Add interactivity to your Lucidchart diagrams by adding Actions, links, or hotspots to shapes. Actions allow you to turn any object on your canvas into a button that triggers activity such as toggling the visibility of your document’s layers or conditional formatting rules. You can also link your shapes to external web pages or to another Lucidchart document. Read this article for a comprehensive list of the available functions of Actions and links and how to use them.

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Watch: Adding links to your documents

Add an Action to a shape

To add an Action to a shape in your document, follow these steps:

Select a shape.
Click the lightning bolt icon in the Formatting bar.
Choose an Action type from the top of the Actions menu.
Follow the prompts for the selected Action. See sections below for details.

Tip: Select the pin icon in the top-right corner of the Actions menu to pin this pop-up modal on your document, so that it is permanently visible.

Toggle, show, or hide layers

To use a shape to toggle, show, or hide layers of your document, follow these steps:

Click the lightning bolt icon in the Formatting bar.
Select Layers.
Select the toggle, show, or hide dropdown menu.
Check the boxes next to the layer(s) you want that you want assigned to the Action you selected above.
- Alternatively, click Add a layer to assign an Action to a new layer.
Click Done.

Toggle conditional formatting on or off

To use a shape to toggle conditional formatting rules on and off, follow these steps:

Click the lightning bolt icon in the Formatting bar.
Select Conditional Formatting.
From the dropdown, check the boxes next to the rule(s) you want set up to toggle.
Click Done.

Learn more: You must have existing conditional formatting rules on your document in order to use this toggle feature. For instructions on how to create conditional formatting rules, please refer to our Add conditional formatting in Lucidchart article.

Create an email

To use a shape to trigger the creation of an email to a specified recipient, follow these steps:

Click the lightning bolt icon in the Formatting bar.
Select Email.
Enter an email address.
Click Apply.

Add a link to a shape

To add a link to a shape in your document, follow these steps:

Select a shape.
Click the link icon in the Formatting bar.
Choose a link type from the top of the menu.
Follow the prompts for the selected link. See sections below for details.

Tip: Select the pin icon in the top-right corner of the Actions menu to pin this pop-up modal on your document, so that it is permanently visible.

Show or hide links

To adjust the visibility of the icon that appears when a link is added to a shape, follow these steps:

Select View from the menu bar at the top of the workspace.
Hover your cursor over "Show / Hide".
Hover your cursor over “Links".
Click Show, Hide, or Show on selection/hover.

Link to a web page

To link a shape to a specific URL, follow these steps:

Click the link icon in the Formatting bar.
Select URL.
Enter the web page URL.
Click Apply.

Link to another page

To link a shape to another page of your Lucidchart document, follow these steps:

Click the link icon in the Formatting bar.
Select Page.
From the dropdown, select the page you want to link to.
- Alternatively, click the plus sign to link to a new page in the document.

Link to another Lucidchart document

To link a shape to a page of another Lucidchart document, follow these steps:

Click the link icon in the Formatting bar.
Select Document.
Click Browse Documents.
Select a document from your documents page in the pop-up modal.
Click the thumbnail of the document you want to link to and use the arrows to toggle to a specific page.
Click Select.

FAQ

Can I add multiple Actions to the same shape?
No. You can either add one Action or one link to a shape, but you cannot add multiple or both.

How can I trigger the Action or open a link associated with a shape when I am in the Lucidchart editor?
To trigger the Action or open the link on a shape, use the hotkey reference you see when you hover your cursor over the shape. On Mac, this is Shift + Command + Click. On PC, this is Shift + Ctrl + Click. If you are linking to Web or Email, click the link that appears to navigate out of Lucidchart.

Can users interact with Actions and links if a document was shared with view-only or comment-only permissions?
Yes. If you have view-only or comment-only access to a Lucidchart document, you can still interact with Actions and links that have been set up on a document. This includes toggling layers and conditional formatting rules, though this will only affect your view (and will not alter the diagram for other users).

Will the Actions or links function if I export or publish my document?
If you export your document, Actions such as toggling conditional formatting and layers will not work. Links will work only if you export your document as a PDF, but not with any other file type.

If you publish your document as a URL, every type of Action or link will work. If you publish your document as a PDF, links will work, but Actions such as toggling layers and conditional formatting will not.

What’s the difference between Actions and hotspots?
The key difference between hotspots and Actions is that hotspots are transparent when presenting, exporting, publishing, embedding, and printing your document.

Resources

To learn more about this feature, explore the additional resources below. These resources are available in English only.

Community posts

Differences between a hotspot, Action, and Embedded Link (Link Preview)

Use actions to add interactivity to your diagrams

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