The free mind mapping software is a powerful and free tool for mind maps enter text and drag and drop elements to increase your creativity and productivity. The best parts of the mind mapping software is its easy to use drag-and-drop interface, integrated word processing functionality. That makes it an ideal tool for brainstorming, managing projects, or just organizing tasks for personal or professional use.
When you need to share ideas and brainstorm quickly the best way is the use of a mind mapping software tool. A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information. It uses shapes, colors and connecting lines as well as text to record thoughts and ideas, and can also be used as a form of mind mapping software
Microsoft Word as a Mind Mapping Tool
Microsoft Word (and even Microsoft PowerPoint) is useful as a rapid tool for building a mind map. It’s more flexible than pen and paper because you can easily update it by adding or rearranging the topics.
You can copy it to the other Office programs and if need be, even print it out. Presenting it with PowerPoint or email sharing are added options.
But make no mistake—Microsoft Word is not a dedicated tool for mindmaps.
Mind mapping tools like FreeMind have greater flexibility. Just to cite one feature, it’s not possible to collapse and open the branch nodes in Microsoft Word. But, the crux of the matter is that Microsoft Word can make mind maps and we have shown you how to make one.
What Is MindMeister for Microsoft Teams?
A little over a year ago, we launched MindMeister for Microsoft Teams. The integration—which has become one of our most popular ones to date—brought collaborative mind mapping to the Teams app, letting you brainstorm ideas and visualize project plans with your team members in real-time.
With MindMeister for Microsoft Teams, you can:
- Create new mind maps from scratch or open existing ones
- Add one or multiple mind maps to your team’s channels
- Collaboratively edit mind maps with your team members
- View mind maps as dynamic presentations
And thanks to our most recent update, you can now also view your entire MindMeister dashboard right inside Microsoft Teams, enabling you to organize and manage all your mind maps without having to switch between the two tools!
What Is the MindMeister Dashboard?
The MindMeister dashboard lists all mind maps that you’ve created or that have been shared with you. Thanks to our most recent update, you can now access your MindMeister dashboard right inside Microsoft Teams, using a personal tab!
With the MindMeister dashboard, you can:
- View all your mind maps at a glance
- Quickly find and access maps created in various channels
- Duplicate, export or delete maps easily
- Organize maps in a folder structure
The web app is the basis of the Microsoft Teams integration. The MindManager Teams app can be downloaded directly and individually from Corel, and is also available from Microsoft. You can pin specific MindManager maps or folders of maps as tabs inside a Teams channel, or pin the MindManager app to the left rail like any other Teams app. Those can be maps you’ve created in the desktop MindManager app, or maps created inside Teams. There are fewer templates available inside Teams: radial maps, maps that expand from a single node and go right, org charts, timelines, trees, flow charts and free-form maps. The Kanban board template is coming later, but you can still create your own layouts by placing the topics by hand.
Inside Teams you can view and filter a map, and do the same co-editing as in the MindManager web app. This means you can add and link topics or edit to add more details inside tasks, and see who’s working on other areas of the map. The ability to have a conversation in the Teams channel while you’re viewing and changing a document is often better than having a meeting and subsequently updating the document, so while the MindManager Teams features are still essentially the same as in the web app, this is a step towards making the desktop app a more useful collaborative tool.
MindManager is still available as a perpetual licence (£289 ex. VAT/$349 with upgrade pricing), but the £139 (ex. VAT)/$169 annual subscription will be better value for organisations using the full range of tools because it includes Teams integration, ‘snapping’ to collect content and incremental updates as the application moves away from large annual releases (although Corel’s plans here are still in development).
How to Open and Edit a Mind Map
To create stunning and professional mind maps, use a professional mind mapping tool. It will help you make and customize different types of mind maps and business diagrams. If you want to make a unique and interesting mind map in office 365, then please follow this tutorial:
Step 1 – Launch EdrawMind
For this tutorial, we will use the EdrawMind desktop. Launch the app on your desktop and select the Radial Map template.
Step 2 – Draw Mind Maps
To draw a mind map in EdrawMind, you will use the tools present in the Home tab i.e., Topic, Subtopics, Floating Topics, etc.
To draft a mind map you need to:
- Select the main topic and place it in the middle
- Add floating topics for associated ideas/information that makes up your main topic
- Add branches from Relationships to connect the main topics with the sub-topics
- Add your information and replace the example text.
- Add visual signifiers like images, illustrations, graphics, etc.
Step 3 – Customize Mind Maps
Once your mind map is drafted, customize it with the tools present in the Format tab on the right side of the screen.
Step 4 – Export Mind Maps
Once your mind map is complete, you can save and export it to another software for future edits and sharing. For this, go to the File tab, click on Export and Send and wait for the sub-window to appear. Select the desired file type from Graphics, PDF, Office, HTML, SVG, etc., and then choose the software. For this tutorial, we will select Office > Word. Name your file, choose a location, and click on Save to export your mind map. In this way, you can open your mind map in office 365.
How to See Mind Maps in Office 365
There are many tools for creating visual diagrams, and some of them can also be used for mind maps. One of the popular tools is Visio; however, unlike EdrawMind, Visio is more expensive. Hence, if you want to make a mind map without spending too much of your hard-earned money, EdrawMind is the best option. As you know, EdrawMind can export mind maps to MS Office formats, so users can use EdrawMind to make mind maps and view the maps in Office 365 very easily.
Conclusion:
With MindManager, you can map and visualize ideas and plans and turn them into action. Ideas become projects, and planning evolves into execution. Whether you’re managing an intranet, designing a website or flowcharting a business process, MindManager makes it easy. It’s the software that helps teams plan, collaborate and achieve results more effectively that ever before.