Microsoft Teams – Share Your Screen from Chat

How to Share Your Screen from an Instant Message in Teams.

Watch this video or use the instructions below to learn how you can share your screen or a single program window in Microsoft Teams without needing to place a call or be in a meeting.

Full Transcript:

In Microsoft Teams, it is now possible to share your screen in a chat conversation. Before, you needed to be in a call with someone before you could share your screen.

In an instant message conversation, choose the Share Content button, and select the Desktop or Window you would like to share. Teams will ask the person or people you’re chatting with if they’d like to accept your content. Whatever you choose to share will be outlined in red to remind you it’s being shared.

Choose the Share Content button again to bring up the Screen Share Session.

From here, there are three ways to stop sharing your screen. From the Microsoft Teams client, you can always press the Stop Sharing button to stop sharing. If you click away from the Teams client, you will see the Call Options Menu, and you can choose the Stop Sharing button here as well. The last way is if you are sharing your Desktop, you can move your mouse to the top of the desktop to see the toolbar. From here you can choose Stop Presenting.

This will end your screen share session.

And that’s how you share your screen from a chat window with Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams has Finally Released Screen Sharing in Chat

Until recently, you needed to be in a call with someone on Microsoft Teams before you could start sharing your screen. Microsoft announced at Ignite earlier this year that they were releasing this feature, and after months of waiting, it should now be available in your Microsoft Teams Client.

Here’s How You Can Share Your Screen from a Chat in Teams

1. Open a chat window in Teams with a colleague or external Teams contact.
2. Choose the Share Content Button in the upper-right hand corner of your window.
3. Select a Desktop or Window to share.
4. The content you’re sharing will be outlined in red to remind you it’s being shared.

Some Details to Note When Sharing Your Screen

If you choose to share your desktop, everything visible on your screen will be visible to the person with whom you are sharing.

If you choose to share only a window, anything that covers that window will appear as a dark grey box to the people you’re chatting with. This can be a great way to make sure you do not accidentally share any sensitive information.

How to Stop Sharing Your Screen

There are three different ways you can stop sharing your screen.

1. In the Microsoft Teams Client, select the Stop Sharing
2.  In the Sharing Options Window, select the Stop Sharing This is a small window that will appear on the lower-right hand corner of your screen if you click away from the Teams client during a sharing session.
3. If you’re sharing your Desktop, move your mouse to the top of the screen to show the toolbar and select Stop Presenting from the toolbar.

I think I speak for all of us when I say, “Finally!” This feature was available in Skype for Business, and who knows for sure why it was not a piece of Microsoft Teams’ functionality from the start. I am just glad it is finally generally available.