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To give someone control in a Teams meeting, share your screen or a window, open the presenter toolbar, select Give control, and choose the participant. They can then interact with the shared content; select Take back to regain control without ending screen sharing.
Both people should use the Teams desktop app: screen control is unsupported if either participant is using Teams in a browser. Give control only to someone you trust, because their actions can affect your computer and other applications.
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What Give control does
Give control lets another meeting participant interact with the screen or application you are actively sharing. It is not an unattended-access session or a Windows Remote Desktop connection: control lasts only while the Teams screen-sharing session is active.
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- Chat privately with one or more people
- Connect face to face
- Coordinate plans with your groups
- Join meetings and view your schedule
- One place for your team's conversations and content
Give another participant control
- Join the Teams meeting in the desktop app.
- In the meeting controls, select Share.
- Select the screen or window you want to present.
- Move the pointer to the top of the shared screen to show the presenter toolbar. This toolbar is visible only to the person sharing.
- Select Give control, then select the participant’s name.
Teams notifies the participant and gives them interactive control of the shared screen or window. If you do not see the presenter toolbar, move your pointer to the top of the shared screen.
Request control of another person’s screen
- While the other participant is sharing, select Request control.
- The person sharing must approve or deny the request.
- After approval, interact with the shared screen.
- Select Release control when you are finished.
The presenter retains the ability to approve or deny a request.
Stop control without stopping screen sharing
- The person who gave control can select Take back on the presenter toolbar.
- The person who received control can select Release control.
- The presenter can select Stop sharing to end the entire sharing session.
Taking back control does not require ending screen sharing.
Work or school admin policy
For work or school accounts, an administrator can configure control permissions in the Teams admin center under Meetings > Meeting policies > Content sharing. The relevant settings are Participants can give or request control and External participants can give or request control. Select the required values and save the policy.
Internal participants
Participants can give or request control is a per-user meeting policy. When it is on, users assigned that policy can give, receive, or request control of a shared desktop or window. When it is off, Give control is unavailable. Microsoft’s current policy reference lists the default as On.
External participants
External participants can give or request control governs whether external participants—including guests, anonymous participants, and external-access users—can be given control of an internal user’s shared screen or request control. Microsoft’s current policy reference lists the default as Off. For external-access users to give control to other external participants, both organizations’ administrators must enable the policy.
PowerShell policy commands
Administrators can set the corresponding policy parameters with Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy:
- Enable control for participants assigned a policy: Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity “<policy name>” -AllowParticipantGiveRequestControl $True
- Disable it: Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity “<policy name>” -AllowParticipantGiveRequestControl $False
- Enable control for external participants: Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity “<policy name>” -AllowExternalParticipantGiveRequestControl $True
- Disable it: Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity “<policy name>” -AllowExternalParticipantGiveRequestControl $False
Who can present is a separate setting
The meeting option Who can present controls who may share content or receive the presenter role. It does not enable remote interaction with a shared screen or override a policy that disables Participants can give or request control.
Before a meeting, find the event in Teams Calendar, select View event, then Options. During a meeting, open Controls and select View more options. The organizer can configure who can present. Current choices include Everyone, People in my org and guests, Specific people, and Only organizers and co-organizers.
Platform and edition limitations
| Platform or edition | Screen-control support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Teams desktop app | Supported, subject to policy and device requirements | Use the desktop app on both sides. |
| Teams in a browser | Unsupported if either participant uses a browser | Screen sharing itself may work in supported desktop browsers, but screen control has this additional restriction. |
| Teams Free on mobile | No give/take-control option | Mobile participants can view shared content. |
| Linux | Cannot share or take control of shared content | See Microsoft’s Teams presentation guidance. |
| Teams Free desktop | Give, take, take back, and release control are supported | Mobile does not include these controls. |
macOS screen permissions
On a Mac, Teams may need screen-recording permission before screen sharing works. When prompted, select Open System Settings, then enable Microsoft Teams under Screen & System Audio Recording. If you missed the prompt, open Apple menu > System Settings > Privacy & Security, enable the permission, return to the meeting, and select Allow if prompted.
Microsoft also documents a known sharing-experience issue involving DisplayLink and some other docking-station configurations on macOS 14 and later.
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Give control versus PowerPoint slide control
Give control lets a participant interact with the shared screen or window. Slide control is a separate PowerPoint feature that lets selected people navigate slides for everyone; it is not remote control of the computer.
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- Select Share and, under Window, choose the window containing the presentation.
- Put the presentation into full-screen mode with Slide Show or Start From Beginning.
- On the presenter toolbar, select Slide control.
- Select the people who can control the slides.
Slide control is not available when sharing the entire screen or desktop. It is available only for presentations started from Teams for desktop, is unsupported in Teams Rooms and mobile presentations, and Mac participants cannot start slide control, though they can be given control of someone else’s slides.
Troubleshooting Give control
The option is missing
- Make sure both participants are using the Teams desktop app; control is unsupported if either is in a browser.
- Confirm you are in a meeting and sharing a screen or window.
- For a work or school account, ask the administrator to check the meeting policy settings for participants and external participants.
The Give control menu is visible but does not respond
Microsoft documents a desktop-client failure when the sharing device has no usable GPU or hardware acceleration is disabled. The menu requires supported hardware acceleration; this issue does not necessarily mean the meeting policy is disabled.
- On the sharing computer, open edge://gpu/ or chrome://gpu/ in a browser.
- Check whether the page reports Software only or hardware acceleration unavailable.
- If acceleration is unavailable, resolve the device or acceleration issue and try again.
Screen sharing does not work on a Mac
- Open Apple menu > System Settings > Privacy & Security.
- Enable Microsoft Teams under Screen & System Audio Recording.
- Return to the meeting and select Allow if Teams prompts you.
A request is waiting for approval
The person sharing must approve or deny a request. The presenter can also give control directly by selecting the participant from the presenter toolbar. If the control menu is unresponsive, check the GPU and hardware-acceleration issue described above.
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- Give control only to someone you trust; their actions can affect your computer and other applications.
- Share only the screen or window needed for the task.
- When finished, select Take back or ask the participant to select Release control. Stop sharing to end the whole sharing session.
FAQ
Does Teams control work in a browser?
No. Microsoft’s policy reference says screen control is unsupported if either participant is using Teams in a browser. Both participants should use the desktop app.
How do I give control without stopping screen sharing?
Select Take back on the presenter toolbar. The other participant can also select Release control. Either action ends control without ending the share.
Does making someone a presenter enable Give control?
No. Presenter status governs content sharing and meeting roles. The separate Participants can give or request control policy governs screen control.
Why does the Give control menu do nothing?
Microsoft documents this behavior when the sharing device lacks a usable GPU or hardware acceleration is disabled. Check edge://gpu/ or chrome://gpu/ on the sharing computer.
Can someone control my computer after I stop sharing?
No. Give control is limited to the active Teams screen-sharing session. Selecting Stop sharing ends that session.
Quick Recap
Sources
- Microsoft Support: Present content in Teams meetings
- Microsoft Learn: Manage who can present and request control in Teams meetings and events
- Microsoft Learn: Teams settings and policies reference
- Microsoft Support: Meeting options in Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft Support: Roles in Microsoft Teams meetings
- Microsoft Support: Share your screen in Microsoft Teams Free
- Microsoft Learn: “Give Control” doesn’t work when you share screen in Teams
- Microsoft Learn: Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy
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