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Newcomer
Oct 28, 2024 4:40 AM UTC
Solved

Annotation Tool Is Missing

Hi there,

 

I'm on the latest version of Zoom. I am using my company's Zoom subscription as an employee.

 

I am looking to annotate a customer's screen when they share their screen, but the green pencil annotate tool is not appearing anywhere.

Steps already taken:

1. Enabled Annotation in the Settings
2. I made sure that any user can annotate (not just the host)

3. I tested this on myself

 

Can someone help with this? Thank you! 

jdott16
jdott16Answer
Employee
Oct 29, 2024 5:40 PM UTC

Hello,

 

If a user that is not yourself is sharing content, that user has to have annotation enabled for annotation to work. If you are hosting the meeting, then the annotation should be available to you. If the annotate button is not there, then in the box at the top that shows a user is sharing content, if you click on the three dots there should be an option to annotate if annotation is enabled for all users. I see this on windows in my testing. 

 

If you are hosting, and the user shares content, then the three dots at the top should be where you see annotate if the annotate green button is not available, it sometimes shows in the share options as well. 

 

I hope this helps and please make sure to mark the solution as accepted if this information is what you needed.

Thank you,

Jake

13 replies

jdott16
Employee
jdott16Answer
Employee
Oct 29, 2024 5:40 PM UTC

Hello,

 

If a user that is not yourself is sharing content, that user has to have annotation enabled for annotation to work. If you are hosting the meeting, then the annotation should be available to you. If the annotate button is not there, then in the box at the top that shows a user is sharing content, if you click on the three dots there should be an option to annotate if annotation is enabled for all users. I see this on windows in my testing. 

 

If you are hosting, and the user shares content, then the three dots at the top should be where you see annotate if the annotate green button is not available, it sometimes shows in the share options as well. 

 

I hope this helps and please make sure to mark the solution as accepted if this information is what you needed.

Thank you,

Jake

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Newcomer
Feb 28, 2025 11:02 AM UTC

This is ABSURD! often times one is zooming with other people that aren't able or used to going deep in the settings and can barely use the visible tools!.. 

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Newcomer
Mar 15, 2025 1:08 AM UTC

Same here!, Yes it is indeed absurd and abusive, I only paid because Zoom has the "annotation tool" advantage over teams, and it does not even work!. Last 10 meetings I have had to ask the clients to take a screenshot and paint over it because annotation tool is not available, it is absurd.

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CarlaA
Employee
Employee
Nov 5, 2024 12:04 AM UTC

Hi @alext! I just wanted to let you know that I’ve marked @jdott16's response as the accepted solution as I believe it answers your question. I hope it helps! If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask.

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Newcomer
Nov 5, 2024 9:47 PM UTC

I just tested this out with a friend of mine and we determined that it doesn't work to annotate when the participant is logged into the Zoom meeting from their web browser, but does work when they're logged in through the app. This is a bit frustrating since some of my students aren't able to download the app on their devices, yet I still need to be able to annotate on the screen they share with me. Is there a fix for this?

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jdott16
Employee
Employee
Nov 6, 2024 1:36 PM UTC

Hello,

 

Annotation is currently unsupported on the web. You can find out more about the feature here: https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0067931

 

I hope this helps and please make sure to mark the solution as accepted if this information is what you needed.

Thank you,

Jake

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Newcomer
Feb 27, 2025 12:05 AM UTC

I am not able to find the annotation tools. I did an update recently, and now I can not use annotations.

There is no tab for this option anymore. And the 3 little dots do NOT have the option at all. I have also checked in my setting. How can I get annotations back?

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Newcomer
Feb 28, 2025 10:59 AM UTC

YES, same here!! SOO frustrating, in meetings all morning not being able to annotate when others share! (When I share I see the annotation tool)...
Hope it's fixed soon!!

 

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Newcomer
Sep 14, 2025 7:15 AM UTC

The same situation here. I have been trying to annotate for 2 weeks but I cannot find any solution. I even reported the problem to Zoom 

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