How to Share Your iPad Screen During a Call

Sharing your iPad screen lets other people on a call see your display. You might use it to walk someone through an app, present a document or look at photos together. How you start depends on the calling app. FaceTime has its own share option. Many third-party apps use the iPadOS screen broadcast feature instead.

Before you start

Screen sharing on an iPad does not happen only on the device. The iPad captures the display, then the calling app and its service send the image to other participants. You therefore need a working internet connection and an active call or meeting in an app that supports sharing.

• Update iPadOS and the calling app. Sharing options and button labels change between versions.
• Check that the app supports screen sharing on iPad. Some apps offer it only on desktop. Others allow it only for hosts, or only when the host permits it.
• For FaceTime, other participants generally need Apple devices with a recent enough OS version to view a shared screen.
• Close or hide anything private. Notifications, messages, browser tabs and photos can all appear in the shared image.
• Turn on a Focus mode such as Do Not Disturb to reduce pop-ups while you share.

Step-by-step instructions

Share your screen in FaceTime

• Start or join a FaceTime call.
• If the call controls are hidden, tap the screen to show them.
• Tap the share content button in the controls and choose Share My Screen. The button's name and icon vary between iPadOS versions.
• Wait for the short countdown, after which sharing begins.
• Switch to the app or content you want to show.
• To stop, return to the call controls and tap the share button again, or end the call.

Share your screen in Zoom, Teams and other apps

Most third-party calling apps rely on the system screen broadcast. The share button inside the app usually opens the same system broadcast window. The wording before that step differs from app to app.

• Join the call or meeting in the app.
• Tap the app's share option. If it asks what to share, choose the screen rather than a file, whiteboard or camera.
• In the system broadcast window, make sure the calling app is selected, then tap Start Broadcast.
• After the countdown, switch to the content you want to show. The broadcast keeps running in the background.
• To stop, go back to the calling app and use its stop sharing control. You can also tap the red indicator in the status bar and confirm that you want to stop.

If the app has no share option for the screen, start the broadcast from Control Center. Open Control Center, touch and hold the Screen Recording control, pick the calling app from the list and tap Start Broadcast. If Screen Recording is missing from Control Center, add it through Control Center customization. Where that setting lives differs between iPadOS versions.

The broadcast window also has a microphone toggle, which controls whether the broadcast captures your iPad microphone. Your voice on the call is usually handled separately, so check the app's own mute status as well. Whether others hear sound from videos or games depends on the app and the content.

Check the output

The most reliable check is to ask another participant what they see. You can also join the same meeting from a second device and watch there. Confirm the following:

• A sharing or recording indicator appears in the status bar while sharing is active.
• Participants can still see your screen after you switch away from the calling app.
• Text is readable at the size of their window. Zoom in on the iPad if fonts look too small.
• The image looks right after rotating the iPad, since rotation can change the shared orientation. Keeping one orientation avoids surprises.
• Sound from videos reaches others only if you meant to share it.

Image quality and smoothness depend on the calling service and your connection, not only on the iPad. Fast motion and video playback often look less smooth to others than on your own display. Some streaming and protected content may appear black or blank to viewers. That is a restriction set by the content, not a fault in your setup.

Common problems and next steps

The share button is missing or greyed out: the host may have limited sharing to hosts, or your organization or account may have disabled it. The app version may also not support screen sharing for iPad. Ask the host, or check the app's meeting settings.

The calling app does not appear in the broadcast list: only apps that include screen broadcast support are listed. Update the app, or reinstall it, then open the broadcast window again.

Sharing stops unexpectedly: a dropped connection, an incoming phone call or force-closing the calling app can end the broadcast. Restart sharing from the app or from Control Center.

Others see a frozen or black image: check your connection, then stop and restart sharing. If the problem appears only with certain videos or apps, that content is probably protected from capture.

Private information appeared on screen: stop sharing immediately. Next time, enable a Focus mode and close sensitive apps before you start. Hosts may be able to record meetings, so check the calling service's recording and privacy terms rather than assuming shared content is not saved.

You only need to show your iPad to people in the same room: AirPlay screen mirroring to a compatible TV or display is a separate feature. It does not send your screen to remote participants on a call.