# How to share one window instead of your whole screen (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams)

> Sharing a single window keeps your chats, notifications and other apps private. Here's how to pick a window in Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams on a Mac, and what to do when one window isn't enough.

Canonical: https://shyo.app/blogs/share-one-window-zoom-google-meet-teams-mac
Last updated: 2026-10-20
Published: 2026-10-20
Author: Kenil Kanani
Tags: screen sharing, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, macOS

When you share your entire screen, everyone on the call sees everything on it: other apps, notification banners, your desktop, the Dock and the menu bar. Sharing a single window shows only that window. Nothing else on your Mac reaches the call, even if it pops up in front.

Here's how to do it in the three most common meeting apps.

## Before you start: allow screen recording

The first time you share from an app on a Mac, macOS asks for permission. If sharing doesn't work, open **System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording**, turn the app on, and restart it.

## Zoom

1. In the meeting, click **Share** (or **Share Screen**) in the toolbar.
2. In the picker, choose the window you want instead of **Desktop** or your screen.
3. Click **Share**.

Zoom draws a green border around what's being shared, so you can always tell.

## Google Meet

Meet runs in your browser, so the picker comes from Chrome, Edge, Arc, Brave or Safari.

1. In the meeting, click **Share screen** (or **Present now**).
2. Choose the **Window** option, then pick the window.
3. Click **Share**.

If you only need to show a web page, share a **tab** instead. A tab share leaves out the rest of the browser, including your other tabs and bookmarks, which a window share of the browser would show.

## Microsoft Teams

1. In the meeting, click **Share**.
2. Choose **Window**, then pick the window you want.

## When one window isn't enough

Sharing a window has two catches:

- **You can only show that one app.** To switch to another app, you have to stop and share again, and the call watches you do it.
- **Some things don't come along.** Menus, pop-ups and dialogs that open in their own windows may not appear in the share.

Many people give up and share the entire screen, which brings back every notification and chat preview.

[Shyo](https://shyo.app) gives you a middle ground. It makes a window called "Shyo" with a live copy of your whole screen, minus the private apps you choose, notifications, desktop icons and the Dock. You share that one window in Zoom, Meet or Teams, and then move freely between apps. The call follows along, and your private apps never appear, even when they're in front.

The "Shyo" window appears by itself when a call starts, so it's waiting in the picker when you click Share.

## Related guides

- [How to hide notifications while screen sharing on a Mac](https://shyo.app/blogs/hide-notifications-when-screen-sharing-mac)
- [What people can see when you share your screen on a Mac](https://shyo.app/blogs/what-people-see-when-you-share-your-screen-mac)

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