We share a lot of information with friends and family over Facebook, especially using Messenger. To maintain its position as one of the most widely used instant messaging platforms, Messenger has been adding to its already robust offerings.
A recent feature added for desktop Messenger users is Screen Share. This will allow you to show someone what is on your desktop screen while you are communicating with them in the Messenger app. With the addition of Screen Share and Video Chat, Messenger has become Facebook’s version of the popular virtual meeting app, Zoom.
On iPhone or iPad
In order to take advantage of this screen sharing feature, your iPhone or iPad must be running iOS 11 or later so that it has the native screen recording function. Make sure you’ve updated Messenger to the latest version from the App Store and simply follow the steps below to get started.
Step 1. Open “Messenger” on your iPhone and sign in with your Facebook account.
Open a conversation with someone you want to video chat with. Tap on the video icon to begin the video call.
Step 2. Once you’re in the video call, swipe up on the card as shown below to access more options.
Step 3. Now, tap on “Share Your Screen” to proceed to the next step.
Step 4. You’ll be notified that your camera will be turned off when you’re screen sharing. Tap on “Start Sharing” to continue.
This will open the screen recording tool in the iOS Control Center. Tap on “Start Broadcast”.
Step 5. After the countdown, you can swipe up from the bottom to exit this menu (or tap on the Home Button – for older iPhones). You can now open other apps while showing your screen. In this example, Safari app is opened for screen sharing.
Step 6. When you’re done screen sharing, you can return to the Messenger app by tapping on the top red bar and tap on “Stop Sharing”.
On Mac or Windows PC.
If both parties have a Facebook account and the Messenger app, they can initiate the Facebook video call on a desktop, Mac or PC. Screen share is not currently available from desktop to iPhone, but you can screen share using FaceTime for iPhone.
Step 1. Open Facebook in the Chrome browser and select the Messenger icon.
Step 2. Select “Open the Messenger app” at the bottom of the list.
Step 3. Select the person you would like to video call and tap the video camera icon in the top right corner.
Step 4. To share your screen, select the double screen icon in the bottom right corner. Then select the screen you want to share.
Step 5. To end the screen share, tap the double x-screen icon.
The steps above were on a MacBook Air using Google Chrome browser, other laptops and browsers may look different. Screen Share was not available through Safari using this configuration but may be an available option on PC.
It’s that easy to share your screen! Show family and friends what you are working on. Collaborate with groups on projects. There are so many neat ways to use this feature. What will you do with it?
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Hello Pete,
Thanks for the tip. Now here’s a question: How do I broadcast to a tv, what my Iphone is viewing? I am the president of a Senior women’s art group, with meetings at a restaurant. They have a big screen tv. I bought a cable adapter to connect my phone to the hdmi cable to run slide shows, youtube, and presentations. I have been using my camera to show our demonstrations close ups on the tv screen. I need to get further from the tv though, and don’t want to be tethered to it physically. How can I caste my screen, without seeing all of the camera grid lines???
Thank you, Catherine (66 yrs old!).
Very helpful and needed.