To share your screen on Zoom, click Share in the meeting toolbar, pick a screen or a single app window on the Screens tab, tick Share sound if you need audio, then click Share. Click Stop share to end. Sharing one window keeps every other app and pop-up off the call.
How do you share your screen on Zoom on Windows?
These steps match the Zoom Workplace desktop app as documented in Zoom's own help article, Sharing your screen or desktop on Zoom. Your toolbar may hide a few options if your company's Zoom admin turned them off.
- Join or start the meeting in the desktop app, not the browser. The desktop app has the most share options.
- Click Share in the meeting controls toolbar. A share window opens with three tabs across the top: Screens, Documents and Advanced.
- Pick what to share on the Screens tab. Thumbnails labelled Screen show a whole monitor. The rest are individual app windows. Hold Ctrl and click to select more than one app.
- Set the options at the bottom if you need them: Share sound for audio, Optimize for video sharing only for a full-screen video clip.
- Click Share. Once most participants' devices have received the stream, Zoom shows a banner reading "Participants can now see your shared screen".
If the Share button is grey or missing, the host has limited sharing. On Basic (free) accounts, Zoom sets screen sharing to Only Host by default, so a guest in a free meeting has to ask the host to allow it from the arrow next to Share.
The banner in step 5 is worth waiting for. Zoom only shows it after roughly 80% of devices confirm they're receiving the share, so if you start talking the instant you click Share, people on slow connections miss your first sentence and your first slide.
Should you share your screen, a window or a portion?
Most people click the first big thumbnail, which is the entire screen. That's the riskiest choice. Here's what each option sends.
| Zoom option | Where to find it | What viewers see | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen (entire desktop) | Screens tab | Everything on that monitor, including notifications, taskbar and any window you open | You'll jump between several apps |
| One app window | Screens tab | Only that window's content; other apps and toasts stay off | Slides, one browser, one document |
| Several windows | Screens tab, Ctrl+click | Only the selected windows, if they're on the same screen | A demo across two apps |
| Portion of screen | Advanced tab | Whatever sits inside a green frame you can drag and resize | Showing part of a large monitor |
| Second camera | Advanced tab | A document camera or extra webcam | Whiteboards, paper, hardware |
| Computer audio | Advanced tab | No picture, only your computer's sound | Playing music or a sound clip |
Our default advice: share a window. You lose nothing for a slide deck or a single web app, and you gain a lot of privacy. "Portion of screen" is a sneaky second best on an ultrawide monitor, though remember that anything you drag into the green frame is shared too.
How do you share sound on Zoom?
Tick Share sound at the bottom of the share window before you click Share. The small arrow next to it switches between Mono and Stereo (high fidelity). Already sharing? Hover over More in the floating toolbar and choose Share computer sounds.
Two cautions. Share sound sends every sound your PC makes, so a Teams ping or an email chime in another app reaches the meeting as well. And only tick Optimize for video sharing while a full-screen video is actually playing; Zoom says it can make a normal shared screen blurry, and viewers see a green border around the content that can't be turned off.
How do you share a second monitor on Zoom?
With two displays connected, the Screens tab shows two screen thumbnails, usually labelled Screen 1 and Screen 2. Click the monitor you want to show and click Share. The other monitor stays private.
- Press Win + P and choose Extend, not Duplicate. Duplicate copies one picture to both displays, so nothing is private.
- Drag the windows you want to present onto the monitor you'll share.
- In Zoom's Settings, the Use dual monitors option (General tab) puts the meeting window on one display and the shared content on the other.
One thing that catches people: Windows notifications appear on your main display. If the main display is the one you're sharing, toasts are on the call. More on that in the privacy section below.
How do you annotate on a Zoom screen share?
While sharing, click Annotate in the floating toolbar to draw, add text, use a spotlight or stamp. The host can let viewers annotate too, or block it, from More > Enable / Disable annotation for others. Show / Hide names of annotators in the same menu decides whether a participant's name pops up beside their scribble, which is handy in a large meeting when someone draws something unhelpful.
How do you stop sharing your screen on Zoom?
Click Stop share in the floating toolbar at the top of your screen. If the toolbar is hidden, move your mouse to the top edge to bring it back, or press Alt + S, Zoom's default Windows shortcut for starting and stopping a share. Pause / Resume freezes the last frame for viewers, which is useful when you need to type a password without ending the share.
How do you share your screen on Zoom on a Mac, in a browser or on a phone?
Mac
The steps are the same as Windows, except you hold Shift instead of Ctrl to pick several windows. The first time, macOS blocks the capture until you allow Zoom under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording (older macOS versions call it Screen Recording). Quit and reopen Zoom after granting it.
Zoom Web App (browser)
Click Share, then choose a browser tab, an app window or the entire desktop in your browser's own picker. Also share tab audio works only in Chrome, per Zoom's help page.
Android and iPhone
Tap Share, then Screen. On iPhone, Zoom hands you to the iOS broadcast prompt; on Android, tap Share Audio if you want device sound. Tap Stop Share to end. Phone notifications show up in a full-screen share, so turn on Do Not Disturb first.
Why isn't Zoom screen sharing working?
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Viewers see a black screen | Hardware acceleration clash on laptops with two GPUs, or you're sharing protected video (streaming services block capture) | In Zoom Settings > Share screen > Advanced, turn off hardware acceleration for screen sharing; share the window instead of the screen |
| One app shows as a black box | That app uses Windows display protection (some password managers and messaging apps do this deliberately) | Expected behaviour; share a different window or turn the app's screen protection off |
| Share button greyed out | Host set sharing to Only Host | Ask the host to allow participants to share |
| "Can't see participants" while sharing | Zoom shrinks the meeting into a floating video panel | Expand the panel, use dual monitors, or see our guide to seeing participants while sharing |
| Video stutters or low frame rate | Sharing a 4K screen on a weak upload, or video optimisation off | Share a window instead of a 4K desktop, close heavy apps, tick Optimize for video sharing only during clips |
| Your app isn't in the list | Zoom notes that on Windows 10 only a limited number of open apps are listed | Close unneeded apps and reopen the share window |
| Mac shares only the wallpaper | Screen recording permission missing | Allow Zoom in Privacy & Security, then restart Zoom |
What can others see when you share your screen on Zoom?
Exactly what you selected, and nothing else. Zoom's help page says hosts "cannot monitor your screen activities unless you choose to share your screen." The question is what your selection includes.
- Entire screen: every pixel on that monitor. Notifications sliding in from the corner. The taskbar with its unread badges. The browser tab bar with your other tabs' titles. Any window you alt-tab to, even for a second.
- A window: just that window. Toast notifications are separate windows, so they're left out. The weak spot is pop-ups: a Save dialog or a right-click menu may not appear for viewers, and an app you open on top of the shared window won't either.
- The Zoom window itself is hidden from your share by default. You only see it on the call if you turned on "Show Zoom windows" in settings.
The leaks people tell stories about tend to be boring. A Slack preview from a colleague. A calendar reminder titled with a client's name. A browser autocomplete dropdown that reveals what you searched for last night. All of them are full-screen problems, which is the strongest argument for sharing a window.
How do you keep your notes or AI assistant private on Zoom?
Pick whichever of these fits how you present:
- Share a window, keep notes in another one. Free and built in. It breaks down when the demo forces you to switch apps mid-share.
- Silence notifications first. Turn on Do not disturb in Windows 11 (Settings > System > Notifications) before you click Share. Our notifications guide covers Windows, Mac and the chat apps that bypass it.
- Put notes on a monitor you don't share. Works if you have a second display.
- Use a capture-excluded window. Windows 10 version 2004 and later let an app mark its own window with
WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE. Zoom's capture then skips that window even during a full-screen share. Our guide on hiding a window from screen share compares all four methods.
AuraCloak keeps your AI chat and notes on top of Zoom, visible to you and left out of the share.
Get AuraCloakAuraCloak is an invisible AI overlay for Windows built on that fourth method. It stays on top of your slides, you toggle it with Ctrl + Alt + Space, and Zoom leaves it out even when you share the whole screen. Be realistic about the limits: a phone pointed at your monitor still sees it, and so does anyone looking over your shoulder. For a full slide-and-notes setup, see the presentations use case.
FAQ
Why can't I share my screen on Zoom?
Usually the host has set sharing to Only Host, which is the default on free Basic accounts. Ask the host to allow participants to share. On a Mac, Zoom also needs Screen & System Audio Recording permission in Privacy & Security.
How do I share my screen and sound on Zoom?
Click Share, select a screen or window, tick Share sound at the bottom of the share window, then click Share. If you're already sharing, open More in the floating toolbar and choose Share computer sounds.
Can people see my other tabs when I share a window on Zoom?
If you share your browser window, viewers see the tab bar, so they can read the titles of other open tabs. They can't see the contents of tabs you don't switch to. Open a fresh browser window with only the tab you need before sharing.
Does the Zoom host see my screen without me sharing?
No. Zoom's help center says hosts cannot monitor your screen activities unless you choose to share your screen. The host can only see what you deliberately share.
How do I share only part of my screen on Zoom?
Click Share, open the Advanced tab and choose Portion of screen. A green frame appears; drag its edges to cover what you want to show. Anything inside the frame is visible, including windows you move into it.