Share your screen using Messages on Mac
During a conversation in Messages, you can share your screen with the person you’re texting, or they can share theirs with you. You can also allow someone to control your screen, or you can control theirs. It’s a great way to work together on a project or help someone do something on their computer.
Show someone else what’s on your screen
You can jump from Messages to FaceTime or Screen Sharing to bring apps, web pages and more into the conversation.
Go to the Messages app on your Mac.
Select a conversation for the person whose screen you want to see.
Do one of the following:
Click , then choose Share My Screen. See Share your screen in FaceTime. In FaceTime, you can only share your screen in one-to-one conversations.
Click , click , then choose Share My Screen.
When another person accepts your invitation, an audio call begins automatically (so you can talk while you work) and the Screen Sharing app opens. See Share the screen of another Mac.
To stop sharing your screen, click or in the menu bar, then click Stop Sharing.
Allow someone to control your screen
When you share your screen with someone, they can click to highlight areas on your screen. You can also allow them to control your screen, which gives them complete access to your computer.
WARNING: Only allow people you trust to control your screen. They can do things you can do on your computer — open apps, create or delete documents, copy files from your computer to theirs and so on.
Go to the Messages app on your Mac.
Do one of the following:
Respond to an invitation: Click Accept in the invitation. In the message that appears, select “Control my screen”, then click Accept.
Initiate screen sharing: Show someone else what’s on your screen, as above. After they accept, click in the menu bar, then click Allow Control so that it turns blue.
To take back control of your screen — but still let the other person view it — click in the menu bar, then click Allow Control to remove the blue highlight.
To stop screen sharing, click in the menu bar, then click .
Tip: If you don’t want someone to send you screen-sharing invitations, hold the pointer over the Decline button in the invitation you receive from them, click , then click Block User. You can also click , then turn on Silence Join Requests.
See another person’s screen
You can jump from Messages to FaceTime to see another person’s screen, or even remotely control it. You can also see their screen using the Screen Sharing app .
Go to the Messages app on your Mac.
Select a conversation for the person whose screen you want to see.
Do one of the following:
In a conversation with just one other person, click , then tap Ask to Share Screen. See Request or give remote control in FaceTime.
Click , click , then choose Ask to Share Screen.
If is dimmed, make sure the other person is signed in to the same Apple Account and using iMessage and iCloud. Or open your Contacts app , and make sure your contact card for the person includes both Apple Accounts — the one they use for iMessage and the one they use for iCloud. Then try sharing again. (See Create and manage contacts.)
When the screen-sharing request is accepted, an audio call begins automatically (so you can talk while you work) and Screen Sharing opens. See Share the screen of another Mac.
To stop screen sharing, click in the menu bar, then click .
Another way to share your screen is to use SharePlay. See Enjoy content together live using SharePlay.
You can also share screens without using the Messages app, using macOS screen sharing. See Turn Mac screen sharing on or off.