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Newcomer
Linzhess
Newcomer
Sep 14, 2021 6:03 AM UTC
Question

Grey boxes blocking screen share

I have had the experience many times when someone was screen sharing (say a Youtube video) and dark grey boxes block the picture.  I believe one box was the gallery of participants on the side, I have no idea what the other grey box was...  how do you get rid of these boxes so that the screen share picture is unimpaired?

      14 replies

      Community Manager
      RN11_2
      Community Manager
      Sep 14, 2021 6:03 PM UTC

      Hey @Linzhess, the host may have 'Show My Zoom Windows to other participants when I am screen sharing' disabled. 

       

      If you go to your Zoom client settings > Shared Screen > and check the setting, the gray boxes are the Zoom windows. 

       

      Also recommending if sharing a Web Tab, in your example YouTube, I would encourage instead of sharing your desktop to share the web browser tab instead. This should resolve your problem with the experiences I've had anyway!  Let me know if this helps! 

       

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        Newcomer
        JRSTEN5925
        Newcomer
        Mar 6, 2022 8:40 PM UTC

        Where is the option to just share the tab?  I tried the other fix of enabling Show my Zoom windows, but that didn't solve the gray boxes.  Any help is appreciated!

         

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        Explorer
        Shawnloveshorse
        Explorer
        Jan 5, 2022 6:03 PM UTC

        Hi RN!

         

        Sorry to jump in like this though our teacher has the same issue and everyone in class could see these and the option for show zoom windows is disabled.

         

        Thank you 🙂 

         

        Shawn

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        Community Manager
        RN11_2
        Community Manager
        Jan 23, 2023 6:35 PM UTC

        Hey @pascalgrierson @Linzhess @JAH23 @JRSTEN5925 @Shawnloveshorse looked back at some issues that are similar and seems like if you check “Optimize for video clip” under the ellipsis during a screen share, those boxes will appear. 

         

        So, if unchecked, the grey boxes will not appear. Seems like this is by design. 

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        Newcomer
        lan123
        Newcomer
        Feb 26, 2023 7:47 AM UTC

        This was already unchecked and the grey boxes still appear. I've tried all possible solutions and when recording or screensharing, it still shows the gray boxes with diagonal lines.

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        The_WebiNerd
        Newcomer
        The_WebiNerd
        Newcomer
        Mar 7, 2023 5:53 PM UTC

        We've written about this topic on our blog quite extensively including why it happens and few options for resolving or working around it. Hope this helps you all out. Not a new thing. 

        https://thewebinerd.com/2021/07/13/get-rid-of-those-gray-boxes-in-zoom/

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          Newcomer
          bmwparker1
          Newcomer
          Feb 20, 2024 4:58 PM UTC

          Great article. I ended up buying a new computer and the boxes went away. They showed up on my old one, so it looks like you may be correct. It's likely the computer and not the application. That's an expensive fix though.

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          Employee
          Diana_Galstyan
          Employee
          Jan 13, 2025 10:10 AM UTC

          Hi! To resolve this issue you can download and install driver Intel® Graphics Driver 32.0.101.5972 (WHQL Certified) or the latest driver.
          Note: From the Intel page, under Version, click the drop-down to access the necessary driver.

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          Newcomer
          ticenogle
          Newcomer
          Feb 27, 2025 2:50 PM UTC

          I downloaded the latest Intel Graphics driver as suggested.  Rebooted.  Still get the gray boxes.  Until this is fixed, I'll continue to use two monitors.  

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          Newcomer
          AS1199
          Newcomer
          Jan 30, 2025 11:27 PM UTC


          1. Go to Zoom online (not desktop) 
          2. Go to Settings > Meetings > In Meeting (Basic) > toggle ON "Show Zoom windows during screen share"
          3. Then, go to Zoom desktop. If you are signed in already, sign out and then sign back in. 
          4. Click on your profile picture and go to Settings 
          5. Go to Share > toggle ON "Show my Zoom Windows to other participants when I am screen sharing"
          6. Click Advanced at the bottom of the screen 
          7. Under Screen capture mode, select Secure share with window filtering 

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            Newcomer
            Jousou
            Newcomer
            May 10, 2025 12:55 PM UTC

            This worked for me. The only thing I had to change was change Screen capture mode to "Secure share with window filtering" while keeping all Zoom windows shared during screen share.

            Now when I share an application window, there are no gray boxes, and when I share my whole screen, it also shows the Zoom menus, which is fair enough and less distracting than the gray boxes in my opinion.

             

            No need to upgrade my computer, at least in my case. Curious how leaving Screen capture mode on "Auto" wasn't enough. Seems like the app makes a suboptimal "automatic" choice for my device even though it has plenty of power to spare.

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            Newcomer
            ticenogle
            Newcomer
            Feb 27, 2025 5:33 PM UTC

            Responding to Newcomer's suggestion:  I got to step 5 ("Go to Share > toggle ON "Show my Zoom Windows...") but couldn't find that option.  So I skipped that one and performed steps 6 and 7.  This in fact DID remove the gray boxes.  I hope it sticks.  Sometimes (many times) settings get changed and I have to reapply my preferences.  But that's another discussion!   

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