How to Share Your Screen on Microsoft Teams

Screen sharing in MS Teams is easy

by
Sam Costello
Sam Costello
Writer
Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others.
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Sam Costello
Updated on February 07, 2021
reviewed by
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Ryan Perian
Lifewire Tech Review Board Member
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
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Article reviewed on Mar 09, 2021
Ryan Perian

What to Know

  • To share your entire screen, click the sharing icon (the box with an arrow) in the top right and then click your screen in the sharing menu.
  • To share only one window or program, click the sharing icon and then click just the window you want to present in the sharing menu.
  • To stop sharing, click the box with the X in it at the bottom of your screen.

If you're leading a meeting or giving a presentation on Microsoft Teams, you need to know how to share your screen in Teams. This article explains how to share your entire screen, how to share just one window, and how to stop sharing.

How to Share Your Screen on Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams screen sharing makes it easy to give a presentation to a distributed audience and to share a quick example to make a point. Here's what you need to do:

  1. Join the Teams call or meeting. You can have your video turned if you want, but that's not required to share your screen.

  2. To share your screen, start by clicking the sharing icon (a box with an arrow in it near the Leave button).

    The screen share button in Microsoft Teams.

    Unlike in its competitors like WebEx and Zoom, Teams doesn't require you to have presenter rights or to have "the ball." Anyone can screen share in Teams.

  3. A sharing menu pops up at the bottom of the Teams window showing every window you have open. Click your screen to share it (it's usually in the first position in the menu).

    Microsoft Teams call with the sharing menu open.

  4. You'll know you're sharing your screen when a red outline shows up on your screen and the Teams window is minimized into the bottom corner of your screen (neither the outline nor the Teams window appears in screenshots).

    A screenshot of the Safari web browser

Sharing your entire screen is easy and fast in Microsoft Teams, but there are some downsides. Because you're sharing the entire screen, anything that pops up gets shared, too. Everyone on the call will see any instant messages, text messages, email previews, or other windows. If you're not careful, you might accidentally share something embarrassing. For Mac users, enabling Do Not Disturb is a good way to avoid this.

How to Share Just One Window or Program on Microsoft Teams

Since sharing your entire screen in Teams can sometimes lead to embarrassing overshares, it's often better to share one window or program. Here's what to do:

  1. Follow steps 1-2 from the last section.

  2. When the sharing menu appears, click only the window you want to present (the PowerPoint presentation you're giving, for example).

    Microsoft Teams call with the sharing menu open and one program selected.

  3. The red outline appears around the window you've selected to share. Even if you switch to other windows or programs, as long as you're sharing just the one window, that's all everyone else on the call will see. This drastically reduces the chances of sharing something you didn't mean to.

How to Stop Sharing Your Screen on Microsoft Teams

Done with your presentation and ready to stop screen sharing in Microsoft Teams? It's effortless. Just find the minimized Teams window at the bottom corner of your screen. In it, the sharing icon has changed slightly: it's now a box with an X in it. Click the X to stop sharing your screen.

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