To share your screen on Slack, start or join a huddle with the headphones icon in a channel or DM, click the share screen icon in the huddle window, pick a screen, window or application, tick Share system audio if needed, and click Share. Up to two people can share at once.
How do you share your screen in a Slack huddle on Windows?
Steps and labels come from Slack's help article Use huddles in Slack.
- Start or join a huddle. Open the channel or DM and click the headphones icon at the top of the conversation. If someone invited you, click Join in the pop-up. An active huddle shows a headphones icon next to the channel name in your sidebar.
- Click the share screen icon in the huddle window.
- Select a screen, window or application to share.
- Click Share system audio if you'll play sound.
- Select Share. Your screen appears in the huddle window for everyone.
Huddle participant limits depend on your plan. Free workspaces allow two people in a huddle; paid plans allow up to 50, with 25 on video at once. So on the free plan, screen sharing is effectively a one-on-one feature.
Should you share your screen or a window in Slack?
| Slack option | What viewers see | Notifications? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen | The whole monitor, including the Slack window if it's there | Yes, Windows toasts and Slack's own pop-ups on that monitor | Walking through several apps |
| Window / application | Only the app you picked | No | A pull request, a doc, a dashboard |
Slack has a special risk the other meeting apps don't: the place you're holding the huddle is also where your DMs arrive. Share the whole screen and the Slack window, its unread channel list and every DM preview are right there. Share a window instead. The only time a full screen makes sense is when you'll genuinely bounce between three or four apps.
If you just need to show something rather than discuss it live, a Slack clip (a short screen recording posted to a channel or DM) avoids the whole problem and lets people watch it later.
How do you share audio on Slack?
Click Share system audio in the share picker before you click Share. It sends whatever your computer plays. That includes notification sounds from other apps, so mute Outlook and Teams first, or turn on Windows Do not disturb.
How do you share one monitor in Slack?
With two displays in Extend mode (Win + P > Extend), Slack's picker lists each screen separately. Choose the one you want to show and keep Slack, the huddle window and your notes on the other. This is the cleanest Slack setup we know of, because the huddle window and your DM sidebar never enter the share.
Only have a laptop screen? Then a window share is the next best thing. Snap the app you're presenting to one half of the display with Win + Left, keep the huddle window on the other half, and share only the app.
Can people draw on your shared screen in Slack?
Yes. Anyone in the huddle can click a shared screen to expand it, then click the pencil icon to draw on it. Drawing only works in the Slack desktop app for Mac and Windows, not in a browser or on a phone. It's great for "this button, here" moments in a code review. It's less great in a big huddle where six people start circling things at once.
Two people can share at the same time, which is handy for comparing a staging and production build side by side.
How do you stop sharing your screen in Slack?
Click the share screen icon in the huddle window again to end your share. Leaving the huddle with the Leave button also stops it. Your audio stays connected if you only stop the share.
How do you share your screen on Slack on a Mac, in a browser or on mobile?
Mac
Same steps as Windows. macOS asks you to allow Slack under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording the first time; allow it and restart Slack.
Browser
Huddles work in Google Chrome (Mac, Windows and Linux) and Firefox (Mac and Windows). Safari isn't on the list. You'll see the browser's own picker, and drawing on shared screens isn't available.
Android and iPhone
In a huddle, tap the three dots icon, then Share screen, and confirm the system prompt. Phone shares are always the entire screen, so switch on Do Not Disturb or Focus first.
Is a Slack huddle the right place to share your screen?
For quick, informal shares, yes. A huddle starts from the conversation you're already in, nobody needs a calendar invite, and the people in that channel can drop in and out. That's why engineering teams use huddles for "can you look at this error" moments and pair debugging.
For anything you'd call a presentation, a dedicated meeting app usually fits better. Zoom and Teams give the presenter more control over who can share and annotate, Teams can present slides through PowerPoint Live with your notes kept private, and both handle larger audiences. On Slack's free plan the two-person huddle cap settles the question anyway. Our guides to sharing your screen on Zoom and sharing your screen on Teams cover those apps step by step.
A rough rule we'd use: under 15 minutes with people already in the channel, huddle. Booked in a calendar with slides, meeting app.
Why can't I share my screen on Slack?
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No share screen icon | You're in Safari or an unsupported browser | Use the desktop app, Chrome or Firefox |
| Third person can't join the huddle | Free plan limit of two people | Use a paid workspace, or switch to a meeting app |
| Mac shares a blank desktop | Screen recording permission missing | Allow Slack in Privacy & Security, then restart Slack |
| Black window for viewers | The app blocks capture, or protected video | Share a different window or your screen |
| Blurry or laggy share | Large high-resolution screen on a slow connection | Share one window, close heavy apps, use a wired network |
| Can't see people while sharing | Huddle window hidden behind the shared app | Put the huddle window on a second monitor |
| Can't draw on a share | You're in a browser or on mobile | Use the Slack desktop app |
What can others see when you share your screen on Slack?
Whatever is inside the screen or window you picked. With a full-screen share in Slack, that typically includes:
- Slack itself: channel names, unread counts and the first line of new DMs if the Slack window is on the shared monitor.
- Windows toast notifications from other apps.
- Your taskbar and anything you alt-tab to.
- Sounds from all of it, if Share system audio is on.
A window share removes all four. If you need notes or an AI helper visible to you while you share the whole screen, the choices are a monitor you don't share, Do not disturb for notifications (see our guide to hiding notifications while screen sharing), or a window that Windows excludes from capture. That last option uses the WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE flag, available on Windows 10 version 2004 and later; our guide to hiding a window from screen share explains it.
AuraCloak keeps an AI chat on top of your screen that Slack huddle shares leave out.
Get AuraCloakAuraCloak is an invisible AI overlay for Windows that uses that flag. Slack's capture skips it, so you can keep a prompt, a checklist or an answer on screen during a full-screen huddle share. It doesn't hide from someone sitting next to you or a phone filming your monitor, and there's no Mac version.
FAQ
Can you share your screen on Slack for free?
Yes. Huddles, including screen sharing, are on every Slack plan. On the free plan a huddle is limited to two people, so screen sharing is one-on-one. Paid plans allow up to 50 people in a huddle.
How do I share my screen in a Slack huddle?
Start or join a huddle with the headphones icon in a channel or DM, click the share screen icon, pick a screen, window or application, optionally click Share system audio, then select Share.
Can two people share their screen at the same time in Slack?
Yes. Up to two people in a huddle can share their screens at once. Anyone can click a shared screen to expand it.
Can people draw on my screen in Slack?
Yes. Anyone in the huddle can click the pencil icon on a shared screen and draw on it. Drawing works in the Slack desktop app for Mac and Windows only.
Why can't I screen share on Slack in my browser?
Huddles are supported in Chrome on Mac, Windows and Linux and in Firefox on Mac and Windows. Other browsers, including Safari, aren't supported. Use the Slack desktop app for the full feature set.