# Jitsi screen sharing not working > Most screen sharing failures in Jitsi Meet come from a permission: allow screen recording for your browser (on a Mac in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Screen & System Audio Recording) and reload. If the button is greyed out, a moderator may have blocked screen sharing; raise your hand. If viewers see the share vanish with "turned off to save bandwidth", the problem is their connection or yours, not your screen. On a phone, use the Jitsi Meet app, which has its own Start screen sharing button. Source: https://jitsi.help/troubleshooting/jitsi-screen-sharing-not-working/ Updated: October 11, 2026 Publisher: Jitsi Help (https://jitsi.help/) ## Symptoms Which one you see points to the cause: | What you see | Most likely cause | Go to | |---|---|---| | "Screen sharing failed!" or a message about screen sharing permissions | The browser or the operating system blocked screen capture | [Permissions](#1-allow-screen-recording-for-your-browser) | | The screen share button is greyed out, or "Screen sharing is blocked by the moderator" | A moderator turned off screen sharing for participants | [Moderator block](#2-the-button-is-greyed-out-or-missing) | | No screen share button at all | The server hides it, or you are in a phone browser | [Button missing](#2-the-button-is-greyed-out-or-missing) | | Works on meet.jit.si, fails on your company's site that embeds Jitsi | The page that embeds Jitsi does not allow screen capture | [Embedded Jitsi](#3-jitsi-embedded-in-another-website) | | "Couldn't share system audio!" | The share audio box was not ticked | [System audio](#4-others-cannot-hear-the-video-you-share) | | Viewers see "Video for ... has been turned off to save bandwidth", or the share keeps switching off and on | A slow or lossy connection | [Bandwidth](#5-the-share-disappears-or-freezes-for-viewers) | | "Screen sharing stopped via system" | You stopped it from the macOS sharing toolbar, or the disk is nearly full | [Stopped by the system](#6-sharing-stops-by-itself) | ## Fix ### 1. Allow screen recording for your browser 1. Click the screen share button again. Your browser asks what to share: a tab, a window or the entire screen. Pick one and confirm. Browsers ask every time; there is no permanent "allow". 2. **On a Mac,** the operating system must also allow it. Open **System Settings**, **Privacy & Security**, **Screen & System Audio Recording**, and turn on your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge). Then quit and reopen the browser and rejoin. 3. **On Linux with Wayland,** screen capture goes through PipeWire and the XDG desktop portal. Install `pipewire` and the portal package for your desktop (for example `xdg-desktop-portal-gnome`, `xdg-desktop-portal-kde` or `xdg-desktop-portal-wlr`). Firefox 84 and newer and Chromium 110 and newer use it without extra settings. 4. Reload the meeting page and try again. The page must be loaded over `https://`. Browsers only offer screen capture on secure pages, so a server reached over plain HTTP cannot share screens at all. ### 2. The button is greyed out or missing - **"Screen sharing is blocked by the moderator":** a moderator turned off **Allow non-moderators to share their screen**. Raise your hand; the moderator can allow you from the participants list (**Allow screen sharing**) or turn the setting back on. - **No button at all on a desktop browser:** the server administrator can choose which toolbar buttons appear. If `desktop` is left out of `toolbarButtons` in the server's `config.js`, nobody sees the button. Ask the organizer or the server's administrator. - **On a phone or tablet:** screen sharing support in mobile browsers is limited. Install the Jitsi Meet app for [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.jitsi.meet) or [iOS](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jitsi-meet/id1165103905), open the same meeting link, and use **Start screen sharing** in the app. ### 3. Jitsi embedded in another website If a meeting works on the Jitsi site itself but screen sharing fails inside another product, the page that embeds Jitsi has to let the frame capture the screen. The official IFrame API (`JitsiMeetExternalAPI`) already includes `display-capture` in the frame's permissions. A hand-written ` ``` Without `display-capture` the browser refuses screen capture inside the frame. If you build the integration, see [embedding Jitsi with the IFrame API](/guides/embed-jitsi-iframe-api/). ### 4. Others cannot hear the video you share When you pick what to share, browsers that support it show a **share audio** option (wording varies by browser). Tick it before you confirm. If you did not, Jitsi shows "Couldn't share system audio!" with the reason "Share audio box was not checked in the window selection screen." Stop sharing and start again with the box ticked. ### 5. The share disappears or freezes for viewers Jitsi turns off video it cannot deliver. When the connection of a viewer or of the person sharing is too slow or loses packets, viewers see "Video for (name) has been turned off to save bandwidth", and the share can switch off and on. A Jitsi maintainer explains that below a point there is no way to send the video at all ([jitsi-meet #17426](https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/issues/17426), open). - Check the connection quality indicator on the sharer's and the viewer's video tile. - Close other uploads or video calls on the same connection, or move closer to the Wi-Fi access point. - Share one window or tab instead of a large high-resolution screen. If it happens to everyone in large meetings on your own server, that is a server capacity question; see [server requirements](/guides/jitsi-server-requirements/) and [scaling the videobridge](/guides/jitsi-scaling-videobridge/). ### 6. Sharing stops by itself "Screen sharing stopped via system" means the operating system ended the capture. On a Mac this happens when you stop sharing from the macOS floating sharing toolbar. Jitsi's own message adds that it may also be due to low disk space. Free some disk space and start sharing again from the Jitsi toolbar. ### For server administrators - Screen sharing is sent at a low frame rate by default: `desktopSharingFrameRate` defaults to a minimum and maximum of 5 frames per second. The comment in `config.js` warns that higher values make the resolution worse. - `screenShareSettings` in `config.js` controls the browser's capture picker, for example `desktopSystemAudio` (allow system audio, default include) and `desktopPreferCurrentTab`. - Check that `desktop` is in `toolbarButtons` if you set a custom toolbar. ## Verify 1. Join a test meeting from a second device or browser profile. 2. Start screen sharing and choose one window. 3. The second device should show the shared window within a few seconds, and your own toolbar button changes to stop sharing. 4. Play a short video with sound in a shared tab with the share audio box ticked; the second device should hear it. ## If it still fails - Try another current browser. Jitsi supports Chrome 72 and newer, Firefox 68 and newer, Safari 14 and newer and Edge 79 and newer, with best results on recent versions. - Open the browser console (F12) and look for `NotAllowedError` when you click share. It means permission was refused by you, the browser, the operating system or the embedding page. - If the share keeps turning off, a maintainer suggests checking the console for lines like `Connection stats: bwe=...` to see the estimated bandwidth at that moment. - Test the same meeting on [meet.jit.si](https://meet.jit.si/). If it works there but not on your organization's server, tell its administrator what you saw. ## What we have not confirmed yet - We have not tested every browser and operating system combination listed here. The steps come from Jitsi's source code, Apple's documentation, MDN and the Arch Linux wiki. - Exact wording of the share audio option differs between browsers and versions. - Which mobile browsers can share a screen today. Our advice is to use the app because support in mobile browsers is limited. ## Sources - [Jitsi Meet interface text](https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/blob/master/lang/main.json) ("Screen sharing failed!", "Screen sharing is blocked by the moderator", "Couldn't share system audio!", "Screen sharing stopped via system", "turned off to save bandwidth"), source code, checked 2026-10-11 - [Jitsi Meet config.js](https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/blob/master/config.js) (`desktopSharingFrameRate`, `screenShareSettings`, `toolbarButtons`), source code - [Jitsi IFrame API source](https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/blob/master/modules/API/external/external_api.js) (`display-capture` in the frame permissions), source code - [Jitsi Meet mobile screen sharing buttons](https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/tree/master/react/features/toolbox/components/native) (Android and iOS), source code - [jitsi-meet issue #17426: low bandwidth shared screen not shown](https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/issues/17426), 2026-05-22 onward, open, maintainer comments - [Jitsi handbook: supported browsers](https://jitsi.github.io/handbook/docs/user-guide/supported-browsers/), official doc - [Apple: control access to screen and system audio recording on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-access-screen-system-audio-recording-mchld6aa7d23/mac), official doc - [MDN: getDisplayMedia()](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/MediaDevices/getDisplayMedia) (secure context, `display-capture`, `NotAllowedError`, limited availability), reference doc - [ArchWiki: XDG Desktop Portal](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/XDG_Desktop_Portal) (Wayland screen sharing, Firefox 84 and Chromium 110), community doc ## Need a hand? Screen sharing broken for everyone on your own Jitsi server? [Contact our engineers](/contact/?topic=troubleshooting) with the browser, operating system and any console error. Our [support plans](/services/jitsi-support/) cover servers you run yourself. ## Frequently asked questions ### Why is the Jitsi screen share button greyed out? Usually a moderator has turned off screen sharing for participants. Jitsi then shows "Screen sharing is blocked by the moderator" and asks you to raise your hand. The server administrator can also remove the button for everyone. ### Why does Jitsi say screen sharing failed on my Mac? macOS has not given your browser permission to record the screen. Open System Settings, Privacy & Security, Screen & System Audio Recording, turn your browser on, then quit and reopen the browser. ### Can I share my screen from a phone? Use the Jitsi Meet app for Android or iOS. It has a Start screen sharing button. Screen sharing support in mobile browsers is limited. ### Why can others not hear the video I am sharing? System audio is only shared if you tick the share audio option in the browser's window picker. Jitsi shows "Couldn't share system audio!" when that box was not checked. ### Why does my shared screen keep disappearing for others? When a connection is too slow, Jitsi turns video off and shows "has been turned off to save bandwidth". That includes shared screens. Check the connection indicator of the person who sees it and of the person sharing. --- Jitsi Help is an independent service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by 8x8, Inc. or the Jitsi project. Jitsi and Jitsi Meet are trademarks of 8x8, Inc., used here only to describe the software we host and support.