How to share phone screen using Facebook Messenger to others

When you’re trying to help someone troubleshoot on their phone, getting to their screen makes things a lot easier. Instead of installing a dedicated screen sharing app, you can share your phone screen using Facebook Messenger. The implementation is quite simple because almost everyone has pre-installed messenger on the phone.

Share phone screen using Facebook Messenger on Android

Just like Skype, Facebook Messenger also allows you to share your screen right from your Android smartphone.

Start by opening Facebook Messenger app on Android and select a chat. Then, tap the “Video” button to initiate a video call.

After the video call starts (this works for group video calls and for Facebook Chat Rooms), swipe up from the bottom toolbar to reveal more options.

Here, tap the “Share your screen” button.

When you use the feature for the first time, you’ll see an introduction to the feature. Click “Continue” here. (You will not see this screen again)

Now, Android will ask if you want to share your screen using the Messenger app. Click the “Get Started Now” button.

Now, Messenger will start sharing your screen. You can swipe up or press the “Home” button to go to the home screen of your device. You can browse around and navigate to any screen you want to share. After you start screen sharing, Messenger turns off your camera.

You will see the other participant(s) in the picture-in-picture window. You can tap it to expand the window and go back to full screen mode.

To stop sharing your screen, go back to the Messenger app and tap the “Stop” button from the floating box.

Now you’ll be back to your regular video call, business as usual.

View phone screen on Messenger with iPhone

The iPhone screen sharing process is a bit different.

Open the Facebook Messenger app on your iPhone, then open the chat you want to share your screen with. Then, tap the “Video” button in the upper-right corner of the screen to initiate a video call.

When they pick up the phone, the video call will begin. Now swipe up to reveal more options.

Here, tap the “Share your screen” button.

From the introductory pop-up, select the “Start Sharing” option.

You will see the default iOS Broadcast pop-up used to share your iPhone screen with different apps. Here, make sure that the Messenger app is selected, then tap the “Start Broadcast” button.

The Messenger app will now turn off your camera and it will start sharing your screen. You can go to your home screen and navigate to different apps to share your screen.

Unlike Android, the Messenger app does not display a picture-in-picture window of other participants in the call. When you’re screen sharing, you won’t be able to watch their videos, but you can still hear what they have to say.

If you see a red pill in the upper left corner of your iPhone, it means you’re screen sharing.

Once done, return to the Messenger app. From the video call interface, tap the “Stop” button from the floating box.

Messenger will stop sharing your iPhone screen.

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Not everyone uses Facebook Messenger. If you want to share your screen with colleagues, you can also do so in Zoom or Google Meet .