Canva Icons and Symbols Meaning - Complete Guide

Canva is a fantastic tool for creating all sorts of designs, from social media posts to presentations. But with so many icons and symbols, it can sometimes be tricky to know what they all do, especially on the app. This guide will explain the meaning of every icon and symbol you’ll see in the Canva app to find your way around and bring your creative ideas to life.

Table of Contents

Home Screen Tab Icons Meaning

When you open the Canva app, Home is the first tab you will encounter. It is the main hub to select your design, templates, and more. With these many options, there are many icons as well that don’t explain what they do. Let’s find out what these icons mean:

Purple Gift Icon: See what’s new in the Canva app.
Three Lines Icon: Opens menu with options related to the account and more.
Purple Triangle Icon: See a video of the new features added to the Canva app.
Right Arrow in a Circle Icon: Searches the text you typed in the search box after tapping.
Squares and Rectangles stacked into a Square Icon: Shows up when the design is incomplete or still in the process.
Plus, inside the Purple Circle Icon: Create a new project.
Three dots in a Square Icon: Opens design menu with options like make a copy, star, and more.
Magnifying Glass with a Star Icon: Search your designs, other templates, or use AI to design your project.
Triangle Icon: Plays or pauses the previews of the template on tapping.

Projects Tab Icons Meaning

The project tab contains all your project-related things in one place. Let’s explore the icons that you will find on this tab:

Magnifying Glass Icon: Search designs, folders, and uploads.
Three Lines with Three Circle Icon: Shows filters including filter by Owner, category, and Date modified.
Three Dots Icon: Shows more options like view as list, new folder, and more.
Right Arrow Icon: Scrolls right for more filters.
Three lines with Three dots Icon: View your folder and designs as a list.
Four Squares forming a Square Icon: View your folder and designs as a grid.
Star Icon: Star your project.

Creating a design: Icons Meaning.

When you are creating a new design on the Canva app, you will get options to select from pre-designed templates, upload, or create new from scratch. You also get the option to use your custom size, and inside that, there is a lock icon, which has a meaning to it. Let’s see first what that means:

Custom Size Icon

Lock/Unlock Icon: This icon controls the aspect ratio of your element.

Locked (Closed Lock): When locked, adjusting the width will automatically change the height proportionally, and vice versa. For example, changing the height to 105 will automatically set the width to 591 (maintaining the original proportions).
Unlocked (Open Lock): Tapping the icon unlocks the aspect ratio. You can independently adjust the width and height without affecting each other. This allows for more (free) resizing.

New Design Icons

Let’s look at the icons that you will encounter when you enter the designing screen:

Three Horizontal Lines Icon: Opens menu with options like create a design, select from recent designs, and more.
Curved Left Arrow Icon: Undo the last action you performed. Tap this to go back one step in your design process.
Curved Right Arrow Icon: Redo the last action you undid. If you’ve used the undo button, tap this to bring that action back.
Three Dots Icon: Opens a list of options, like upload files, resize, view all pages, and more.
Crow Icon: Access premium features.
Chat Bubble Icon: Add a comment.
Down Arrow with a Line Icon: Save as image.
Up Arrow Inside a Bucket Icon: Share link or email, or download in different formats and sizes.
Golden Crown Icon: Appears on the Canva Pro elements, which you can only use when you have a Pro account.

Designs Page Icons

When you open the design section, you will see an icon on designs with the number and a similar filter icon that we have covered above. But here’s a catch: this filter icon works differently and provides different options. Let’s find out the meaning of these icons.

Three Lines with Three Circle Icons: Filter designs by colors.
Stacked Squares with Number Icon: Indicates the total number of pages in your current design. The number shows how many pages it contains.

Icons Inside Designs Filter Option

Plus, inside Rainbow Color Circle Icon: Add a new custom color.
Multiple Colors in a Circle Icons: Shows designs of that color on tapping.

Add Text Icons Meaning

When you add a text box from the text page, you will see different icons for editing your text. Let’s see what each icon means:

Two Paper Clips Together Icon: Add a link to any URL or your other project link to your text.
Chat Bubble with Plus Icon: Add a comment.
“A” with Rainbow Color Icon: Change text color.
“B” Icon: Make/write text bold.
“I” Icon: Make/write text in italics style.
“U” with an Underline Icon: Underline the text.
“S” with a Line Striking Through it Icon: Strikethrough with a line on your text.
Cross in a Circle Icon: Close the toolbar.
“aA” Icon: Change your text to uppercase or lowercase.
20 pt Icon: Change text size.
Multiple horizontal lines Icon: Align the text to the centre. On tapping again, it will change to left and right alignment.
Dots with Horizontal Lines Icon: Change the text to bullet list style. Tap again to change it to a numbered list.
Horizontal Lines with Up and Down Arrow Icon: Opens the spacing menu for letter, line, and the text box.
“A” and Two Lines with Circles Icon: Opens advanced text formatting menu.

Icons Inside the Line Spacing Menu

White Circle in a Line Icon: Tap and drag the circle to adjust letter and line spacing.
Number in a Box Icon: Write the specific number manually instead of using the white circle.
Down Arrow Hanging on a Line Icon: Create Spacing between text lines in a downward direction.
Up and Down Arrow with a Line in Between Icon: Create Spacing between text lines in both downward and upward directions.
Up Arrow with a Line Below It Icon: Create Spacing between text lines in an upward direction.

Tools Page Icons Meaning

Just like the text formatting options, you will see different options in the tools tab, each with a different meaning. Here’s what those icons and symbols mean:

Paper Plane/ Arrow Icon: Select one or more things on your screen.
Sketch Pen Icon: Opens drawing tools like pen, marker, highlighter, and eraser.
Black Circle and Square Icon: Opens multiple shapes menu from which you can select and use on your design.
Blue Tilted Line Icon: Opens the different types of lines menu.
Yellow Note Icon: Add a sticky note.
Purple “T” Icon: Add a new text box.
Table/Calendar Icon: Add a table.

Inside Drawing Tools: Icons Meaning

Blue Tip Pen Icon: Draw with a pen.
Red Tip Pen Icon: Draw with a marker.
Yellow Tip Pen Icon: Draw with a highlighter.
Pink Tip Pen Icon: Erase your drawing.
Color in Circle Icon: Select a color for your drawing tool.
Black Horizontal Lines Icon: Adjust the weight and transparency of your drawing.

Selected Text or Element Icons Meaning

When you tap on a text or element on the Canva App, multiple icons appear for different purposes related to that selected field. Let’s find out the meaning of those icons:

Pencil with Stars Icon: Opens a magic writing tool that uses AI for writing or enhancing text with multiple options.
Chat Bubble with Plus Icon: Add a comment to that selected part.
Plus Inside Stacked Squares Icon: Duplicates the selected element.
Dustbin Icon: Delete the selected element.
Three Dot Icon: Opens a menu with options for that particular selected element, like copy, copy style, and more.
All Directions Arrow Icon: Move the selected element to any direction.
Two Curved Arrows Forming a Circle Icon: Rotating the selected element at any angle.

Icons on the Selected Line Meaning

When you tap on any line, you will see different small icons on it, which can be used for adjusting it according to your preference. Let’s explore the meaning of each icon:

White Circle Dot Icon: Expand the line in any direction or contract it.
White Capsule Icon: Move that particular part of the line.

Selected Shape or Element Icons Meaning

Similar to a line, when you select an element or a shape, there will be icons for resizing that. Let’s see what each icon means:

Circle White Dot Icon: The corner dots allow you to stretch or resize the selected ink proportionally from all sides.
White Capsule Icon: This icon in the center of each side allows you to stretch or resize the selected element only in that specific direction (horizontally or vertically).

That’s all my folks! Hope you understood the meaning of all icons and symbols on the Canva App. Check out other guides like this below!

Canva Icons and Symbols Meaning – Complete Guide