Online tutoring tools: draw on screen for free, so your student sees each step
In a one-to-one session your hand is the explanation, and over a call it disappears. SHARA puts a pen, a laser pointer and a visible cursor over any window on your Windows screen, so you can circle the step in your student’s work while you talk. Free, with no account.
Free forever for pointing and marking.
No account, no subscription. Windows 10 and 11.
What do you need to tutor online, beyond a video call?
A way to mark what your student is looking at. If you teach by sharing your screen, SHARA is free for that: press Ctrl+Space, pick the Pen or Laser, and draw over a worksheet, PDF or browser tab. Share your entire screen so the ink is seen. A pen tablet helps with handwriting.
One student, one screen, and nothing to point with
At a desk you would put a pencil on the line that went wrong. Over a call, your student sees your mouse pointer as a few pixels, and you end up saying no, up a bit, the minus sign. In a one-to-one session that costs real minutes, and a shy student may not say they’ve lost you.
Tutors work around it in three ways. Some use the call app’s own annotation, which differs between Zoom, Teams and Meet. Some move the lesson to a shared whiteboard site, which means retyping the worksheet. Some write by hand on a tablet, which only helps if the student can see that screen.
The simplest fix is closer to a pencil: one pen that sits above whatever you already have open, the student’s worksheet included, and disappears when you are done.
What you draw with changes how it looks
Tutors who write maths by hand say a pen tablet beats a mouse. You can start with the mouse you have.
| What you have | Good for | Limit | With SHARA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mouse or trackpad | Circling, underlining, arrows, a laser point, typed labels | Long handwriting is slow and shaky | ✓Pen, Laser, Arrow and Text are free. Hold Shift for straight lines |
| Pen tablet or pen display | Handwritten steps, equations, diagrams | Needs a few sessions to get used to; the pen hovers instead of touching the screen | ✓Read directly through Windows Ink. Line width doesn’t follow pen pressure |
| Typed text only | Short labels and corrections on a worksheet | Slow for working a whole problem | ✓Text labels are free: click, type, move on |
If you already own a Wacom-style tablet, plug it in and try the Pen before buying anything. If you don’t, begin with the mouse and the Laser; buy a tablet only when handwriting becomes the bottleneck.
Set it up once, then keep teaching
Ten minutes now saves you from fixing it live with a student watching.
- Install SHARA free from the Microsoft Store.Nothing to sign up for. It sits in the background until you press a hotkey.
- Share your entire screen, not one window.In Zoom, Teams or Meet, choose the entire screen. A single-window share captures only that app, so SHARA’s ink is left out. Do a test call with a friend and ask them to confirm they see your pen.
- Open the student’s material and write over it.A worksheet, a PDF, a slide or a web page all work, because the pen sits above them. For a blank page, press Ctrl+Win+K for the Whiteboard (Pro, free for your first 14 days).
- Plug in your pen tablet, if you have one.SHARA reads pen tablets directly through Windows Ink. Draw a short line to check it lands where the pen is, before the student joins.
- Turn on Presenter Mode if you record sessions.It keeps the Wheel out of your recording. Recording itself is done by your call app.
Run your next session with it. The halo, Pen, Laser and Arrow stay free, with no time limit.
What you press while you tutor
Only one of these five moments needs Pro. The keys below are the defaults, and each can be rebound.
1. Find
“Show me where you got stuck.”
The cursor halo makes your pointer easy to follow, and every click flashes, so the student sees what you selected.
Ctrl+Win+HFREE2. Point
“This number, not that one.”
The Laser leaves a short trail that fades on its own. Nothing is left on the student’s worksheet to clean up.
Ctrl+SpaceFREE3. Mark
“Underline the verb. Circle the sign.”
The Pen or Arrow draws over the live page. A text label types a correction where you click.
Ctrl+Win+XFREE4. Enlarge
“Look at the exponent.”
Live Zoom blows up the whole screen, and the Magnifier puts a lens under your cursor, handy when your student is on a phone. Free for your first 14 days.
Ctrl+Win+GPRO5. Send notes
“I’ll send you what we did.”
The free screenshot tool can copy the marked page to the clipboard or save it in
Pictures\SHARA, as you choose in Settings. Then Clear All wipes the ink for the next problem.Ctrl+Win+BFREE
Pressing Esc once leaves drawing mode but keeps your marks visible; pressing it again wipes them. If you wipe too soon, Ctrl+Z undoes up to 32 steps.
Zoom, Meet, Teams, Discord or your company’s classroom
Zoom, Teams and Meet: share your entire screen and SHARA’s ink is part of what the student sees. Each app also has its own annotation, which you can read about in our guides to annotating in Zoom and annotating in Teams. Sharing settings for each are in Zoom and Teams presentations.
Discord: a screen share has no drawing tool, and tutors have asked Discord for one in its community forum since 2020. SHARA fills that gap while you share your whole screen; see how to draw on a Discord screen share.
A tutoring company’s own classroom: platforms such as Brainfuse and NetTutor give you a shared whiteboard with a pen tool, in which the student can write too. Use it when the company expects you to. SHARA suits the sessions where you share your own screen, and some companies restrict extra software on the PC, so check their rules first.
Need a timer to keep a 30-minute slot on track? The classroom timer runs in your browser, free.
Free covers pointing, marking and sending notes
$0, no expiry, no account
What moments 1, 2, 3 and 5 use, with a single ink colour.
- Halo that flashes on every click
- SHARA Wheel on Ctrl+Space
- Laser with a self-fading trail
- Pen, straight lines with Shift
- Arrows and typed labels
- Eraser, Clear All, undo
- Screenshot to clipboard or Pictures
- Pen tablets read through Windows Ink
Pro, if you want more later
- Whiteboard: white, black or grid board
- Highlighter
- Four zoom modes, including Live Zoom
- Line, Rectangle and Circle shapes
- Switchable colour sets on Alt+1 to Alt+4
Every Pro tool is free for your first 14 days, with no card. After that, Pro is a one-time purchase ($19.99 in the US) with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
When SHARA isn’t the right fit for tutoring
Your student can’t draw on your screen
SHARA marks your side only. If the student should write an answer on the same board, use a shared whiteboard such as your platform’s or an online one, and keep SHARA for your own screen.
It doesn’t keep a shared board or record the session
There is no saved classroom and no recording. Use your call app to record, and the screenshot tool to hand over notes.
Handwriting with a mouse stays awkward
SHARA works with pen tablets, but line width doesn’t follow pen pressure. If you write long equations all day, the tablet matters more than the software.
Windows only
There is no Mac version. Tutors on a Mac or a Chromebook need another tool.
Tutoring with SHARA, answered
Can my student draw on my screen with SHARA?
Will my student see the ink in Zoom, Teams or Google Meet?
Is SHARA free for online tutors?
Can I write maths by hand with a mouse?
Does SHARA work with a pen tablet?
Does SHARA record my tutoring sessions?
More use cases
Teaching VS Code, PowerPoint or CAD
Show tiny buttons, clicks and shortcuts in a software class.
Software training in a live class
Keep trainees on the right button in a live software class.
Start your next session free
Install it now, share your entire screen, and circle the first step in your student’s work with the Pen. No account, no subscription.
Disclosure: Mashyo makes SHARA. Session moments describe common tutoring situations, not measured results. Platform details come from the vendors’ and colleges’ own guides, read November 1, 2026.
Updated November 1, 2026
