How to See Your PowerPoint Speaker Notes While Screen Sharing on a Mac

Why notes leak, or vanish, on one screen

Presenter View was designed for two displays: notes on yours, slides on the projector. On a MacBook alone, there is only one screen to go around. If you share the whole screen while Presenter View is up, the people on the call see your notes. An answer on Microsoft Q&A notes that Presenter View does not switch on by default with a single display, so the other common outcome is that your notes are not there when you start.

The call apps make it harder. Zoom, Teams and Meet each share either a whole screen or one window, and the slide show and Presenter View are separate windows that both want the same display.

Method 1: share only the slide show window

Start the slide show with Presenter View, switch to the call app, and choose to share a single window: the one showing the slides, not the one showing your notes. A user in the Zoom community describes doing exactly this with Command-Tab and the share menu.

It works, with two catches. The notes still sit low on the screen, so you look down to read them. And the moment you want to show a browser or a demo, you have to stop and share again.

Method 2: share a portion of the screen

Zoom can share a region you draw instead of a window (Share Screen, then Advanced, then Portion of Screen). Put the slides inside the box and the notes outside it. It is fiddly to line up on a laptop, and anything that moves into the box goes out to everyone.

Method 3: notes beside the camera with CueNotch

CueNotch takes the notes out of PowerPoint's windows altogether. They sit in the notch, next to the camera, and Ghost Mode excludes them from screen capture, so you can share the whole screen and still read them.

1. Import the PowerPoint file into CueNotch. CueNotch keeps the notes for every slide, so your talk track arrives in slide order.
2. Turn on Ghost Mode. It keeps the notes out of screen sharing and recordings. Ghost Mode is a Pro feature.
3. Start the slide show in PowerPoint. Play the slides as usual. You do not need Presenter View.
4. Share your screen or the slide show window. In Zoom, Teams or Meet, share as you normally would. With Ghost Mode on, even a full-screen share stays clean.
5. Move through the notes with shortcuts. Step to the next slide's notes without clicking away from PowerPoint, so the slide show keeps focus.
6. Check the share preview once. Look at what the call app is sending before people join. The notes should be on your screen and nowhere in the share.

Which method to use

If you present the same deck often and never leave the slides, Method 1 is free and fine. If you switch between slides and a live demo, or present from a MacBook with no second screen, keeping the notes in CueNotch saves you from re-sharing mid-talk and keeps your eyes near the camera. On a Teams call you can also use PowerPoint Live, which shows the notes to you alone.