Which Mac apps share one window?

A window is not the same source as an application, a browser tab or a display. A window covers one visible document or tool. An application source may include multiple open windows belonging to that app.

A tab excludes the other tabs in its browser. A display shows whatever appears on the selected monitor.

For calls, these Mac apps let you share one window instead of your whole screen: FaceTime, Zoom Workplace, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Slack Huddles, Webex and Discord. AnyFrame and Zone Share present a chosen rectangle. Beam places a selected window on another Mac as a resizable, optionally interactive window.

Those are three separate jobs. A call sends a selected source to participants. A cropped-region app packages part of your display for presentation. We built Beam for using a window from the other Mac as part of the desktop in front of you.

These apps can present a single window

For ordinary calls, use FaceTime, Zoom Workplace, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet in a browser, Slack Huddles, Webex or Discord. FaceTime offers one window, the open windows belonging to one app, or the selected screen. Zoom offers a specific app-window choice in its Screens picker and can add more selections when you hold Shift on macOS.

Microsoft Teams offers a screen or a window. Google Meet separates a browser tab, a window and the selected screen.

Slack Huddles offers a screen, window or application. Webex separates an individual window from the open windows belonging to an application. Discord supports an individual application window in calls and server voice channels.

These meeting apps are the better choice when the recipients are already in a call and need to watch a presentation. Check the wording in the picker before sharing. Window, application, tab and screen choices can expose different material even when their previews initially look similar.

A crop and a beamed window do different jobs

AnyFrame turns a rectangular region into a normal window that appears in a meeting app’s Share Window picker. Zone Share can mirror a custom area into a preview window or virtual camera. These tools are the better choice for an ultrawide display, a custom crop or selected parts of multiple apps. A crop remains a presentation source rather than an independent app window.

Apple’s Screen Sharing app shows and controls another Mac at display level, including virtual displays. It is the better choice when you intend to operate a remote display. Split View arranges two apps side by side in one local desktop space. It does not create a separate source on another computer.

Beam puts a window from one Mac onto another: the window itself, on your desktop, at its own size, with its own Dock icon and a place in ⌘ Tab. Drag a corner and the real window resizes over there. Keyboard and mouse input can return to the app, and clipboard interaction is optional. The picture is streamed at your display’s exact resolution, so text stays crisp.

Both Macs run macOS Sonoma or later. On the same network, Beam discovers other Macs running Beam locally. Pair them once and the connection is encrypted and pinned to those two machines.

When apart, a tailnet gives your devices a private Tailscale network. Tailscale chooses a direct path when available and may carry its traffic through Tailscale infrastructure otherwise. For a connection between your paired Macs, Beam has no account, no server, no cloud.

We use a direct Mac-to-Mac connection model. We explain the practical steps in our workflow for using one remote Mac app.

A headless Mac, meaning one without an attached monitor, gets a virtual display from Beam at Retina density. A guest link opens one selected window in a browser on another device, expires after one hour and remains view-only unless you permit input. The owning Mac serves the page itself.

Screen sharing shows people where you work; a beamed window brings the work itself to the Mac in front of you.

Verify what the receiver can see

Window sharing requires capture permission for the meeting app or browser. macOS controls it under Privacy & Security. Beam also requests Screen Recording and Accessibility on the sharing Mac, plus local-network and clipboard access when those features are used. Use this receiving-side test before presenting sensitive material or placing the other Mac out of reach.

1. Open macOS System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording and enable the meeting app or browser.
2. Start a call and choose a single window in its picker.
3. Put private content beside or behind that window.
4. Check from a second device that only the chosen source appears.
5. For Beam, pair two Macs running macOS Sonoma or later on the same network or a tailnet. Beam one window, resize it on the other Mac, and test keyboard and mouse input.

Before moving the far Mac out of reach, restart it while it is still beside you. Complete FileVault authentication if required. After startup, test the connection again and confirm that you can beam the selected window.