How to Enable Screen Sharing for Participants on Zoom as a Host

Many Zoom meeting participants are unable to share their screen. That’s because Zoom only lets the host or a co-host to share their screen by default. If the host wants other participants to share the screen as well, he/she needs to enable screen sharing for participants. That’s exactly what we will guide you with.

When screen sharing is disabled for participants in Zoom, they will get a notification that says ‘Host has disabled participant screen sharing.’ To fix it and let others share the screen, the host needs to grant permission to share the screen.

So if you are the host of a Zoom meeting, the following steps will help you enable screen sharing for participants. Let’s check how to enable screen sharing on Android, iOS, and desktop. We will first cover steps for individual meetings, followed by enabling screen sharing for all meetings by default.

How to Enable Screen Sharing for Participants on Zoom on Desktop

You can allow participants to share their screen for the current meeting using one of the following two methods.

Method 1

When you have joined a Zoom meeting, click on the Security tab in the Zoom window’s bottom bar. Under ‘Allow participants to’, click on the Share screen to enable it. Once enabled, participants will get the ability to share the screen.

Pro Tip: Similarly, you can enable or disable other features for participants such as chat, the ability to rename and unmute themselves from the Security setting.

Method 2

Once you have joined a meeting, click on the tiny arrow next to the Share screen option. Select Advanced sharing options.

A pop-up window will open. Click on All participants under the Who can share setting. Click on the Close (X) icon on the pop-up box to save the setting. Now other participants can share their screen.

Tips for Screen Sharing on Desktop

As a host, you get several other privileges regarding screen sharing. You can let multiple participants share screens at a time instead of just one. For that, click on the small arrow next to Screen share. Then click on the option ‘Multiple participants can share simultaneously.’

Similarly, when you click on Advanced sharing options and enable the screen sharing ability for all participants, you can modify who can share the screen when someone else is sharing. The two options are only the host and all participants. Select as per your requirement.

How to Enable Screen Sharing for Participants on Zoom on Android, iPhone, and iPad

To allow screen sharing for the current meeting participants as a host on mobile and tablets, follow these steps:

Step 1: Join your Zoom meeting using the host account.

Step 2: Tap on the Settings tab. Select Meeting Settings from the menu.

Step 3: Enable the toggle next to Share screen under Allow participants to section.

Pro Tip: As a host, you can enable/disable chat, or revoke participants’ power to unmute and rename themselves from the same screen.

Ask the meeting participants to check now. They should be able to share their screen using the Share button on their Zoom apps.

How to Enable Participant Screen Sharing for All Meetings

The above methods let you enable screen sharing for the current meeting only. If you hold several meetings as a host where participants need to share their screen, you can enable a default setting for the same feature on your account. That way, all meetings you conduct as a host will have screen sharing enabled for all participants.

To do so, you need to open your Zoom account settings from the Zoom website. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Open the Zoom website and log in with your Zoom account.

Step 2: Click on the Settings from the left sidebar.

Step 3: Under the Meeting tab, click on In Meeting (Basic).

Step 4: Scroll down, and you will find Screen sharing settings. First, enable the toggle next to Screen sharing. Then choose All participants under Who can share.

You can even enable or disable annotation for screen sharing on this screen. Further, if you want, you can customize what participants can share by enabling the toggle next to Disable desktop/screen share for users.

Troubleshoot: Zoom Screen Sharing Not Working

As a meeting participant, if you are greeted by the ‘Host has disabled participant screen sharing’, you should inform the host first. He/she might have forgotten to enable the setting. In case they have enabled it, and you are still getting the same error, leave the meeting and join again. That should fix the problem. If that doesn’t fix it, log out from your Zoom account, and log in and join the meeting.

If you aren’t getting that error but still cannot share your screen, you should restart your device (mobile or PC) first. Then follow the correct steps to share the screen on Zoom.

Also, make sure you are running an updated version of the Zoom app and whether screen sharing is compatible with your device or not. Zoom supports screen sharing on Android devices running Android 5.0 or higher and iOS devices running iOS 11 or above.

Next up: Do you know you can change your background on Zoom and use any other image instead? Find out how to download and use cool Zoom backgrounds from the next link.