diff --git a/src/excalidraw-app/collab/Collab.tsx b/src/excalidraw-app/collab/Collab.tsx
index 58f3a890..4f98f58f 100644
--- a/src/excalidraw-app/collab/Collab.tsx
+++ b/src/excalidraw-app/collab/Collab.tsx
@@ -242,6 +242,12 @@ class Collab extends PureComponent<Props, CollabState> {
         );
       }
     } catch (error: any) {
+      this.setState({
+        // firestore doesn't return a specific error code when size exceeded
+        errorMessage: /is longer than.*?bytes/.test(error.message)
+          ? t("errors.collabSaveFailed_sizeExceeded")
+          : t("errors.collabSaveFailed"),
+      });
       console.error(error);
     }
   };
diff --git a/src/locales/en.json b/src/locales/en.json
index f4afc5df..50424c3f 100644
--- a/src/locales/en.json
+++ b/src/locales/en.json
@@ -202,7 +202,9 @@
     "svgImageInsertError": "Couldn't insert SVG image. The SVG markup looks invalid.",
     "invalidSVGString": "Invalid SVG.",
     "cannotResolveCollabServer": "Couldn't connect to the collab server. Please reload the page and try again.",
-    "importLibraryError": "Couldn't load library"
+    "importLibraryError": "Couldn't load library",
+    "collabSaveFailed": "Couldn't save to the backend database. If problems persist, you should save your file locally to ensure you don't lose your work.",
+    "collabSaveFailed_sizeExceeded": "Couldn't save to the backend database, the canvas seems to be too big. You should save the file locally to ensure you don't lose your work."
   },
   "toolBar": {
     "selection": "Selection",