How to fix Microsoft Teams screen sharing showing a black or frozen screen

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to fix Microsoft Teams screen sharing showing a black or frozen screen. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Microsoft Teams screen sharing can sometimes display a black or frozen screen for other participants, even though everything looks normal on your end. This is a known issue that typically stems from graphics driver conflicts, hardware acceleration settings, or permission problems on your device. Follow the steps below to get screen sharing working again.

Quick Fix Steps

Try these steps first, as they resolve the majority of black screen issues in Teams.

1. Quit Microsoft Teams completely and relaunch it.
2. Check that your operating system and graphics drivers are up to date.
3. Disable hardware acceleration in Teams settings.
4. Restart your computer.

Detailed Instructions

Quit and Restart Teams

Sometimes Teams retains a lock on your display, causing a black or frozen screen for viewers. Fully quitting the application clears this.

1. Locate the Teams icon in your system tray or menu bar.
2. Right-click the icon and select Quit.
3. Wait a few seconds, then relaunch Teams from your Start menu or Applications folder.
4. Rejoin the meeting and attempt to share your screen again.

Disable Hardware Acceleration

Hardware acceleration allows Teams to use your graphics processing unit (GPU) to render content. If your GPU driver is outdated or incompatible, this can cause screen sharing to fail.

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
2. Click the three dots (...) next to your profile picture in the top right corner.
3. Select Settings.
4. In the General tab, uncheck the box labelled Disable GPU hardware acceleration — if this is already unchecked, check it, apply, and restart Teams. The goal is to toggle this setting.
5. Restart Teams for the change to take effect.

Update Your Graphics Drivers

An outdated graphics driver is one of the most common causes of black screen sharing in Teams.

• Windows: Open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, then click Check for updates. You can also visit your GPU manufacturer's website (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel) to download the latest driver directly.
• macOS: Open System Settings > General > Software Update to install any pending updates, which include graphics driver improvements.

Check System Permissions (macOS)

On macOS, Teams requires explicit permission to record your screen. Without it, participants may see a black screen.

1. Open System Settings from the Apple menu.
2. Navigate to Privacy & Security.
3. Scroll down and select Screen Recording.
4. Ensure the toggle next to Microsoft Teams is switched on.
5. If it was already on, toggle it off, wait a moment, then toggle it back on.
6. Quit and relaunch Teams.

Check System Permissions (Windows)

Windows 10 and 11 also manage screen capture permissions at the system level.

1. Open Settings > Privacy & security.
2. Under App permissions, select Screen and window capture.
3. Ensure that screen capture is enabled for desktop apps.
4. Confirm that Microsoft Teams appears in the allowed list.

Troubleshooting

Use a Different Display Mode

If sharing your entire screen results in a black window, try sharing a single application window instead. In the Teams share tray, select A Window rather than A Screen. This bypasses some GPU rendering issues.

Close Conflicting Applications

Certain applications that overlay on top of your screen — such as remote desktop tools, screen recording software, or digital rights management (DRM) protected media players — can interfere with Teams screen capture. Close any of the following if running:

• Remote desktop clients (e.g., Citrix, AnyDesk, TeamViewer)
• Screen recording or streaming software (e.g., OBS Studio, Camtasia)
• DRM-protected content in browsers (e.g., Netflix, Stan)
• Antivirus software with screen protection features

Clear the Teams Cache

Corrupted cache files can cause persistent screen sharing problems. Clearing the cache forces Teams to rebuild its local data.

Windows

1. Quit Microsoft Teams.
2. Press Win+R to open the Run dialog.
3. Type %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams and press Enter.
4. Delete all files and folders in this directory.
5. Relaunch Teams.

macOS

1. Quit Microsoft Teams.
2. Open Finder and press Cmd+Shift+G.
3. Enter ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams and press Enter.
4. Delete the contents of this folder.
5. Relaunch Teams.

Switch to Teams in Your Browser

If the desktop app continues to show a black or frozen screen, join the meeting through a web browser as a temporary workaround.

1. Open Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome.
2. Go to the meeting link or navigate to teams.microsoft.com.
3. When prompted, select Use the web app instead or Continue on this browser.
4. Attempt to share your screen from the browser version.

Reinstall Microsoft Teams

If none of the above steps resolve the issue, a clean reinstall may be necessary.

1. Uninstall Microsoft Teams from your system via Settings > Apps on Windows, or by dragging the app to the Trash on macOS.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Download the latest version from https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-teams/download-app.
4. Install the application and sign in with your organisation credentials.

Screen sharing issues can also sometimes be linked to broader connectivity problems. If your network connection is unstable, you may experience similar symptoms — for more on that, see our guide on Email not sending or receiving for general network troubleshooting steps. If the problem persists after working through these steps, please Open a Ticket and our support team will assist you further.

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