new Audit Diagram template in parallel with the launch of the new Visio Templates page. We also added nine new, customizable sample diagrams: Audit Approval Process, Audit Data Compilation, Audit Preparation, Contractor Timesheet and Salary Transaction Process, External Audit Process, Internal Audit Process, Payroll Process, Planning and Execution of an Audit 1, and Planning and Execution of an Audit 2. These sample diagrams are available for users with a Visio Plan 1 or Visio Plan 2 license and can be accessed from the Visio Templates page at www.microsoft365.com/template/visio. Select Flowchart in the left navigation pane, then select the Audit subcategory or scroll down the page.

 

An image of the Visio Templates page showing where to access the new Audit Diagram template and sample diagrams.

 

Event-driven Process Chain (EPC) Diagrams

Event-driven process chain (EPC) diagrams can be particularly useful for modeling business processes, analyzing them, and identifying areas of improvement. Earlier this year, we added the EPC Diagram Shapes stencil to help users create an event-driven process chain diagram from a new blank drawing.

 

The stencil comes with shapes for:

• Functions, which are the basic building blocks of the diagram.
• Events, which occur before and/or after a function is executed.
• Connectors, which associate activities and events. There are three types of connectors: AND, OR, and exclusive OR (XOR).

 

A cropped image of the Shapes pane in Visio for the web demonstrating how to add the EPC Diagram Shapes stencil to the palette.

 

After the stencil is added to the Shapes palette, you can select and drag the EPC shapes from the stencil onto the canvas, and then connect your shapes.

 

In tandem with audit diagrams and the new Templates page, we expanded on Visio’s EPC diagramming capabilities by introducing the new EPC Diagram template. Likewise, we also added nine new, customizable sample diagrams: Account Creation, Billing Process, Loan Approval, Order Process, Post Order Placement, Product Development, Project Sprint, Repair Request, and Supplier Selection.

 

Again, these sample diagrams are available for users with a Visio Plan 1 or Visio Plan 2 license and can be accessed from the Visio Templates page at www.microsoft365.com/template/visio. Select Flowchart in the left navigation pane, then select the EPC subcategory or scroll to the bottom of the page.

 

An image of the Visio Templates page showing where to access the new EPC Diagram template and sample diagrams.

New sample diagrams for organization charts

Organization charts have been a popular diagram type among Visio for the web users—and now there are more sample diagrams to help you get started. Visio Plan 1 and Visio Plan 2 users can choose from four new sample diagrams which include Small Team Org Chart, Large Team Org Chart, Family Tree, and Small Restaurant Org Chart.

 

Each of the new sample diagrams is fully customizable and comes stocked with example names, titles, photos, and—in the Small/Large Team Org Charts—email addresses. These new sample diagrams are available from the Visio Templates page at www.microsoft365.com/template/visio. Select Organization Chart in the left navigation pane.

 

An image of the Visio Templates page showing where to access new sample diagrams for organization charts.

Additional color themes

Finally, we’ve added four themes—Zephyr, Daybreak, Retrospect, and Lines—to provide users with more predefined sets of colors to help design their diagrams faster. These additional themes are now available to all Visio for the web users, including those with Visio in Microsoft 365.

 

A cropped image of a new diagram in Visio for the web demonstrating how to access the new color themes.

We are listening!

We look forward to hearing your feedback and learning more about how we can further improve your diagramming experience in Visio for the web. Please tell us what you think of the latest content additions—and also what templates you’d like to see added to Visio’s template library—in the comments below. You can also send feedback via the Visio Feedback Portal or directly in the Visio app using “Give Feedback to Microsoft” in the bottom right corner.

 

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