How to Point at Your Slide on Teams and Zoom
On Teams or Zoom, run your slide show in desktop PowerPoint and share your screen or window, and your audience sees what your slide show shows. The laser pointer, pen and highlighter all work in slide show, but by default the laser pointer hides itself after three seconds without movement, and Microsoft says recordings of a PowerPoint Live session do not capture annotation marks. A spotlight built into the deck is part of the slides themselves, so it is part of whatever you share.
The options at a glance
| Option | What the audience sees on a screen share | In a recording |
|---|---|---|
| Laser pointer | Not documented. Check on a test call. | Not documented. Check on a test call. |
| Pen and highlighter | Not documented. Check on a test call. | Not documented. Check on a test call. |
| Presenter View zoom | Only the slides appear on the audience’s screen; notes and controls stay on yours. The zoomed view is not documented. Check on a test call. | The shared screen or window, as shared |
| PowerPoint Live in Teams | Slides in each attendee’s own view; your laser, pen and highlighter marks are visible to everyone | Microsoft says annotation marks, videos and animations are not captured |
| A spotlight built into the deck | The same slide show you see, because the spotlight is part of the slides | The shared screen or window, as shared |
The baseline: share desktop PowerPoint
Teams. Select Share in your meeting controls and, under Window, select the window your presentation is open in. You can also share your entire screen.
Zoom. Click Share Screen, choose your monitor, click Share, then start the slide show from the Slide Show tab. On one monitor, you can instead open Slide Show > Set Up Slide Show, set Show type to Browsed by an individual (window), start the show, and share that window. Zoom notes this keeps chat and participant controls within reach. With two monitors, share the one that shows the slide show; your notes stay on the other.
Recordings. Microsoft says a Teams recording captures audio, video and screen sharing activity. Zoom’s shared-screen layouts, such as Shared content only, capture the shared screen or window.
1. The laser pointer
On Windows, start the slide show, then hold Ctrl and drag with the left mouse button, or press Ctrl+L. On a Mac, click the pen button at the lower left and choose Laser Pointer. The dot is red by default, with green and blue available, and by default it is hidden after three seconds of inactivity.
Microsoft’s and Zoom’s pages do not say how that dot appears to remote viewers or in a recording, so treat it as unverified: check it on a test call and watch the shared view yourself.
2. Pen and highlighter
Click the pen button at the lower left of the slide show and choose Pen or Highlighter, then drag on the slide. The highlighter draws a translucent line. To remove marks, right-click the slide, point to Pointer Options and choose Eraser, or choose Erase All Ink on Slide. When the show ends, PowerPoint asks whether to keep or discard your ink. As with the laser pointer, how ink appears to remote viewers is not covered in the documentation, so check it on a test call.
3. Presenter View zoom
Presenter View shows your notes and controls on your own screen, while only the slides appear on the screen your audience sees. On Windows, choose From Beginning on the Slide Show tab, or use Show Presenter View from the control bar; on a Mac, choose Slide Show > Presenter View. Select Zoom into slide, then point to the part you want to see up close. Microsoft’s page does not describe what a remote audience sees of the magnified view, so check that on a test call too. On Zoom, share the monitor that shows the slide show, not the one that shows Presenter View.
4. PowerPoint Live in Teams
PowerPoint Live is Teams’ own way to present a file. Select Share and choose the file under PowerPoint Live, or use Present in Teams from PowerPoint. Attendees see the slides in their own view, can move through them independently, and can use Sync to presenter to follow you.
Your laser pointer, pen, highlighter and eraser appear beneath the slide. Laser marks are temporary and fade; pen and highlighter marks stay until erased. Only the presenter can draw, and everyone in the meeting sees the marks. Two limits come from Microsoft: use only one media file per slide, and recordings of a PowerPoint Live session do not capture videos, animations or annotation marks.
5. A spotlight built into the deck
A spotlight built into the deck does the pointing for you. In slide show, you click an element, the slide dims, the element stays bright and a card explains it, then a click brings the whole slide back. Because it is made of slides in your deck, it appears in whatever you share from the slide show, and a recording of your shared screen or window includes it. That is the difference from ink and pointers, which sit on top of the slide.
If your deck uses SparkSpotlight, run the slide show in desktop PowerPoint and share your screen or window. Spotlights open with a mouse click or a tap; a clicker’s Next button continues the deck. Adding spotlights needs Microsoft 365 PowerPoint on Windows (version 2601 or later) or Mac (16.105 or later), and presenting works in any PowerPoint on Windows or Mac. See the spotlight effect in PowerPoint page for how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How do I share a PowerPoint slide show on Zoom? Click Share Screen, select your monitor or the PowerPoint window, and click Share, then start the slide show. To keep the meeting controls in reach on one monitor, set Show type to Browsed by an individual (window) under Slide Show > Set Up Slide Show and share that window.
Can my audience see my laser pointer on a screen share? Microsoft’s and Zoom’s documentation do not say how the laser pointer appears to remote viewers, so check it on a test call before an important meeting. By default the pointer hides itself after three seconds without movement.
Do Teams recordings capture PowerPoint Live annotations? No. Microsoft says meeting recordings do not capture videos, animations or annotation marks in a PowerPoint Live session.
Who can draw on the slides in PowerPoint Live? Only the presenter. Their laser pointer, pen and highlighter marks are visible to everyone in the meeting.
How do I use a spotlight in a Teams or Zoom meeting? Run the slide show in desktop PowerPoint and share your screen or window. Open each spotlight with a mouse click; a clicker’s Next button continues the deck.
Related
- How to Highlight Part of a Slide in PowerPoint: Every Method Compared
- The Morph Spotlight Effect in PowerPoint: How to Build It and Where It Breaks
- Explain a Process Step by Step in PowerPoint
Last verified: September 2026. Microsoft Teams, Zoom and PowerPoint change often, so check the steps against your own version.