How to share your screen during a video session ?

Who is this article for?

During an online session, it often helps to show something on screen: an exercise sheet, a document, a chart of the client's progress, a web page. Colib's video sessions include screen sharing: everyone in the session sees what you share, with nothing to install.

This article is for practitioners and clients who take part in a video session provided by Colib. It explains how to start, pause and stop sharing, and what to do if it does not work.

Before you start: screen sharing is available on a computer. On a phone, or in a very narrow browser window, the Share button is not shown. To join the session itself, please see the article titled "How to join an online meeting". If your practice uses a waiting room, see How does the waiting room work for online meetings?

1Start sharing

1. Prepare what you want to show: open the document, the window or the browser tab before you start.
2. In the bar at the bottom of the session, click Share.
3. Your browser opens its own window to choose what to share. Depending on the browser, you can choose your entire screen, one window (an application) or one browser tab.
4. Select it and confirm in the browser window (for example Share in Google Chrome).

The Share button stays highlighted while you share. What you share is displayed in large format for the other participants, next to the participants' videos. If you close the browser window without choosing anything, nothing is shared and nothing else happens.

2Pause sharing (optional)

While you share, a small arrow appears next to the Share button. Click it, then Pause: the others no longer see your screen moving, for example while you look for another document. Click the arrow again, then Unpause to continue.

3Stop sharing

• Click Share again in the session, or
• click the stop button of the bar that your browser displays while you share (for example Stop sharing in Google Chrome).

When the sharing stops, a message Screen share stopped appears for a few seconds above the bar, with a Restart share button. It is useful if the sharing stopped by mistake: click it to choose again what to share.

If sharing does not start

Good to know

• Protect confidential information — when you share your entire screen, the others see everything on it, including notifications and other open windows. Prefer sharing one window or one tab, and close what is not needed (other client records, emails) before you start.
• Practitioners and clients — every participant who joins from a computer has the Share button: a client can also show you a document from their screen.
• Best browser — on a computer, a recent version of Google Chrome gives the best experience; Microsoft Edge and Firefox also work. For more details, please see the article titled "Which browser to use for video sessions and how to go full screen".
• Other features of the session — see What features are integrated into the video conferences provided by Colib?, How to blur my background during a video session and How can I take notes during the video session without leaving the browser?

Still have a question?

Write to us at support@colib.io, we will be happy to help.