Share Screen Window Switching

[adamdeich]

Hello, everyone. We're in the process from standardizing video conferencing from a previous service to fully adopting Microsoft Teams. One feature people were hoping to use is that during a screen share they can choose a particular app window to share, but then when they would like to switch to a different app window, it looks like they can't do that without first ending the screen share and starting a whole new sharing session. This briefly bounces the focus of the meeting back to video participants and ultimately creates a pause in the meeting or presentation.

To contrast, Zoom has a feature where when you're sharing a window you can either end the sharing session or start a new sharing session with a different window. Meaning the user can effectively just switch to a different window to share, without the pause of having to close the sharing session and start a new one. It's especially useful to my users who have multiple windows open and sharing the full desktop window isn't an option.

Am I just missing this setting somewhere? Thanks much.

[#2]

Hi@adamdeich This article explains the different screen sharing options in Teams.  If it doesn't answer your question, respond back here so the community can make other suggestions.

https://mattipaukkonen.com/2020/03/26/screen-sharing-options-on-microsoft-teams-meetings/

[#3]

@ThereseSolimeno That article you shared was good for the initial sharing. If i'm sharing a particular window or app and want to switch to a different window while presenting can I do that? At the moment it looks like I have to stop presenting and re present the new window? 

[#4]

It depends on which sharing mode you're in, @Lisa_Mullaney   If you share your desktop, then you can move from one source to another but everyone will see what you're doing (which might be okay in less formal meetings).  If you choose a specific app only, then I do believe you'd want to pull up the next screen you want to share, stop sharing for a moment, then reselect the app source. 

Example:  if you're sharing an Excel document and chose Excel document only to share, then to share a Powerpoint document you'd have to open the PPT while Excel is still showing, then stop sharing and then start again by choosing the PPT-only source.  Anyway, that's what I'm doing and if anyone else has a better suggestion I'm all ears.

[#5]

@adamdeich I understand what you mean. It needs immediate attention from Micrsoft because this is such a basic thing for any video conferencing program to be able to change the active window for sharing instead of closing and resharing. Google Meet and Zoom, both have this functionality. 

[#6]

I found this feature request in https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com : https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/555103-public/suggestions/36799342-meeting-presenter-mus...
Perhaps you all can give it a vote and promote it via twitter and facebook - so that the Attention of Microsoft will be drawn to this topic.

[#7]

@Lars Küster Neither of the links reaches where it's intended.

[#8 · Accepted solution]

Spoiler

@AleemAshraf I am sorry - somehow the link showed up double. the same link was copied directly behind the first one .. try it once more: click - Topic Teams Uservoice 

[#9]

@adamdeich This is the one area Microsoft must and can fix. My end users can use both Zoom and Teams,  We're trying to get them to use Teams. Misidentifying the screen you want to share, sharing an app rather than a window and changing the windows are all easier in Zoom.  Just give me an identifier on the screen like Zoom does. That solves #1. 

The other reason folks don't like Teams is the band-with usage,  They have more issues with Teams sharing video (in part because our graphics cards on out Think Pads suck).  Teams meetings are more likely to freeze or have have audio issues than Zoom.

[#10]

Totally agree this is a key feature.  Sharing a desktop is fine unless you have an ultra widescreen monitor, in which case anyone with a normal screen can't read anything you present and have giant black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

[#11]

@Deb_W Selecting the right window is kinda fixed in Windows 11, you can choose which app to shared from the icon at the bottom of the screen rather than picking it in Teams. You just hover over and can pick 'Share This Window'.

[#12]

@Steven Collier Doesn't help those of us stuck on Win 10 for the foreseeable future.

[#13]

@adamdeich 

I have the same issues, I need to present a powerpoint, and then show a website and interact with the website but like you said, it seems like I have to stop presenting and then present again.

Not efficient =[

[#14]

@TechnicalDave lol incredible how this is not available, after 2 years of remote work (for me at least )

[#15]

@dwight10000 Right there with you. Amazed!

[#16]

Still not fixed. This is just ridiculous...

[#17]

@AleemAshraf unfortunatly the uservoice communities had been closed. Instead they created their own user feedback portal : Ideen · Community (microsoft.com)

[#18]

@adamdeich 

I think I found a solution. I just got a 32:9 ultrawide and ran into the same issue. This video shows a solution using PowerToys and another application right from the Microsoft store. Hope this helps!

https://youtu.be/4WVY-mFPFNI

[#19]

A feature of both Zoom and WebEx that I enjoy (although there are plenty of things about each product that I don't enjoy) is the ability to share multiple windows. The way it works is you select the windows that you want to share. If the windows are overlapping, whichever has focus is shown on top... if they're completely overlapping, you only see the window with focus. If they're side by side, you see both windows. It is super handy.

The issue for many of us is that if we're frequent sharers of content, we're looking for optimized screen setups. I have switched from multiple monitors to a single ultrawide. In the past, I would have just shared the entire screen, but that is no longer practical. The aspect ratio makes it not great for others, even folks that also have ultrawide monitors because you become very accustomed to not having a window in full screen. I have tools that will set a window to 1920x1080, so that is helpful. What I have had to do as a convoluted setup is use OBS to capture just part of the screen and then setup a full screen projector to my iPad Pro as a second monitor, but the iPad Pro aspect ratio is also off.

Switching between shared windows is slow and klunky. I tried add a browser extension into VS Code so I could just have a browser there and not need to switch windows. No dice, the things don't render anything at all. This is a huge problem.