The intension of this small tool is to help people who work with large monitors to only share a portion of their screen in video conference tool (e.g. Teams, Zooms). The problem came up when I got my 49'' monitor. Next time, I had to share my screen in a teams call and nobody could read anything from my screen because it scaled down too small. Sharing a single window did the work for a while but when I work with collegues I usually need to switch between different apps a lot. Also, using a virtual camera which can stream just an area of my screen did not work as desired. So, I came up with this little tool. It's not perfect yet but it works for me. I also use FancyZones from Microsoft's PowerToys which - together with this tool - makes it quite easy to get this done.
This tool is built on .NET 10 Windows Forms, so you need the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime installed up front.
Download the latest zip from the releases page.
Use win-x64 (most PCs) or win-x86.
- Start ScreenshareHelper.exe => Transparent window appears
- Position the window over the area you want to share (Drag, Resize)
- Click the "set" button
- Done!
- Now you can share this window via your meeting tool and put your other windows in that area.
I usually use FancyZones to snap the tool and the content I want share in a Zone. This works for me, at least.
I also pinned a link to the tool to my taskbar. This way, it's a single click for to get it up and running since it remembers it's last position and it's last capture area.
You can actually move the tool to another screen (if you wish and got one) - once you set the capture area with the set-button. This way you can actually see what's happening
The tool has an icon in the notification area (tray). Its menu switches between three modes; the tool remembers the mode and starts in it next time:
- Normal (share the window): as described above, the window mirrors the capture area and you share the window.
- Virtual camera: no window; the capture area is a webcam (see Virtual camera).
- Virtual monitor: no window; the area is shown on an extra (virtual) monitor that you share (see Virtual monitor).
More in the menu:
- Set area... (or double-click the icon): shows the window so you can place it over the area to share, then click Set (or Cancel). In camera and virtual monitor mode the window disappears again afterwards and is never visible in the camera or on the virtual monitor.
- Red frame around the area (virtual monitor mode): turn the frame that marks the shared area on or off.
- Mouse pointer: draw the mouse pointer into the shared image or not (e.g. Google Meet draws its own).
- Start with Windows: start the tool when you log in.
- Setup: install or uninstall the virtual camera and the virtual monitor driver.
- Exit.
The areas are remembered per monitor setup (which monitors are connected, their arrangement and resolution). If you use your laptop with different docking stations, or with the lid closed, each setup keeps its own areas and they are restored when you connect to that setup again. On a new setup the tool keeps the last areas if they still lie on a monitor; otherwise it moves them to the primary monitor and asks you to set the area.
You can create a .bat file or use a desktop shortcut to add command line options to let the tool snap to a certain process on startup. Use process name or better process ID (MainWindow process ID) to accomplish this.
-n => Process name (e.g. firefox) -i => PID --color => Background color: a named color, a hex code RRGGBB/AARRGGBB, or 'Transparent'.
Everything else is in the tray menu.
Examples
ScreenshareHelper.exe -n notepad2
ScreenshareHelper.exe -i 12345
Experimental, Windows 11, x64 package only. In the Virtual camera mode (tray menu) the tool shows the capture area as a webcam called ScreenshareHelper (1920×1080, scaled with black bars, including the mouse pointer). Select it as camera in Teams, Zoom or the Windows Camera app. The camera exists while the tool is running in that mode. Use Set area... to choose the area.
The first time you use it (or via Setup > Install virtual camera), the tool offers a one-time setup: after confirming the Windows admin prompt it copies the camera component (ScreenshareHelper.VirtualCamera.dll) to C:\Program Files\ScreenshareHelper\VirtualCamera and registers it there. Windows' camera service loads it from that protected folder. After an update with a changed camera component, the tool offers to update it the same way.
To remove it: Setup > Uninstall virtual camera.
Camera images are compressed more than screen sharing, so small text may be less sharp than when sharing the window.
Experimental. Instead of sharing the tool's window, share a whole (virtual) screen: switch to the Virtual monitor mode in the tray menu, place the window over the area you want to show and click Set. The tool adds an extra monitor to Windows and shows that area on it, full screen (scaled to fit, black bars, including the mouse pointer). In Teams or Zoom, share that screen. The virtual monitor area is separate from the normal capture area. A thin red frame marks the shared area on your screen; it is click-through and not captured itself, and you can turn it off in the tray menu. Switching to another mode (or closing the tool) removes the monitor again.
The virtual monitor needs the free Parsec Virtual Display Driver (signed, installed once with administrator rights). If it is missing, the tool offers to download and run the installer (also in Setup in the tray menu, where you can uninstall it again). You don't need a Parsec account or the Parsec app.
The resolution drop-down sets the monitor resolution: 1920x1080 (default, what Teams shares at most), 1280x720, 2560x1440, 3840x2160 or Auto (the largest resolution that fits into the area without upscaling). If the area doesn't have the monitor's aspect ratio, the image gets black bars; 16:9 makes the window 16:9 (keeps the height, adjusts the width) before you click "Set".
The monitor is placed at the bottom-right corner of your desktop, touching the other monitors only at the corner, so your mouse can't wander onto it.
If you like the tool, just Paypal.me
Yes, I know: The tool is not perfect. So, any help is appreceated
Well, it's a transparent window :-)
