Compatibility with Visio is something we take very seriously. The team has done a lot of work over the last few years to make these imports/exports as high fidelity as possible. Unfortunately compatibility between two applications is rarely perfect and there will likely always be a small percentage of the millions of imports/exports which have some issues. To that end we are continuing to invest thousands of hours this year and plan to make many ongoing improvements!
Check out these suggestions to ensure that your upload is successful:
File size
If the import process takes longer than a few minutes your file might be too large (>40 MB) and you’ll need to modify it. You can try:
- Compressing user images: Typically files are too large due to large user images placed inside the diagram. You can resolve this issue by optimizing the images to 72 dpi and ~1000 pixels on the long side.
- Dividing the document: If your file has multiple pages try re-saving it to multiple files that have fewer pages and/or objects.
- Saving as .vsd: VSD files are generally much smaller than VDX files so they should upload easier.
Version/format
You may get an error because you have uploaded a file in a format or version that we do not support. We currently support files made with Microsoft Visio 2007 or later. If you have an older Visio file consider re-saving it with a more recent version of Visio.
Because Lucidchart has supported VDX import for longer than VSD you can also try saving it as a VDX for a higher fidelity result.
Incognito window
Importing your Visio file in an up-to-date incognito Chrome window can also resolve some issues with uploading.
Method of import
You can also try importing via an open blank document. This method can be done via the file menu of your open blank document.
If the above steps have not resolved your issue please fill out this form with the original Visio file (vdx/vsdx) and screenshots attached.