How to draw on your screen during a video call on a Mac

Why draw on screen during a call?

Pointing works in a room. On a video call, 'this button here' means nothing when people cannot see your finger. A quick circle, an arrow or a highlighted line shows exactly what you mean: the bug in the screenshot, the number in the spreadsheet, the part of the design you want changed. It also keeps people looking where you want while you talk.

What does each call app offer?

How do you annotate in Zoom?

1. Share your screen. Start sharing as usual.
2. Open Annotate. In the sharing controls, click Annotate to open the tools.
3. Draw, type or point. Draw lines, arrows and shapes, add text, or use Spotlight to show your pointer (presenter only).
4. Save if you need it. Save keeps the screen and annotations as a PNG or PDF in your recording location.

How do you annotate in Microsoft Teams?

1. Share your screen. Select Share in the meeting controls.
2. Turn on Annotate. Move the cursor to the top of the shared screen to show the presenter toolbar, then select Annotate.
3. Choose who can draw. In the Whiteboard tools, let only yourself or everyone annotate.
4. Turn it off and clear. Select Annotate again to stop. Clear the drawing if you don't want it to come back next time.

How do you annotate in Google Meet?

On a paid Google Workspace plan or Workspace Individual, annotations are on when you start presenting: open the annotations menu for the pen, disappearing ink, stickers and text boxes, and appoint co-annotators from the people panel or a participant's tile. Google's announcement lists Business, Enterprise, Frontline, Essentials and Education plans; it does not mention free personal Google accounts, so on a free account you may not see the tools.

How do you draw in any call app with Cued?

When the call app has no drawing tools, or you are a guest on someone else's plan, draw on your own screen and share the whole screen. Cued's drawing layer sits over everything on your Mac, so it works the same in Meet, Zoom, Teams, FaceTime, Webex or Slack, and the drawing is saved with the meeting.

1. Share your whole screen. In Zoom, Meet or Teams, share the entire screen so the drawing layer is included. If you share only one window, the drawing is not part of it.
2. Open the whiteboard. Press ⌥W, or open it from the menu bar or a meeting's Overview. Choose Draw on screen for the transparent layer, or stay on the whiteboard for a blank page.
3. Pick a tool. Pen, marker, eraser, laser pointer or select, on keys 1 to 5. Hold still at the end of a stroke to snap it to a clean shape.
4. Save it. Save to meeting files, and the drawing is kept with that meeting as an image, next to its recording and transcript.

You can also drop or paste pictures onto the whiteboard, move and resize them, and undo any step. Saved drawings can be found later with ⌘K.

Cued needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later, and is designed for MacBooks with a notch.

Tips for drawing on a call

• Use the laser pointer for 'look here' and the pen only for what you want people to remember.
• Draw less than you think. One circle and one arrow beat a screen full of scribbles.
• Pause while you draw. People watch the line, not your words.
• Clear the drawing before you move on, so the next screen starts clean.
• Save the drawing when it records a decision, such as the agreed change on a design.

Questions

Sources

• Using annotation tools on a shared screen, Zoom Support
• Use annotation while sharing your screen in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Support
• Annotations in Google Meet, Google Workspace Updates

Related guides

• How to see your notes while sharing your screen
• How to take a screenshot during a video call on a Mac
• How to have the right file ready during a client call
• How to record a Google Meet call on a Mac