How do Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams screen shares differ?
All three let you share an entire screen or a single window, and Google Meet in a browser adds a single tab. What viewers see follows that choice: an entire-screen share carries everything on that display, a window or tab share carries that window or tab alone. The share mode matters more than the tool.
This page is for meetings where AI assistance is allowed: a demo, a webinar, a class. Kopya is a desktop AI assistant for macOS and Windows that answers questions about what is on your screen when you press a hotkey; its panel is excluded from supported screen shares and recordings. It does not join calls, has no bot and records no audio.
| Share mode | What viewers see | Where a personal AI panel ends up |
|---|---|---|
| Entire screen (one display) | Everything on that display: every window, notification banners, the menu bar or taskbar. | In the share, unless the panel sits on a display you are not sharing or the tool honours the operating system’s capture exclusion. |
| A single window | That window only. Other apps and your desktop are not sent. | Out of the share: the panel is a separate window. The most reliable option — still confirm it once. |
| A browser tab (Google Meet) | That tab only. Nothing outside the tab is sent. | Out of the share, for the same reason: the panel is not part of the tab. |
A tool-agnostic comparison of these and two more methods, with how each one fails, is in 5 ways to hide a window from a screen share.
What does Zoom document about screen sharing?
Zoom’s advanced screen sharing help documents a window-filtering capture mode that shares your screen without Zoom’s own windows in it. Zoom publishes nothing about how it treats another app’s capture-excluded window, and Kopya has not published a Zoom test result.
Two things follow from Zoom’s advanced sharing settings. First, keeping a window out of a share is ordinary meeting-app behaviour, not a trick: Zoom’s own window-filtering mode captures your screen “without showing windows from the Zoom desktop app”. Second, Zoom does not document which capture path a given share uses, so a result holds only for the setup you tested. Before you rely on the capture-excluded panel in an entire-screen share, run the 60-second self-test with a second device; on macOS, prefer a single-window share.
What does Google Meet document about presenting?
Google’s help covers three ways to present: your entire screen, a window, or a single tab. It documents nothing about capture-excluded windows, and Kopya has not published a Meet test result. Meet runs in the browser, so the browser does the capturing, and a browser update can change how.
The tab option is Meet’s strength for presenters: present the slides tab, as Google’s presenting help describes, and nothing outside it is sent. For an entire-screen share, treat the capture-excluded panel as untested in Meet until your own self-test says otherwise, and re-test after browser updates. On macOS the picture is mixed: a developer reported an excluded window staying out of a Meet share on one macOS version, though its menu was still captured, while Electron’s documentation says apps that capture through ScreenCaptureKit capture such a window anyway. The Mac guide has the detail.
What does Microsoft Teams document?
The Microsoft page we can cite documents a Teams Premium setting, Prevent screen capture, that protects the meeting window itself: on Windows a capture shows a black rectangle around the meeting window, and where the platform does not support it, including macOS desktop, attendees join an audio-only experience.
Prevent screen captures in Teams meetings is worth reading for one reason: even Microsoft’s own capture protection is platform-dependent. The same divide applies to a capture-excluded panel, documented on Windows and inconsistent on recent macOS. Microsoft documents nothing about third-party windows in a share, and Kopya has not published a Teams test result.
- Windows: on Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or newer and on Windows 11, the documented OS behaviour is that a capture-excluded window does not appear in captures made through Windows’ public capture features. Which capture path Teams uses is not documented, so confirm with the self-test.
- Work-managed computers: your employer’s policy on AI tools and on what may be shared applies. Capture exclusion does not hide Kopya’s process or tray icon from monitoring software.
Does a second display keep the panel out of the share?
Yes, if you share the other display. An entire-screen share sends one display, so a panel sitting on a different display is not part of that stream. The Kopya panel opens at the top centre of your primary display and can be dragged elsewhere.
Two limits. Kopya captures the primary display only, so keep the content you share there and the panel on the other. And a mirrored display or a projector shows exactly what your screen shows, panel included; the presenting guide covers that case and a pre-talk checklist.
Does the capture-excluded Kopya panel stay out of an entire-screen share?
On Windows 10 version 2004 or newer and Windows 11, Microsoft documents that an excluded window does not appear at all in captures made through Windows’ public capture features. On macOS, Apple calls the flag legacy and recent versions have been reported to capture such windows. Kopya makes no per-tool claim for Zoom, Meet or Teams.
Screen-share privacy is on by default on every plan, including the free plan. The panel shows its state, “Hidden in screen shares” or “Visible in screen shares”, and ⌘⇧P on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows toggles it. The screen-share privacy overview describes the feature, how screen capture exclusion works explains the APIs, and the Windows guide covers the minimum build and the black-rectangle fallback.
Test it rather than assume. Start a meeting in the tool you will use, join from a second device, share the way you will share on the day, and judge by what the second device shows, not by your own screen. Each share mode is a separate test, and so is each operating-system or app update. The full procedure is the 60-second self-test.
Do meeting recordings show the same thing as the live share?
A recording made by the meeting tool captures the meeting as participants received it, so it contains what the live share contained. A recording made separately on your own computer is different: it captures your display directly, and on macOS built-in recording has been reported to include capture-excluded windows.
So the live share and the tool’s recording rise or fall together: a window share keeps the panel out of both, and a share that shows the panel puts it in the recording too. Separate recorders are covered in recording tutorials and the Mac guide.
When should I tell people I am using an AI assistant?
Whenever the meeting’s rules, your employer’s policy or the other participants would expect to know, and always where outside assistance is restricted. Kopya’s terms require you to follow applicable disclosure and consent requirements; privacy controls do not exempt you. Keeping the panel out of a share is about a clean view for your audience, not about hiding the help.
- Recordings: if the meeting is recorded, assume anything in your share is kept.
- Workplaces and schools: an AI-tools policy or a meeting rule takes precedence over any privacy setting.
- Your own work: if a viewer asks whether you used an AI assistant, say so.
Common questions
Does the Kopya panel show up in Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams?
Kopya has not published test results for any of the three, so it depends on your OS version, the tool’s capture path and your share mode. A window or tab share keeps the panel out because it is a separate window. For entire-screen shares, run the self-test. The compatibility page tracks the status.
Is sharing a single window enough on its own?
It is the most reliable method, because a window share is meant to send that window alone; confirm it once with the self-test. It does not hide leaks inside the shared window, such as browser tabs or a chat sidebar, and you must stop and restart the share to show a second app. Pair it with Do Not Disturb and a quick tidy-up.
Does Kopya join the meeting or record it?
No. Kopya does not join calls, has no bot and records no audio. It takes a screenshot of your primary display only when you press the capture hotkey and sends it to Kopya’s server and on to the AI provider for the answer. Kopya does not intentionally retain it after processing; provider retention rules may apply.
Will the panel appear in the meeting’s cloud recording?
The tool’s recording contains what the live share contained. If your self-test shows the panel is out of the share, it is out of that recording too; if it shows the panel, so will the recording. A separate recorder on your own computer is a different case and needs its own test.
More short answers are on the answers page, and terms such as window share and tab share are defined in the glossary. How Kopya decides what to claim about compatibility is on the about page.
Sources
- Zoom Support — advanced screen sharing settings and window filtering
- Google Meet Help — present during a meeting
- Microsoft Support — prevent screen captures in Teams meetings
- Microsoft Learn — SetWindowDisplayAffinity
- Apple Developer — NSWindow.SharingType.none
- Apple Developer Forums — no public APIs for preventing capture (July 2025)
- Electron docs — BrowserWindow, setContentProtection
- Electron issue #48258 — ScreenCaptureKit captures protected windows