Applies ToOffice 365 Small Business Lync 2013 for Office 365 Lync 2010 Lync 2010 for Office 365 Lync 2013 Lync Basic 2013

You can show your entire desktop or just a program to everyone in a Lync Meeting, call, or instant messaging (IM) conversation.

Keep in mind that you need to be a presenter in a Lync Meeting to share your screen. If the option is grayed out, ask one of the presenters to give you presenter access.

  • Share your desktop when you need to switch between multiple programs, or work on files from different programs.

  • Share a program when you need to present specific programs or files and don’t want people to see anything else on your computer.

Tip: For an interactive guide to Lync Meeting presenter tasks, see Managing your Lync Meeting.

View the video to find out how to share your desktop or a program, or follow the steps below.

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  1. At the bottom of the conversation window, point to the presentation (monitor) icon.

  2. On the Present tab, do one of the following:

    To share the content on your desktop, click Desktop.

    Important:  When sharing your desktop, everyone in the meeting can see your programs, files, and notifications. If you have confidential information or files that you don’t want people to see, close them or use program sharing instead.

    To share one or more programs or files, click Program, and then select the specific program(s) or file(s).

  3. On the sharing toolbar, on top of the screen, use any of these options:

    Click Stop Presenting when you are done sharing your screen.

    Click Give Control to share control of your desktop or program with the participants. For details, see Give and take control of a sharing session.

    Screen shot of sharing toolbar

    Click the blue pin to hide the toolbar and have more space. To un-hide the toolbar, move your mouse to the top of the screen. When the sharing toolbar appears, use any of the controls you need or click the pin again to keep the toolbar visible.

Note:  While you are sharing, your Lync status changes to Presenting, and you won’t receive instant messages or calls.

If you want a meeting attendee to share their screen, give them presenter access, so they can use the controls. If they don’t use Lync, they can still use Lync Web App to present. See Share your desktop and programs from Lync Web App for more information.

If you have more than one monitor, they all display on the Present tab, and you can choose which one to share. When you share All Monitors, the sharing toolbar opens on your primary monitor.

You can present a PowerPoint slide show like a pro when you take advantage of multiple monitors.

If you are in a conference room, and you want to display the slide show using a projector or large screen device, then present to the secondary monitor. Your PowerPoint slide show will appear on the big screen for the people in the room and on the presentation stage for the people on Lync. And on your laptop, you'll see the presenter view that shows the current slide, your presenter notes, and a preview of the next slide--visible to only you.

If you are presenting a PowerPoint slide show using Lync from your office, and you have multiple monitors, you can present to your secondary monitor and still see your presenter notes view on your primary monitor.

Present a PowerPoint slideshow to the projector or large screen in a conference room by presenting to the secondary monitor. You'll see your presenter view on your laptop, but the attendees in the room or in the Lync meeting will only see the slide show.

Presenting a PowerPoint slide show using Lync from your office

Either way, the instructions are the same:

  1. Open your PowerPoint deck on your primary monitor (or laptop if you are in a conference room).

  2. From Lync, click the Present icon.

  3. Choose Secondary monitor.

    Present dialog box

If you want another meeting participant to change a file, help you present, or demonstrate something, you can grant control to that person. You will both be in control of the sharing, and you can take back control anytime.

  1. On the sharing toolbar, click Give Control.

  2. Select the name of the person you want to give control to.

    Lync sends a notification to that person to let them know you’re sharing control.

  3. To take control back, click Give Control again, and then click Take Back Control.

    Tip:  You can allow people to automatically take control of your sharing session at any time, by clicking Give Control Automatically on the sharing toolbar. We recommend you choose this option only in small and casual meetings. To take back automatic permission, click Give Control, and clear the Give Control Automatically check box.

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