How to annotate in Zoom (and what to do when you can’t)

This guide covers where the Annotate button is for presenters and participants, why it goes missing, who can switch it back on, and what to use when Zoom’s own tool can’t help. Zoom’s pages were checked on November 1, 2026.

How to annotate in Zoom when you are sharing

The person who starts the share always gets the full toolset. Zoom calls the drawing layer annotation, and it works on a shared screen or a classic whiteboard.

1. Start a meeting and select Share, then choose the screen or window to show.
2. Look for the annotation tools that appear with the share. If they don’t, select Annotate in the sharing controls.
3. Pick a tool: Draw, Text, Stamp, Spotlight or Vanishing Pen.
4. Draw on the screen. Press Ctrl+Z to undo a mark and Ctrl+Y to redo it.
5. Select Eraser or Clear to remove marks. To click through to the app underneath, right-click anywhere to switch to mouse mode.
6. Select Save and choose PNG or PDF to keep the annotated screen.

Note: Select, Spotlight, Vanishing Pen and Save are presenter tools. Viewers can save only if the host allows it. Tool names are as Zoom lists them on Using annotation tools for collaboration.

How to annotate in Zoom as a participant

1. Join the meeting from the Zoom desktop app and wait for someone to share a screen or whiteboard.
2. Select View Options at the top of the Zoom window, then Annotate. Zoom’s own page says viewers use the pencil icon, so look for that if your version words it differently.
3. Choose Draw, Text or Stamp and mark the shared screen. Everyone sees your marks.
4. Select the tool again, or Annotate a second time, to stop drawing.

If neither option shows, you are not being blocked by your own settings: annotation is off for this meeting or this account. The next section explains who can change that. Sources: Zoom Support, CSU Chico IT and VCCS help desk.

Why Annotate is greyed out or missing in Zoom

There are four usual causes, and only the first two are yours to fix:

Two further limits are documented: you cannot annotate when sharing your entire screen from an iPhone or iPad, and on Linux annotation needs X11 (or an entire single-display desktop under Wayland).

How hosts and admins turn Annotate on

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal. Admins open Admin Center › Settings; users open their profile menu › Settings.
2. Open the Meeting tab and find Annotation under In Meeting (Basic).
3. Turn the Annotation toggle on and confirm if Zoom asks. If it is greyed out, a group or account admin has locked it.
4. Optionally tick Allow saving of shared screens with annotations or Only the user who is sharing can annotate, then select Save.

Admins can add a lock so users cannot change the setting, which is why the toggle can look dead. Source: Enabling or disabling annotation tools for meetings.

When Zoom’s own tool can’t: draw with SHARA

Zoom annotation is the right first try. These are the cases it does not cover, and where a free overlay does:

• It is disabled and you cannot change it. A locked admin setting or a host who never allows it does not affect an overlay on your own screen.
• No permission to ask for. You draw as the presenter the moment you need to, instead of waiting for a host to allow you.
• One pen in every meeting app. The same Pen, Laser and Arrow work in Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.
• A laser that cleans up after itself. SHARA’s Laser trail fades after 2.6 seconds, so there is nothing to erase.
• Pointing at a cursor viewers lose. Pen, Laser, Arrow, Text and Eraser are free, with a halo around the cursor and a flash on every click.

Set up SHARA for a Zoom meeting

1. Install SHARA free from the Microsoft Store. There is no account, and it waits in the background for a hotkey.
2. In Zoom, select Share and choose your entire screen, not a window. A window share sends only that window, so SHARA’s ink on top of it isn’t included.
3. Hold Ctrl+Space to open the Wheel at your cursor, then choose Draw and pick Laser or Pen.
4. Draw. Press Ctrl+Z to undo a stroke and Ctrl+Win+B to clear all ink.

Check what viewers receive once with the screen share test card. Every key for the meeting is on the SHARA with Zoom setup page, and the meeting’s own keys are on the Zoom shortcut sheet.

Zoom Annotate or SHARA: which should you use?

When SHARA isn’t the right fit

Pick Zoom Annotate when several people need to mark the same screen, when you present from a Mac or a phone, or when a managed PC blocks Store apps. Viewers also cannot draw on your screen with SHARA: the ink is yours.

Annotating in Zoom: FAQ