ERD Maker for Mac, Windows, and Linux — No Installation Required

Most dedicated ERD tools (MySQL Workbench, DBeaver, Visio) require installing software on your specific operating system. The free browser-based ERD maker requires nothing — open it in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge on any OS and start drawing immediately.

This guide confirms how the tool works across Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chromebook — including export behavior and any platform-specific notes.

Browser-Based ERD — Why It Works on Every OS

The ERD maker runs entirely in your browser. The diagram rendering engine (Mermaid.js) is loaded from a CDN when you open the page, and from that point everything — parsing your text, generating the diagram, and exporting the image — happens locally on your machine.

Because there is no OS-specific binary, no native installer, and no compiled code that targets a specific platform, the tool works identically on:

• macOS 12 Monterey and later
• Windows 10 and Windows 11
• Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch Linux (any desktop distribution)
• ChromeOS / Chromebook (Chrome 90+)
• Older OS versions as long as the browser is modern

The only system requirement is a modern browser with JavaScript enabled. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge all work — no extensions required.

Mac-Specific Notes

Task	Mac behavior
Open the tool	Works in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Arc. No Gatekeeper prompts.
Typing in the editor	Full macOS text input — autocorrect disabled automatically in code input fields.
Export PNG	Downloads to your default Downloads folder. Right-click in Finder to share or attach.
Export SVG	Downloads as erd.svg. Open in Preview, Safari, or Inkscape. Editable in Sketch or Figma by import.
Copy diagram text	Cmd+A to select all in the code pane, Cmd+C to copy.
Keyboard shortcuts in editor	Standard macOS shortcuts work: Cmd+Z (undo), Cmd+A (select all), Cmd+C/V (copy/paste).

One Mac-specific tip: if you want to use the ERD code in a GitHub README, copy the Mermaid code from the editor and wrap it in a code fence with the mermaid language tag. GitHub renders it as a live diagram.

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Windows-Specific Notes

Task	Windows behavior
Open the tool	Works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox. Edge is the default browser on Windows 11.
Export PNG	Saved to your Downloads folder. Appears in the Edge or Chrome downloads bar at the bottom.
Export SVG	Downloads as erd.svg. Open in Paint 3D, Inkscape (free), or Microsoft Edge (which renders SVG directly).
Paste from clipboard	Ctrl+V in the editor — if you have an existing ERD code snippet, paste it directly.
Keyboard shortcuts	Standard Windows shortcuts: Ctrl+Z (undo), Ctrl+A (select all), Ctrl+C/V.

On Windows, Edge is particularly smooth for this tool since Microsoft has fully committed to modern web standards in Chromium-based Edge. Chrome works equally well.

Linux-Specific Notes

Linux users often default to specialized database tools (DBeaver, pgAdmin) for ERD work. The browser-based ERD maker is a lighter alternative for documentation diagrams that do not need to connect to a live database:

Task	Linux behavior
Open the tool	Works in Chrome, Chromium, Firefox, Brave on any distribution.
Export PNG	Saved to ~/Downloads or your configured download directory.
Export SVG	Open in Inkscape (available in most package managers) or Librsvg for conversion.
Inkscape integration	Import the SVG into Inkscape for custom layout adjustments if needed.
Keyboard shortcuts	Standard Linux/GTK shortcuts work in the text editor.

One common Linux use case: generate the Mermaid ERD code here, then use the mermaid-cli tool (npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli) to render it programmatically in a CI pipeline or documentation build system.

Chromebook-Specific Notes

Chromebooks run ChromeOS, which is Linux-based but uses Chrome as the primary interface. The browser-based ERD maker works natively:

Task	Chromebook behavior
Open the tool	Works in Chrome (default browser on all Chromebooks).
Export PNG	Saved to Files app, Downloads folder.
Export SVG	Downloaded to Files app. Can be shared via Google Drive.
Offline use	Once loaded, diagram rendering works without internet.
Google Classroom integration	Download PNG, upload to Google Classroom assignment as file attachment.

Chromebook is particularly relevant for students — many schools issue Chromebooks, and most ERD tools require Windows or Mac. The browser-based ERD maker is one of the few options that works natively on a school Chromebook without any special permissions or app installs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the ERD maker work on a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)?

Yes. The tool runs in the browser — there is no compiled binary that would need to be translated by Rosetta. Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Arc all run natively on Apple Silicon. The tool works identically on Intel Macs and Apple Silicon Macs.

Can I use this ERD tool on a company computer where I cannot install software?

Yes. Since the ERD maker runs entirely in a browser, it does not require administrator permissions or software installation. Open the URL in your work browser and use it immediately. No plugins, extensions, or local executables are needed.

Does the exported PNG look sharp when printed?

Yes. The PNG export is generated at 2x resolution (HiDPI/Retina quality). For standard paper printing, a 2x resolution PNG printed at 150-300 DPI produces sharp output. For very large prints, use the SVG export instead — SVG is vector-based and scales to any size without quality loss.

Can I embed the ERD image in a Google Doc or Confluence page?

Yes. Export the diagram as PNG and use the standard "Insert image" functionality in Google Docs, Confluence, Notion, or any other document tool. For Confluence specifically, there is also a Mermaid macro plugin that renders Mermaid code directly — you can paste the ERD code text instead of an image file.