Teams screen sharing not working: how to fix it on Windows 11

Applies to: the new Microsoft Teams app on Windows 11 with a work or school account, plus notes for Teams on the web. Screen sharing in Teams Free and on phones works a little differently. Mac guides tell you to grant Teams a Screen Recording permission in macOS settings; that step has no Windows equivalent, and Microsoft’s presenting page lists no permission step for Windows.

Sharing a screen involves three parties: you, the meeting (its roles and options), and your organization (its policies). Then the video stream has to reach everyone else. If Teams has trouble staying connected at all, sharing tends to stutter along with it, so start with our guide to Teams not connecting in that case.

Match your symptom

What you see	Possible cause	Go to
No Share button, or it’s grayed out	You’re an attendee, or a policy turns sharing off	Fix 1, Fix 2
Share opens, but Screen is missing and only some options show	Screen sharing mode in your policy	Fix 2
You can share the whole screen but not one window	Single application policy, or the app is minimized	Fix 3
Viewers see a black screen or a frozen image	Protected content, minimized window, graphics or network	Fix 4
Video plays for you but viewers hear nothing	Computer sound not included in the share	Fix 5
Sharing ends whenever your PC locks	Lock screen setting in Teams privacy options	Fix 6
Sharing worked before and now fails every time	Outdated or damaged app data	Fix 7
Sharing fails in a browser	Unsupported browser or Linux	Teams on the web

How sharing should work in new Teams

According to Microsoft’s page Present content in Microsoft Teams meetings, you start sharing from the meeting controls:

1. In the meeting, select Share in the meeting controls.
2. Choose your entire screen, a window, a PowerPoint file or a Whiteboard.
3. Select Stop sharing in the meeting controls when you’re done.

While you share, a presenter toolbar sits at the top of your screen. Microsoft says only you see it, and it holds Camera, Mic, Give control, Optimize, Layout, People and Stop sharing. If you can’t find it, move the pointer to the top edge of the shared screen and it drops down; Pin toolbar keeps it in view. Knowing this layout helps, because some sharing problems are simply a hidden toolbar or a share that already started without you noticing.

Fix 1: Check your meeting role

Teams meetings have presenters and attendees. Microsoft’s admin page Manage who can present and request control in Teams meetings and events lists three settings for Who can present:

• Everyone: everyone joins as a presenter. Microsoft lists this as the default.
• People in my org and guests: signed-in people from the organization, including guests, join as presenters. Others join as attendees.
• Only organizers and co-organizers: everyone else joins as an attendee.

Attendees can’t share content, so if your Share button is missing or unavailable, ask the organizer to make you a presenter. Organizers can change Who can present in the meeting options for their own meetings, even when the organization sets a different default. If you’re joining as an external guest or an anonymous user, the organizer’s settings decide what you can do, not your own organization’s.

On the Teams mobile app, Microsoft notes that sharing stops if your role changes from presenter to attendee during the meeting. If sharing ended suddenly on a phone, a role change is worth asking about.

Fix 2: Policies that block or limit sharing

On a work or school account, an administrator sets meeting policies in the Teams admin center. Microsoft’s page Manage meeting policies for content sharing describes a per-user Screen sharing mode with three values:

• Entire screen: you can share your whole desktop and single apps.
• Single application: you can share one app window but not the whole desktop. Microsoft notes that in Teams on the web, this value works like Not enabled.
• Not enabled: screen and app sharing are turned off.

Because the policy follows the user, it applies to you whether you organized the meeting or joined someone else’s. Separate policy settings decide whether you can share PowerPoint Live and Whiteboard, so it’s possible to see some share options but not others. Another policy controls whether people can give or request control of a shared screen; when it’s off, Microsoft says the Give control option isn’t available.

You can’t change these settings yourself. If sharing is blocked in every meeting you join, while colleagues can share, send your IT team the exact symptom, for example “no Screen option under Share” or “Share button grayed out in all meetings”. It tells them which policy to look at.

Fix 3: You can’t share a window

If only window sharing fails, work through these checks:

1. Restore the app you want to share so it’s open on the desktop, not minimized to the taskbar. Teams can’t show the contents of a window that isn’t drawn on screen, so a minimized window may not appear in the list or may show up blank for viewers.
2. If you use Teams in a browser and no share options work, remember that the Single application policy acts as Not enabled on the web (Fix 2). Try the desktop app, or share the whole screen as a test.
3. Close and reopen the app you want to share, then select Share again so Teams lists it afresh.
4. Some apps that play protected video or run with administrator rights may not be shareable as a window. Sharing the whole screen is the fallback; close anything private first, since everyone will see your entire desktop.

Sharing the whole screen also helps with multiple monitors: choose the screen that holds the content and drag the app there. These checks are general guidance, not steps from Microsoft’s presenting page.

Fix 4: Viewers see a black or frozen screen

A black screen for viewers often means the share started but the picture isn’t getting through. Microsoft’s pages that we checked don’t list causes for this, so treat the following as tests to narrow it down:

• Protected video: streaming services and some apps use copy protection that can make video appear black when it’s shared or captured. That isn’t a Teams fault, and there’s no setting in Teams to get around it.
• Minimized or covered window: if you share one window and then minimize it, viewers may see a black or frozen frame. Keep the window open, or share the whole screen.
• Network: a frozen picture that catches up later points to bandwidth. Close large uploads or downloads, and if you’re on Wi-Fi, try a wired connection or move nearer the router.
• High-motion content: for video or animation, Microsoft suggests selecting Optimize in the presenter toolbar to smooth playback.
• Graphics driver: if screen and window sharing both show black for everyone on one PC, updating the graphics driver is a reasonable test. Our guide on how to update drivers in Windows 11 covers safe ways to do it.
• Viewer side: if only one person sees black while others see your screen, the problem is on their end. Ask them to leave and rejoin the meeting.

Your camera and screen share use the same connection. If your video also freezes or turns black, our Teams camera guide covers camera-specific fixes, while a share that fails alone points back to the steps above.

Fix 5: Sound isn’t shared

Microsoft’s presenting page we checked documents an Audio toggle only for screen sharing from the Teams mobile app, which you turn on to share audio from your screen. It doesn’t describe a sound option for sharing from the Windows app. In new Teams on Windows, look for a sound or audio option in the Share tray before you pick a screen or window, and check whether it’s on. If you share a video with sound, also confirm the audio plays on your PC first; if you hear nothing locally, viewers won’t either.

This is separate from your microphone. If people can’t hear you speak, rather than the computer sound you’re sharing, see our guide to Teams microphone problems.

Fix 6: Sharing stops when your screen locks

Microsoft’s presenting page lists a fix for sharing that stops when your screen locks:

1. In Teams, select Settings and more (the three dots next to your profile picture), then Settings.
2. Open Privacy.
3. Turn on the option to turn off your camera and mic when your screen locks.
4. Restart Teams.

A locked PC can’t show its desktop to anyone, so viewers see nothing either way. If you present for long periods, you can also extend the time before Windows locks the screen in your power and lock screen settings.

Fix 7: Update, restart or reset Teams

If sharing worked before and now fails in every meeting, refresh the app in order, from the smallest step to the largest:

1. Leave the meeting, quit Teams from its icon in the taskbar notification area, and open it again. Closing the window alone may leave Teams running.
2. Select Settings and more in Teams and check for updates, then install any pending Windows updates and restart the PC.
3. Sign out of Teams and sign back in.
4. As a last resort, reset the app from Settings > Apps > Installed apps in Windows. A reset clears your Teams preferences on that PC. Our Teams camera guide walks through the reset and cache steps in full.

Known issues: as of November 2026, we didn’t find a current screen sharing problem confirmed on an official Microsoft page. If sharing stops for everyone in your organization at the same time, your IT team can check Microsoft 365 service health.

While sharing, Teams may hold back alerts so they don’t pop up in front of your audience, and Windows can do the same when you duplicate a display. If alerts don’t come back after the meeting, see our guide to Teams notifications not working.

Teams on the web and other limits

Microsoft lists a few limits that can look like faults:

• For screen sharing in Teams on the web, Microsoft says to use Google Chrome or the latest version of Microsoft Edge.
• Linux isn’t currently supported for screen sharing in Teams on the web, and giving or taking control isn’t available on Linux.
• If your policy is set to Single application, sharing in a browser behaves as if it’s turned off (Fix 2). The desktop app may still let you share a window.
• Microsoft warns to give control only to people you trust, because they can send commands that affect your PC. If Give control is missing, the policy described in Fix 2 may have it turned off.

Related guides

• Microsoft Teams not connecting: how to fix it
• Teams camera not working: how to fix it on Windows 11
• Teams microphone not working: how to fix it on Windows 11
• Teams notifications not working: how to fix it on Windows 11
• How to update drivers in Windows 11 (and when not to)

Official sources

• Microsoft: Present content in Microsoft Teams meetings
• Microsoft Learn: Manage meeting policies for content sharing
• Microsoft Learn: Manage who can present and request control in Teams meetings and events