Zoom - Mac Issue maybe......

[Lilli888]

Hi I'm having issues with screen sharing on zoom and was wondering if it could be possibly related to having a mac. Any ideas? P.S I can't share my screen but the guest can.I also downloaded over the current version last week and it worked but then went to screen share last Friday and the option had gone.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

You need to give Zoom the "Screen recording" permission to share you screen. This message is usually easy to miss the first time you start Zoom.

 

[Lilli888]

I thought I had ticked all the necessary boxes for screen sharing. Do you mean in settings or actually in the meeting when started?

 

[Lilli888]

All my meetings are recorded as that's part of my job so it can't be that. I have to store all the recordings for 28 days on my laptop. To be honest I think Zoom is a non-starter and I need to find another app. Thanks for your help though. It's much appreciated.

 

[Slydude]

You didn't say which Mac and macOS version but Zoom generally works well for me. Is your screen sharing not occurring at all or is it just nor being recorded? Check the preferences again. There are sharing related preferences in both the Screen Sharing and Recording panes

 

[Lilli888]

I wasn't sure it mattered but it's macOS Monterey and it's a MacBook pro 1tb. It's only 4 months old. I've used Zoom before for teaching and never had an issue like this before. As I said above I store recordings for 28 days, that's not the issue. It's just not letting me share my screen but my students can share theirs. I've limited my screen share to 6 frames per second as suggested on a website and that hasn't worked. I've triple-checked all of the options on all of the sections on both the desktop version and the app and still, nothing is working. I don't have full admin access due to my job so maybe there's something the company I work for can change that I can't. It's the basic version of zoom too just in case that makes a difference.

 

[IWT]

To be honest I think Zoom is a non-starter and I need to find another app

I use Zoom a lot, but if you're not happy, I can recommend Microsoft Teams as well. The National Health Service in England & Wales uses Teams as its standard system for remote meetings/conferences and for teaching, including lectures. It is easy to share your Desktop and make presentations via PowerPoint or Keynote, or even to enter websites via Safari.

I'm not suggesting that Zoom is better or worse than Teams; just offering you an alternative.

Ian

 

[Lilli888]

I use Zoom a lot, but if you're not happy, I can recommend Microsoft Teams as well. The National Health Service in England & Wales uses Teams as its standard system for remote meetings/conferences and for teaching, including lectures. It is easy to share your Desktop and make presentations via PowerPoint or Keynote, or even to enter websites via Safari.

I'm not suggesting that Zoom is better or worse than Teams; just offering you an alternative.

Ian

 

[Lilli888]

Yeah, I've heard of Teams and a couple of newer platforms that an IT friend of mine suggested but it's out of my hands as the company I work for seems happy to stick with Zoom but first I'll suggest they have a look at their settings at their end, then if there's nothing amiss to delete my account and start from scratch. Thanks for your help and suggestions. It'll show that I've tried every avenue possible.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Teams is a pile of <insert slang here>

Starting with El Cap or shortly after, macOS began to employ more granular control of various parts of the system and each application has to specifically request access to do certain things.

Apps like Zoom, WebEx, TeamViewer, Teams, etc., that want to share your screen contents could do so in the past without any specific permission request. That changed and when you try to use these apps without giving them the appropriate permissions, they can get the list of windows/desktops, but can't actually share the contents.

To alleviate that, you have to go to System Preferences->Security & Privacy. Scroll down to the option Screen Recording. You will see Zoom.us listed in this list but without a check mark next to it meaning it has requested but hasn't been given permission. So unlock the controls if locked by clicking on the padlock on the bottom left, click the checkbox next to Zoom. Re-lock and exist Sys Prefs.

Now restart Zoom just for good measure and you should be able to start a meeting with yourself and share your desktop/windows without issues.

If you aren't going to stick with Zoom, repeat this process for any other screen sharing app you end up with.

 

[Lilli888]

Teams is a pile of <insert slang here>

Starting with El Cap or shortly after, macOS began to employ more granular control of various parts of the system and each application has to specifically request access to do certain things.

Apps like Zoom, WebEx, TeamViewer, Teams, etc., that want to share your screen contents could do so in the past without any specific permission request. That changed and when you try to use these apps without giving them the appropriate permissions, they can get the list of windows/desktops, but can't actually share the contents.

To alleviate that, you have to go to System Preferences->Security & Privacy. Scroll down to the option Screen Recording. You will see Zoom.us listed in this list but without a check mark next to it meaning it has requested but hasn't been given permission. So unlock the controls if locked by clicking on the padlock on the bottom left, click the checkbox next to Zoom. Re-lock and exist Sys Prefs.

Now restart Zoom just for good measure and you should be able to start a meeting with yourself and share your desktop/windows without issues.

If you aren't going to stick with Zoom, repeat this process for any other screen sharing app you end up with.

Teams too eh? I'll get my coat! Well I hate to say it but I've done all that above,ticked and allowed all access to Zoom including the 'Full Disk Access' and I am up to date with updates on my mac and zoom too so have no idea why it won't work. I think the last resort is for the company I work for to delete my Zoom account and start afresh. Other than that I am stumped.

 

[Slydude]

@Lilli888 This is admittedly a shot in the dark: Have you updated macOS recently? I have found that with some OS updates a setting or two will get changed unexpectedly. It doesn't happen often, and I don't remember it affecting Zoom, but it has happened with a few features such as my ability to unlock the Mac with my Apple Watch.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

@Lilli888 That's very odd indeed. If you are experiencing these issues with Zoom, you will likely face similar ones with other screen sharing apps as well. But do go ahead and have your IT team reset things to see what happens.

 

[Lilli888]

@Lilli888 This is admittedly a shot in the dark: Have you updated macOS recently? I have found that with some OS updates a setting or two will get changed unexpectedly. It doesn't happen often, and I don't remember it affecting Zoom, but it has happened with a few features such as my ability to unlock the Mac with my Apple Watch.

I know right? It's frustrating me so much as it's always been accessible without any issues when I've used it in the past. That is odd how your Apple watch was affected. I've updated everything, mac,zoom you name it it's updated. The only thing they have changed is to allow all participants to share but that wasn't necessary before for it to work and didn't make a difference now. I've also checked the shield at the top left to triple-check it's got screen sharing ticked but it wasn't on the list but it was, however, on the security tab at the bottom of the screen and it was ticked for screen sharing so the mystery continues. It's just bizarre how it worked last week when I downloaded it over the current version and then it stopped working Friday just gone even though I hadn't changed a thing.I did hear a low bandwidth can affect it but I've got the fastest fibre connection going in Spain so I don't think it's that.I'm hoping my friend who's an experienced IT Tech will be able to spot something when I do remote access later. Fingers crossed. P.S I submitted a ticket to Zoom too but have not heard back from them yet.

 

[Lilli888]

@Lilli888 That's very odd indeed. If you are experiencing these issues with Zoom, you will likely face similar ones with other screen sharing apps as well. But do go ahead and have your IT team reset things to see what happens.

I'll mention that to my mate who's going to have a look later. He did suggest newer platforms but if the problem is coming from my mac I need to sort it at this end or as you say it'll just keep happening. I can't believe it as it's only 4 months old and I invested in the 1tb version as well to ensure I didn't have any issues. It would be so ironic if it was my mac in the end.

 

[Slydude]

Have you contacted Zoom support? Perhaps they have some clues. Given the number of Mac users who use Zoom successfully I am wondering if there is some software conflict at work on your system that we haven't identified yet.

Here's a thought that may not work nut will only take a few minutes to check. If Zoom works reliably under these conditions then the problem may be something specific to your user account on your Mac.
1. Create a new user account on your Mac.
2. Launch Zoom and itry tasks as you normally do. If you normally have several apps open, try adding them one at a time to see which one may be involved.

BTW when you create the new user account on your Mac, don't add any login items to the Users and Groups pane.

 

[Lilli888]

Have you contacted Zoom support? Perhaps they have some clues. Given the number of Mac users who use Zoom successfully I am wondering if there is some software conflict at work on your system that we haven't identified yet.

Here's a thought that may not work nut will only take a few minutes to check. If Zoom works reliably under these conditions then the problem may be something specific to your user account on your Mac.
1. Create a new user account on your Mac.
2. Launch Zoom and itry tasks as you normally do. If you normally have several apps open, try adding them one at a time to see which one may be involved.

BTW when you create the new user account on your Mac, don't add any login items to the Users and Groups pane.

Yep, mentioned that above somewhere in the thread. Mmmm ok, that's an idea, a process of elimination. Worth a shot. I mean I have exhausted every avenue I've come across online and Youtube and still nothing. Thanks for the help. It's much appreciated.

 

[Lilli888]

Have you contacted Zoom support? Perhaps they have some clues. Given the number of Mac users who use Zoom successfully I am wondering if there is some software conflict at work on your system that we haven't identified yet.

Here's a thought that may not work nut will only take a few minutes to check. If Zoom works reliably under these conditions then the problem may be something specific to your user account on your Mac.
1. Create a new user account on your Mac.
2. Launch Zoom and itry tasks as you normally do. If you normally have several apps open, try adding them one at a time to see which one may be involved.

BTW when you create the new user account on your Mac, don't add any login items to the Users and Groups pane.

I tried it with another account and still the same.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Can you post a screenshot of what you are seeing, that might help narrow things down. I use Zoom all the time and set it up on my new Mac Studio a couple of months ago.

 

[Slydude]

My apologies. I missed that as I was reading through the thread.