How to Present an Online Whiteboard During a Meeting

Presenting a whiteboard in a meeting usually means one of two things. You can show your board to others through screen sharing, or you can invite participants to work on the board with you. This guide covers both, plus checks that show you what other people actually see.

Before you start

An online whiteboard runs in a browser or app, but the whiteboard provider normally hosts it. That means boards and their contents are usually stored on the provider's service rather than only on your computer. Before you put anything sensitive on a board, check the tool's documentation to confirm where boards are stored and who can open a shared board.

• Have access to the board you plan to present, and permission to share it if it belongs to someone else.
• Open the meeting app or join in a supported browser, signed in with an account that is allowed to share its screen in that meeting.
• Grant screen sharing permission at the operating system level. On macOS, the meeting app or browser needs the Screen Recording permission under Privacy & Security; newer versions call it Screen & System Audio Recording. The first share attempt may prompt you, and you may need to restart the app afterwards.
• Decide whether participants should only watch or also edit.
• Close or hide tabs, windows and notifications you do not want others to see.

Step-by-step instructions

Option 1: Share the whiteboard as a window or browser tab

• Open the board before the meeting starts. Zoom to the first area you want to show and close any side panels you do not need.
• If the board runs in a browser, give it its own window or tab so you can share only that.
• Join the meeting and start screen sharing.
• In the share picker, choose the specific window or browser tab that holds the board. Sharing one window or tab keeps other apps and notifications out of view. Share the entire screen only if you need to switch between several apps.
• If the picker offers to share audio and the board has no sound, leave that option off.
• Pan and zoom slowly while you present. Participants see a video of your screen, so fast movement and small text are hard to follow.
• Stop sharing from the meeting app when you are done. The board stays open on your side, and its sharing permissions do not change.

Option 2: Let participants work on the board

• In the whiteboard tool, open the board's sharing settings and pick an access level, such as view, comment or edit, depending on what the tool offers.
• If the tool supports it, limit access to specific people or to your organization. A link that anyone can open may let people outside the meeting see the board.
• Copy the board link and post it in the meeting chat.
• Keep screen sharing on if you want everyone to follow your view. Stop sharing if you want participants to move around the board on their own.
• After the meeting, review the sharing settings. Revoke link access or remove edit rights if they were only needed for this session.

Option 3: Use the meeting app's built-in whiteboard

Some meeting platforms include their own whiteboard, or let you open a whiteboard app inside the meeting. Whether it is available, who can edit and where the board is saved all depend on the platform, your plan and your organization's settings. Check the platform's help pages to see whether the board is kept after the call, rather than assuming it is.

Check the output

The most reliable check is to see the board from a participant's side.

• Before the real meeting, join a test call from a second device or with a colleague. Start sharing and confirm that the board appears and that the correct window is shown.
• Look at the smallest text and thinnest lines at your normal zoom level. Shared screens are compressed and may be scaled down on other displays, so text that looks sharp on your monitor can be blurry for others. If it is hard to read, zoom in on the board.
• Check that dark themes and colored backgrounds still have enough contrast in the shared view.
• If participants have edit access, ask one of them to add a test note or shape, and confirm that it appears for you.
• If you record the meeting, review the first recording. Depending on the app and its settings, it may capture the shared screen, the speaker view or both.
• If you need a copy of the board, check which export formats the tool offers. Also check whether an export includes the whole board or only the selected area.

Common problems and next steps

Participants see a black or blank screen

This usually means the operating system is blocking capture. Grant the screen sharing permission described above, fully quit and reopen the meeting app or browser, then share again. If one window still appears blank, try sharing a browser tab or the entire screen instead.

The share button is unavailable

The meeting host or your organization may limit screen sharing to the host. Ask the host to allow participant sharing for the meeting, or ask them to make you a co-host if the platform supports that.

The board lags or looks blurry

Zoom in so that the content fills more of the shared area, and pan less often. Close heavy tabs and apps you are not using. If your connection is weak, turn off your camera while you share the board. If people still struggle to follow, send them the board link so they can view it at full quality on their own screens.

Participants cannot open or edit the board

Check the board's access level, and whether the tool requires viewers to sign in. Some organizations block guests from outside the company. In that case, invite those participants by account if the tool allows it, or keep editing yourself and share your screen.

Others saw something they should not

Stop sharing right away. Then start sharing again and pick only the window or tab with the board. Turn on your system's do-not-disturb or focus mode before you present, so that message previews do not appear in the shared view.