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Give or take control when screen sharing on Teams

Microsoft Teams for personal use is an excellent collaboration tool. A notable new feature is the ability to give and take control during screen sharing. This proves extremely useful during presentations on Teams, allowing multiple speakers to advance slides or collaborate on documents in real time. It’s also beneficial for assisting a less tech-savvy friend with their computer or including them in an online game without complicated setups.

In essence, this feature enables you to share your screen control with another person during a meeting, which improves collaboration, facilitates troubleshooting, and provides guided assistance.

Learn more about screen sharing in Teams.

Give control while screen sharing

Should you wish for another meeting participant to alter a file, assist with your presentation, or provide a demonstration, you have the option to grant them control. Once granted, they will have the ability to select, edit, and make various changes to the shared screen. Control of the sharing will be shared between you, and you can reclaim control at any moment.

To begin, share your screen and then hover over the screen sharing indicator at the top of your screen.

Then select ‘Give control’ from the presenter toolbar, which will appear when hovering over the screen sharing indicator.

Warning : Only grant control of your app to individuals you trust. Those with control can issue commands that may impact your system or other applications.

Take control of a shared screen

To take control while another person is sharing, select ‘Take control’.

The person sharing can approve or deny your request. Make selections, edits, and other modifications to the shared screen while you have control. Select ‘Release control’ to stop sharing control.

You share, we listen.

We are always grateful to receive your feedback and suggestions to make Teams better.

• Report bugs and glitches by sending us relevant feedback using the in-app form. Please include diagnostic logs and screenshots to help us to investigate your issue. Learn more how to send feedback or suggest a feature in Teams (free)
• If you have suggestions for new features or changes to the existing ones, you can vote and submit ideas on  Microsoft Teams (free) Feedback Portal .
• You can always create a post on the Microsoft Support Community as well.

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No more “next slide please” with Microsoft Teams PowerPoint Live Presenter Mode

One of the great meeting features of Microsoft Teams is PowerPoint Live Presenter mode. For me, the killer feature is that anyone can “Take control” of presenting the deck seamlessly.

In my opinion, it really breaks the flow of a presentation for the presenter to keep prompting someone with “next slide please”. It became a running joke with the UK Government updates that they were constantly prompting for “next slide please”

PowerPoint Live Presenter Mode won’t be suitable for every meeting type, as you may not want everyone in the meeting to have the power to “take control” but for internal “All Hands” type meetings, where multiple presenters have a couple of slides each to present, each presenter can just “take control” in turn and drive the slides.

Using PowerPoint Live Presenter Mode

Firstly someone uploads the PowerPoint deck. Teams will show recent decks that the user has edited to make it easy to find the right deck to upload, but you can also browse OneDrive or the local computer.

The person uploading will be the initial “deck presenter”; they will initially have control to move the deck forward for everyone in the meeting

Presenter Options in PowerPoint Live Presenter Mode

The presenter gets a nice view of the overall deck and the current slide you are presenting. You will also see slide notes. This is so useful if you are presenting from a single screen. You can also see all the chat while presenting. This tight integration with PowerPoint is something that steps Microsoft Teams apart from other online meeting platforms.

You can also use the new “standout” mode (not sure about that name, I prefer “weatherman mode”) to appear over the slides which can help promote engagement. Note, standout mode person overlaid on the slides won’t come through on a recording, The recording will show normal bottom right video.

PowerPoint Live Attendee Features

Attendees can even personally move forwards and backwards in the deck, this is useful if they want to see what is coming up

the presenter can turn off this feature if they prefer

Attendees can also personally put the slides into “high contrast mode” for improved accessibility. This only affects their view of the slides.

“Take Control” – the “next slide please” killer

Often in meetings with multiple presenters, before PowerPoint Live, one person presents the deck for the whole meetings, probably via screen sharing, and as the current talker asks that person to move the slides forward; “Next slide please”. Saving the pain of one person screens sharing, then another, then another.

With PowerPoint Live, In the meeting, everyone other than the current person presenting the slides will see the slide the presenter is presenting, but they also have a “Take Control” button.

The person that presses that button then gets the presenter view and control, and the original presenter gets prompted that someone has taken over. They can see who took over as the current presenter is shown in the bottom left.

This allows seamless transfer of presenters with no interruption for the “viewers” of the presentation for a much slicker meeting.

See the banner prompt notifying the previous presenter that someone has taken over presenting and in the bottom left I can see it’s Tom Morgan now presenting

Note, PowerPoint Live won’t work well for meetings where presenters need to “screen share” outside of a single PowerPoint deck. If someone does drop the presentation to share their screen, or for any other reason, when the original deck uploader shares the deck again, it prompts them with the option to resume at the same point in the deck.

About the author

A Microsoft MVP and Microsoft Certified Master, Tom Arbuthnot is Founder and Principal at Empowering.Cloud as well as a Solutions Director at Pure IP.

Tom stays up to date with industry developments and shares news and his opinions on his Tomtalks.blog, UC Today Microsoft Teams Podcast and email list. He is a regular speaker at events around the world.

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So they have finally caught up to WebEx and Adobe Connect

Not bad. Would definitely need to be able to share other things like videos outside of PowerPoint. Also, other online meeting tools have this feature but if the original presenter tries to use their own screen, it overrides what the remote user is doing. Does this happen in Teams Live as well?

The original presenter can press take control, like the others.

[…] No more “next slide please” with Microsoft Teams PowerPoint Live Presenter Mode. One of the great meeting features of Microsoft Teams is PowerPoint Live Presenter mode. The killer feature is that anyone can “Take control” of presenting the deck seamlessly. […]

Can you stop selected participants from taking control as well as moving forwards?

Yes, in the meeting settings

can you please give us more details how to do so?

thank you in advance!

Do you know of any way to make the Powerpoint slides bigger for the participants? The full screen command does not really go full screen anymore and all the zoom shortcuts zoom in on the controls, not the presentation – help!? I can’t find this anywhere – the old key commands that used to work now do not in Powerpoint Live. We are on laptops btw – not bigger monitors – hence the problem.

How To Give Control in Teams to Switch Presenter

Microsoft Teams continues to add new features and ways to engage meeting attendees. Sometimes when you’re a presenter in a Teams meeting, you’ll want to allow someone else to present or give control to someone else in the meeting. We’ll run through the different ways to present and how to give control in Teams to someone else.

The information below applies to all Microsoft Teams meetings, including breakout sessions and webinars. Some features, like PowerPoint Live, are only available while using the desktop version of Teams and cannot be accessed if you’re running Teams in a web browser.

Sharing Content in a Teams Meeting

When you’re in a Teams meeting and select the Share button, you can choose to share content in different ways:

• Share your screen : This option will allow meeting attendees to see anything that’s on the monitor you select.
• Share a specific window : This option will only allow attendees to see the specific window you choose to share.
• Create a Whiteboard : This option will launch the Whiteboard app so meeting attendees can collaborate. 
• Share a PowerPoint : Select a specific PowerPoint file to present to meeting attendees.

When you choose to share a PowerPoint presentation (rather than sharing the specific window the PowerPoint is in), meeting attendees will get a few extra features, and so will you.

When you share a presentation using PowerPoint Live, attendees will be able to move through the slides in your presentation at their own speed. Don’t worry—meeting attendees won’t control what other attendees see. You’ll still be in control of your presentation . However, if an attendee wants to skip a few slides ahead to see what’s coming, they can. When they’re ready, there’s a sync button which will sync them up with the presenter.

If you don’t want attendees to move through the presentation on their own, you can toggle that feature off by selecting the eye icon on the control panel that appears on the presentation.

When you share a presentation via PowerPoint live, you’ll be able to see your notes, slides, and the audience while you present. This is a feature that Teams users have been clamoring for, and we’re thrilled to see that Microsoft listened.

You’ll also get access to multi-colored laser pointers, pens, and highlighters to aid in your presentation.

Roles in Teams Meetings

First, let’s get clear about the various roles available in Teams meetings. The person who creates the link to join the meeting is the organizer. That person has ultimate control and can do things that no other attendee can do like manage breakout rooms .

The organizer can designate other meeting attendees as presenters. Only the organizer and presenters can share content during the meeting. Besides the organizer and presenters, everyone else in the meeting is called an Attendee.

The organizer can set presenters in advance of the meeting or on the fly during the meeting. To set presenters in advance of the meeting, the meeting organizer should select the Meeting Options link in the calendar invitation for the meeting.

A web page will open where you can choose who will be able to present during the meeting.

If you choose Specific people , next type in the names of the people who you want to be Presenters.

How To Promote an Attendee to Presenter in Teams

If you’re the meeting organizer, it’s easy to promote a meeting attendee to presenter during the meeting itself.

• Find the attendee in the participant list.
• Select the More options (three dots) link next to the attendee’s name.

• Select Make a presenter .

Now that person will be able to share content during the meeting.

Presenting vs. Taking Control

It’s important to understand the distinction between presenting in a Teams meeting and taking control of shared content.

Apps like GoToMeeting and Zoom have ways for meeting attendees to take control of another attendee’s computer. This usually happens in remote support sessions. So far, Microsoft Teams has not provided that functionality. However, Teams does allow presenters to give limited control to another attendee, and attendees can request control from presenters.

Obviously, you should only give control in Teams to someone you trust.

How To Give Control in Teams

In Microsoft Teams, if you want someone else in your meeting to edit a file you’re sharing or take over your presentation, you can give control to that person. It’s like adding a second, simultaneous presenter. You’ll both be able to control what’s being shared. You can take back control any time you want.

You can only give control to someone else in your Teams meeting when you’re presenting. Mouse over the content you’re sharing to activate the sharing toolbar and select Give control .

From there, select the person you want to give control to. The person you want to give control to will receive a notification letting them know that you want to share control of the presentation with them. When you share control with someone else, they’ll be able to make edits and other changes to the shared screen.

If you want to take control back from them, simply select the Cancel Control button.

How To Request Control in Teams

Requesting control while someone’s presenting in Teams works similarly. Simply select the Request control button. The presenter can then choose to Allow or Deny your control request.

When you no longer want control, you can select the Release control button.

Get Comfortable with Microsoft Teams

Love it or hate it, it doesn’t look like Microsoft Teams is going away any time soon. If your employer uses Teams, it’s worth learning a few Teams tips and tricks to get more comfortable with all its features. 

You can read about several ways to run polls in Teams meetings or learn how to hide your mess by changing your background in Teams.

Maggie Marystone is a freelance technology writer, human rights worker, and storyteller based in Chicago. Read Maggie's Full Bio

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Share Slides in Teams meetings with PowerPoint Live

PowerPoint Live offers benefits over simple screen-sharing.

This article applies to: Microsoft Teams

PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams offers several benefits over screen-sharing your PowerPoint presentation window or editing window. 

• Seamlessly switch between presenters.  Unlike screen-sharing, where the presentation is shared from a single presenter, co-presenters can take control of the slide deck during their portion of the presentation. 
• The built-in presenter view provides all the tools you need for a successful meeting.  You can see the audience, control slides, and view notes all in one location. 
• Enhanced accessibility.  Audience members can use screen readers, live translation, and high contrast slides. 
• Special audience focus tools.  Use the laser pointer, pen, and highlighter to draw attention to key points. 
• Option for attendees to go back or ahead.  If enabled, audience members can move between slides to review something they missed while the presentation continues. 
• Smoother transitions to video or audio.  Play high-quality embedded video and audio without having to change to a browser, media player, or other outside app or window. 
• Instant attendee access to links.  Audience members can open links and videos in the presentation on their own devices. No more waiting for you to circulate the presentation after the meeting. 

For more information, see Microsoft’s  Share slides in a Teams meeting with PowerPoint Live  and the Microsoft blog post  Introducing PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams . 

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Home / Blog / How to give control in teams?

How to give control in teams?

May 4th, 2023 by Emily Houssier

As remote work becomes more prevalent, Microsoft Teams has emerged as a popular communication and collaboration tool for businesses. Teams meetings are a standard feature of the platform and have become an essential way for teams to connect virtually. During meetings, the ability to share screens, presentations, and files with attendees is vital to creating a collaborative environment. However, controlling who has access to share and edit this content is crucial to maintaining the confidentiality and security of the meeting.

In this article, we will discuss how to give control in Teams meetings. We will walk you through the process of granting presenter access to specific attendees, managing permissions, and troubleshooting any issues that may arise.

Presenter and Attendee Roles in Teams Meetings

When you set up a Teams meeting , there are two primary roles: presenter and attendee. The presenter initiates the meeting and controls its content. In contrast, the attendee joins the meeting as a participant. Attendees can share their screens or enable video, but they cannot change the shared content. 

Are you a complete Microsoft Teams beginner? Learn how to  add an external person to teams

Meeting Control Features in Teams

The meeting control feature in Microsoft Teams allows presenters to grant attendees the ability to manage the shared content during the meeting. The host can share their screen, conduct a PowerPoint presentation, or collaborate with the attendees using the whiteboard feature. The ability to give control access to attendees is an essential feature that enhances the meeting experience for both hosts and attendees.

Step 1: Initiating Meeting Control Request

Before giving control to an attendee, the presenter must initiate the meeting request. 

Locating Meeting Control Options

• Open the Teams app on your computer.
• Click on the meeting to enter the meeting room.
• At the bottom of the screen, click on the ellipsis (three dots) to open the menu.
• From the menu, go to Microsoft Teams “Settings” , and select “Meeting options.”

Initiating Request for Control

• Once the Meeting Options opens, scroll down to the “Who can present?” option.
• Select “Specific people” from the drop-down menu.
• Enter the name of the person you want to assign control to in the search bar, or pick from the list of attendees.
• Click on “Save” to save the changes.

Step 2: Granting Control to Participants

After the host initiates the request, the attendees can request control by clicking the “Request control” button. The presenter can then approve or deny the request based on their discretion.

Approving Control Request

• When an attendee requests control, the presenter will receive a notification in the meeting chat.
• To approve the request, the presenter can click on “Give control” from the notification.
• The host can also approve the request by clicking on the participant’s name in the meeting window and selecting “Give control.”

Granting Control to Specific Attendees

• Click on the participant’s name in the meeting window.
• From the drop-down, choose “Make a presenter.”
• The selected participant will then have control over the shared content.

Granting Control to All Participants

• Click on the ellipsis (three dots) at the bottom of the screen to open the menu.
• From the menu, select “Meeting options.”
• Scroll down to “Who can present?” and choose “Everyone” from the drop-down.

Step 3: Managing Control Permissions

Presenters can monitor and manage the attendees’ permissions during the meeting. This is important to protect information in Microsoft Teams .

Monitoring and Managing Control Permissions

• Scroll down to “Who can present?” and select “Specific people” from the drop-down.
• Review the list of participants who have been given control rights.
• To revoke control access from a participant, click on their name and click “Remove presenter.”
• Click on “ Save ” to save the changes.

Revoking Control from Participants

• From the drop-down menu, select “Revoke control.”
• The participant will no longer have control access to the shared content.

Step 4: Troubleshooting Meeting Control Issues

Hosts or attendees may sometimes encounter issues with the meeting control feature. Here are some common issues and troubleshooting steps:

Issue: Unable to see “Request control”

• Solution: The presenter may have disabled “Request control”. To enable it, follow the steps in Step 1 and select “Anyone” from the “Who can present?” drop-down.

Issue: Unable to grant control to specific attendees

• Solution: Ensure that the presenter has initiated the request and the participant has requested control access. If the issue persists, try restarting the Teams app.

Issue: Unable to share the screen

• Solution: Ensure the host has enabled screen sharing in the meeting settings. Also, check that the presenter’s device is connected and functioning correctly.

Issue: Unable to see shared content

• Solution: Ensure the attendee has joined the meeting and the presenter has shared the content correctly. Also, check that the attendee’s device is connected and functioning correctly.

Why is it important to know how to give teams control?

Understanding how to delegate control effectively in Microsoft Teams is paramount for fostering collaboration and productivity within teams. By empowering team members with the ability to lead discussions, manage files, or schedule meetings, you distribute responsibilities evenly and capitalize on individual strengths. This cultivates a sense of ownership and accountability and ensures that tasks are handled efficiently, leading to smoother project progression. Moreover, with Microsoft Teams’ status settings allowing users to indicate their availability and workload, knowing how to grant control enables leaders to make informed decisions on task assignments, respecting team members’ bandwidth and ensuring a balanced workload distribution. Mastering control delegation in Microsoft Teams ultimately enhances communication, streamlines workflow, and promotes a more harmonious team dynamic.

In conclusion, the meeting control feature in Microsoft Teams is a powerful tool that enhances the collaboration and communication experience during virtual meetings. With the ability to transfer access to specific participants, presenters can create an interactive and collaborative environment that fosters teamwork and productivity. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily give control in Teams meetings, manage control permissions, and troubleshoot any issues that may arise. Remember to prioritize security and confidentiality by carefully managing Microsft Teams permission and controlling who has access to control shared content during the meeting.

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Manage the meeting presentation experience for sensitive Teams meetings

• 5 contributors
• Applies to: Microsoft Teams

Using Teams admin policies, sensitivity labels, and templates, you can control a wide variety of settings that determine the in-meeting experience for participants, including:

• Who can present and who can give or request control
• How content is shared and what collaboration tools are available
• Attendee video, audio, and reactions

Meeting organizers can specify many of theses settings when they create the meeting, but you can enforce specific options for different users and groups in your organization by using admin policies, or for different types or meetings by using sensitivity labels and templates. This can help you meet your compliance needs for different types of meetings and meetings where sensitive information is being shared.

Meeting settings in sensitivity labels and custom meeting templates require Teams Premium.

Manage who can present

The following table shows where settings are available to manage who can present in meetings:

By using these controls, you can limit who is able to share content on screen in meetings.

Default value for who can present in meetings

The Teams admin meeting policy Who can present has the following options:

• Only organizers and co-organizers
• People in my org and guests

This setting doesn't enforce the value, but rather specifies the default for new meetings created by users. Users can override this setting and choose any of the other options unless a specific value is enforced by a sensitivity label.

The default value of Everyone allows anyone to present in a meeting by default. If you have compliance requirements in your organization around who can present in meetings, consider changing this value to People in my org and guests or Only organizers and co-organizers to provide a more secure default for users.

To set the Who can present policy

In the Teams admin center, expand Meetings , and then select Meeting policies .

Select the policy that you want to modify.

Under Meeting join & lobby , select a value for Who can present .

Select Save .

Manage who can present by using sensitivity labels

Meeting organizers can choose from the following options for who can present in a meeting:

• Only me and co-organizers
• Specific people

The default value shown when a user creates a meeting is specified by the Who can present policy mentioned above.

You can restrict this setting by using a sensitivity label. For sensitive or highly sensitive meetings, consider restricting this setting to Only me and co-organizers or Specific people by using a sensitivity label.

Teams admin policy: Participants can give or request control

By default, meeting participants can give control of their shared screen to another participant in the meeting. This is controlled by two Teams admin meeting policies:

Participants can give or request control - This setting determines whether the user with this policy can give control of their shared desktop or window to other meeting participants. It's On by default.

External participants can give or request control - This setting determines a guest or anonymous participant can be given control of an internal user's shared screen. It's Off by default.

Depending on the compliance requirements of your organization, you can change these settings for some or all of your users.

To configure who can give control of a shared screen

Under Content sharing :

To prevent participants from giving control of a screen share to others, set Participants can give or request control to Off .

To prevent external participants from being given control of a screen share, set External participants can give or request control to On .

Manage which content and video is shared with attendees

In meetings where sensitive information is being shared, it can be important to minimize the risk of sharing inappropriate information.

The following table shows settings that can help manage what content and video is shared on screen in meetings.

Screen sharing is a teams admin policy. With this policy, you can control if meeting attendees can share their entire screen or only a single application. Sharing the entire screen can be convenient, but it can increase the chances of accidentally sharing inappropriate information such as an email or open document. Consider if you want to restrict sharing to a single application for users or departments that often present sensitive information. You can also turn off screen sharing entirely with this policy. For more information, see Manage meeting policies for content sharing .

Manage what attendees see is an option available to meeting organizers that can also be set by using a template. When this option is enabled, meeting organizers can control what content is shared on screen and who's video is visible. Organizers must intentionally bring shared content and video on screen before attendees can see it. This can help minimize the risk of sharing inappropriate content in a meeting. Consider if you want to enable or enforce this experience for sensitive meetings by using a meeting template. For more information, see Manage what attendees see in Teams meetings .

Manage presentation tools

Teams offers several presentation tools that allow for interactive participation of meeting attendees. The following table shows features that can help manage these tools.

Each of these features can be managed through admin policies, but not through templates or sensitivity labels, nor by the meeting organizer. As such, they can be applied to users or groups, but not to specific meetings. For more information, see Meeting policy settings - Content sharing .

If you have meetings where sensitive information is being shared, you may want to disable Whiteboard and shared notes to avoid having sensitive information added to them.

PowerPoint Live allows attendees to navigate forward and back in a PowerPoint presentation being shared on screen. This may allow attendees to see sensitive information before it's presented by the organizer.

Consider if there are users or groups in your organization who shouldn't use these features to avoid sharing sensitive information.

Manage how meeting attendees interact

The following table shows features that can help manage how meeting attendees interact during a meeting.

Attendee audio and video can make it easy for attendees to communicate during a meeting. These can both be controlled by the meeting organizer or by a meeting template. Depending on the type of meeting, you may want to allow or restrict these capabilities.

For meetings that are presentations with minimal interaction from attendees, turning video and audio off can minimize distractions.

When recording meetings, video from participants might be considered personal data and infer regulatory requirements.

If you choose to turn off reactions, remember that this will disable the hand-raise feature. (For presentation-style meetings, the Q&A feature may allow the needed interaction for attendees to ask questions.)

Related topics

Configure Teams meetings with three tiers of protection

Manage access to Microsoft Whiteboard for your organization

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Use meeting controls in Microsoft Teams

While you're in a meeting in Teams, you can access different functions from the meeting controls at the top of your screen. This will help you easily customize your view, participate with others, and more.

Show or hide the meeting conversation

To learn more, see Chat in a Teams meeting .

Show or hide all participants

The meeting participants will show on the right side of your screen. Above the list of participants, you can also invite someone to the meeting or share the meeting invite.

Note:  For video tiles under 250 x 140 pixels, an attendee's full name will only appear on hover due to size limitations.

To learn more, see Invite people to a meeting .

Raise your hand during a meeting to let others know you have something to share without interrupting the speaker. 

To raise or lower your hand:

Others will see that your hand is raised, and in which order it was raised if others have their hands raised.

To learn more, see Express yourself in Teams meetings with live reactions and  Raise your hand in a Teams meeting .

Express a reaction

React to something someone is saying during a meeting by choosing an emoji reaction.

To react in a meeting: 

Choose the emoji you want to express.

When you choose a reaction, the emoji will appear for a few seconds in the meeting window for participants to see.

Change your view

To learn more, see  Using video in Microsoft Teams .

Stay on top of your meeting's agenda, assigned tasks, and more with collaborative meeting notes. Make live changes that others can view and edit as they're made and reference them later.

To learn more, see Take meeting notes in Microsoft Teams .

Create a breakout room

To learn more, see  Use breakout rooms  and  Join a breakout room .

Use Copilot

To learn more, see Welcome to Copilot in Microsoft Teams .

To learn more, see Use apps in Teams meetings .

More actions

Some popular options you'll see in the more actions menu include Start recording , Apply background effects , and Turn off incoming video .

Turn your camera on or off

To turn your camera on:

To learn more, see Using video .

Note:  If you're attending a live event or public (open registration) webinar, your camera is turned off by default. To learn more, see Attend a live event  and Get started with Teams webinars .

Mute or unmute your mic

If you're already muted in a meeting and you'd like to speak:

To mute your mic, select Mic again.

To learn more, see Muting and unmuting your mic .

Note:  If you're attending a live event or public (open registration) webinar, your mic is turned off by default. To learn more, see Attend a live event  and Get started with Teams webinars .

Share your screen

To share your screen or other content during a meeting:

Choose to present your entire screen, a window, a PowerPoint file, or a whiteboard.

To learn more, see Share content in a meeting in Teams .

Leave or end a meeting

Want to learn more? See Meetings in Teams .

Related topics

Join a meeting

Schedule a meeting

Invite people to a meeting

If you're in a meeting on your mobile device, you can access different meeting controls from both the top and bottom of your screen.

Mobile speaker options

You can choose Reactions , Chat , People , Share , and Views .

Or  Background effects , Start recording , and more.

To exit, tap anywhere at the top of the screen above reactions.

Leave a meeting

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