Microsoft Teams: Meeting Participants Can Request Collaborative Annotation Sessions Dependent on Host Permission

Updated April 23, 2026: We have updated the timeline and content. Thank you for your patience.

Applies to: Teams for Windows desktop and Teams for Mac desktop 

Introduction:

All meeting participants joining from native apps on Windows and macOS will be able to request to start collaborative annotations when a screen or window is being shared. The annotations start only after the active sharer approves the request. This capability is available exclusively in the new Microsoft Teams experience on native Windows and macOS apps.

This release also introduces a meeting option in the Participation section, allowing organizers and co-organizers to choose who can start annotations. By default, "Everyone" can access the "Start Annotation" button, but organizers and co-organizers can limit it to just the "Active Sharer", making the button visible only to the person currently sharing their screen or window.

Note: Users can view and annotate in Teams on the web but cannot initiate annotations. Anonymous users in the meeting will not be able to send a request.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 89975.

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out early May 2026 (previously mid-April) and expect to complete by mid-May 2026 (previously late April).

General Availability (WW, GCC, GCC High, and DoD): We will begin rolling out mid-May 2026 (previously late March) and expect to complete by late May 2026 (previously late April).

How this will affect your organization:

After the rollout, meeting participants who are not sharing their screens will have the ability to request an annotation session. This request will be sent to the presenter sharing their screen, who can choose to accept or deny it.

Meeting Organizer Settings (Meeting Options)

A new "Who can start annotations?" option appears under the Participation section in Meeting Options. Organizers and co-organizers can select:

• Everyone (default) — All participants see the "Start Annotation" button
• Active Sharer — Only the person currently sharing sees the annotation button

After rollout, the default value of Everyone will apply to all newly created meetings. For meetings created before rollout, the setting will be Active Sharer to match the current behavior where only the active sharer can start annotations. Organizers and co-organizers must manually update existing meetings if they want to enable the new behavior for those meetings. 

Participant Annotation Request Flow 

When a participant who is not the active sharer wants to annotate, they click the "Start annotation" button in the meeting toolbar. A confirmation dialog appears, and once the participant clicks "Request", a notification is sent to the presenter for approval.

1. Click the "Start annotation" button in the meeting toolbar to initiate an annotation request.



2. Confirm the request in the dialog box. Once approved, annotations start request will be sent to active sharer



3. Request sent notification confirms the request is pending and the presenter needs to approve it. 

Presenter Approval Experience

The active sharer (presenter) receives a notification at the top of their screen indicating that a viewer wants to start annotations. The presenter can choose to Deny or Allow the request.

What you need to do to prepare:

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified dates with no admin action required before the rollout. You may want to:

• Notify your users about this change and how the annotation request/approval flow works 
• Update relevant documentation to reflect the new meeting option and participant behavior 
• Educate meeting organizers on the new "Who can start annotations?" meeting option under Participation 
• Communicate to end users that they can now request to start annotations during screen sharing sessions 

This change will be available by default. 

Additional Resources: 

• Use annotation while sharing your screen in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support (will be updated before rollout)
• How to use Collaborative Annotations in a Microsoft Teams meeting (2022)
• Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 89975