5 Simplest Ways to Share Your Screen on Microsoft Teams

If you’ve ever been on a Teams call and needed to walk someone through something on your computer — a report, a broken formula, a confusing email — screen sharing is the fastest way to do it. Instead of trying to explain what you’re seeing, you just show it.

In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through every way you can share your screen in Microsoft Teams, whether you’re in a meeting, a one-on-one call, or even a chat window. I’ll also cover some options most people don’t know about, like presenter modes and sharing just a single window instead of your entire desktop.

Let’s get into it.

What You Need Before You Start

There’s nothing fancy required here. You just need:

• Microsoft Teams installed on your PC, Mac, or phone (or the web version at teams.microsoft.com)
• An active meeting or call (you can’t share your screen before joining one, except in chat — more on that below)
• The right permissions — in some organizations, your IT admin may restrict screen sharing for attendees

That’s it. No extra software, no plugins.

Share Your Screen on Microsoft Teams

Now I will share with you different ways to share your screen on Microsoft Teams.

Method 1: Share Your Screen During a Teams Meeting (Desktop)

This is the most common scenario. You’re in a meeting, and you want to show something to everyone on the call.

Here’s exactly what to do:

1. Join your Teams meeting as you normally would.
2. Look at the meeting toolbar at the top of the screen (in the new Teams) or the bottom (in classic Teams). You’ll see a button that looks like a rectangle with an upward arrow — that’s the Share button.
3. Click on Share.
4. A panel will pop up showing you everything you can share. Choose from:
   • Screen — shares your entire desktop. Everyone sees everything on your monitor, including taskbar notifications.
   • Window — shares just one open application. If you pick Excel, attendees only see Excel, nothing else.
   • PowerPoint Live — lets you share a PowerPoint presentation directly from Teams.
   • Microsoft Whiteboard — opens a collaborative whiteboard where everyone can draw and write together.
   • Content from Camera — useful if you want to show a physical document or whiteboard using your webcam as a document camera.

5. Once you click what you want to share, a red border appears around it so you know exactly what others can see.
6. When you’re done, click Stop Sharing in the toolbar.

Pro tip: If you want to share a video or play audio from your computer during the meeting, toggle on Include Sound before you click share. Otherwise, attendees won’t hear any audio coming from your screen.

Method 2: Share Just a Window in Microsoft Teams (Not Your Whole Screen)

I always recommend this over sharing your full desktop, especially if you’ve got personal emails, chat notifications, or any sensitive files open.

When you click Share → Window, Teams shows you a list of every open application on your computer. Pick the one you want, say, a Chrome window with a dashboard, or a Word document, and only that window will be visible to others.

A couple of things to note:

• If you switch to a different application during the session, the attendees will still see the original window you were sharing, not whatever you switched to.
• If you minimize the shared window, the attendees may see a blank or frozen screen. Keep the shared window active and visible on your end.

This is the safest and cleanest way to present without worrying about what else is visible on your computer.

Method 3: Share Your Screen in a Teams Chat (Without Starting a Meeting)

Most people don’t know this one exists. You can share your screen directly from a chat window — without a formal meeting invite and without turning on your camera or mic.

Here’s how:

1. Open any chat in Teams (one-on-one or group).
2. Click the three-dot menu (More options) in the upper-right corner of the chat window.
3. Select Screen sharing.
4. Choose which screen or window you want to share.
5. The other person (or people) will get a notification asking them to accept the screen share.
6. Once they accept, they can see your screen while the chat stays open on the side.

This is incredibly useful for quick “let me show you what I mean” moments without the overhead of scheduling a meeting. Think of it like a lightweight screen share session.

To stop, click Stop Sharing in the meeting controls, or leave the call.

NOTE:

Screen sharing in chat opens a muted call automatically. If you want to talk while sharing, you’ll need to unmute yourself.

Method 4: Share Your Screen on Teams Mobile (iOS and Android)

If you’re on your phone and need to share your screen during a meeting, Teams supports that too, though the steps are slightly different depending on whether you’re on Android or iPhone.

On Android:

1. Join a Teams meeting on your phone.
2. Tap the three-dot menu (More options) at the bottom.
3. Tap Share → then tap Share screen.
4. Tap Start Now when your phone asks for permission.

On iPhone (iOS):

1. Join a Teams meeting.
2. Tap the three-dot menu.
3. Tap Share → Share screen.
4. Teams will prompt you to use the iOS Screen Broadcast feature.
5. Swipe up to open Control Center, long-press the Screen Recording button, select Microsoft Teams from the list, then tap Start Broadcast.

It’s a bit more involved on iPhone because of how iOS handles screen recording permissions, but once you’ve done it once, it’s straightforward.

One limitation on mobile: You can’t give or take control of someone else’s screen on mobile. That feature is desktop-only.

Method 5: Share a PowerPoint Using PowerPoint Live in Teams

If you’re presenting slides, skip the regular screen share and use PowerPoint Live instead. It’s genuinely better.

Here’s why: with a regular screen share, attendees see exactly what you see. With PowerPoint Live:

• Attendees can scroll through slides at their own pace while you’re presenting (you stay on your slide; they can look ahead or go back).
• You can see your speaker notes privately — nobody else sees them.
• The presentation looks sharper and cleaner because it’s rendered directly in Teams, not as a screen capture.
• If the meeting recap is generated, Teams can automatically include key slide moments in the summary.

To use it:

1. Click Share in the meeting toolbar.
2. Under PowerPoint Live, you’ll see recently used PowerPoint files. Click the one you want.
3. Or click Browse to find a file from your OneDrive or computer.
4. Your slides will load inside the Teams window.

If you want to move through slides, use the arrow keys or the navigation panel at the bottom. When you’re done, click Stop Presenting.

Presenter Modes: Make Your Screen Shares Look More Professional

This is one of those features that’s been around for a while but a lot of people never use. When you share your screen, Teams gives you four layout options that control how your camera feed appears alongside the content:

• Content only — Just the screen, no camera feed. Simple and clean.
• Standout — Your video is shown in a cutout overlay on top of your shared content, with the background removed. Looks modern.
• Side-by-side — You appear in a smaller box next to the shared content, like a split screen.
• Reporter — You’re placed in front of your shared content, like a news presenter in front of a scene. Great for training or announcements.

To change the presenter mode:

1. Click Share in the meeting controls.
2. Before you select what to share, look at the layout icons at the top of the share panel.
3. Click the mode you want.

If you’re doing a formal training or an all-hands presentation, Standout or Reporter mode can make your presentation feel a lot more polished.

How to Give Someone Else Control of Your Screen in Teams

Sometimes you’re sharing your screen and want the other person to be able to click around, like when you’re helping someone troubleshoot something remotely. Teams lets you do this.

While you’re sharing:

1. A toolbar appears at the top of your screen (if you don’t see it, move your mouse to the top of the screen).
2. Click Give control.
3. Select the name of the person you want to give control to.
4. They’ll get a notification. Once they accept, they can use their mouse and keyboard to interact with your screen.
5. To take control back, click Take back control in the same toolbar, or press the Esc key.

This is super handy for IT support sessions or when you need a co-presenter to navigate the shared screen.

Common Screen Sharing Problems (and Quick Fixes)

A few things that trip people up:

The Share button is greyed out:
This usually means your meeting organizer has restricted screen sharing to presenters only. Ask the organizer to promote you to presenter, or check the meeting options.

Attendees can’t hear audio from your screen:
Make sure you toggled on Include Sound before starting the share. If you forgot, stop sharing and start again with the toggle turned on.

Your screen share is lagging or blurry:
This is usually a bandwidth issue. Try sharing a specific window instead of your full desktop; it uses less data. Also, close any other bandwidth-heavy apps (like video streaming in the background).

People see a black or blank screen:
This sometimes happens with apps that use hardware acceleration, like certain video players or games. The fix is to share your entire screen instead of that specific window.

Your notifications are showing up:
Put your computer in Do Not Disturb or Focus mode before starting a screen share. Teams blocks some notifications, but not all of them — especially notifications from other apps.

Quick Reference: Which Method Should You Use?

Here’s a simple cheat sheet to help you decide:

Situation	Best Method
Formal meeting presentation	Screen or Window share
Sharing a PowerPoint	PowerPoint Live
Quick walkthrough in a chat	Screen sharing from chat
On the go (mobile)	Teams mobile share screen
Training with camera visible	Presenter Mode (Reporter/Standout)
Remote troubleshooting	Share screen + Give Control

A Few Good Habits

Before I wrap up, here are a few things I always do before sharing my screen — and I’d recommend you do too:

• Close any tabs or files you don’t need. Even if you’re sharing a window, it’s easy to accidentally switch to something else.
• Turn on Do Not Disturb. Nothing kills a presentation faster than a pop-up notification.
• Test it before the meeting if you can. Join a test call with a colleague and confirm everything looks right on their end.
• Use Window share over full Screen share whenever possible. It’s cleaner, safer, and more focused.

Screen sharing in Teams is one of those features that sounds simple but has a surprising number of useful options once you dig into it. Whether you’re showing a quick document in a chat or running a polished training with Presenter Mode, there’s a setting for every situation.

Also, you may like:

• Set Microsoft Teams as Default Meeting in Outlook
• Record Microsoft Teams Meeting
• Download a Recording from Microsoft Teams