can't see presentation in microsoft teams

What to do if you can’t see a shared presentation or video in Teams?

A few days ago, i was participating in a Microsoft Teams meeting with several colleagues and customers. I then noticed that the presenter was describing a slide which i wasn’t able to see. I then opened a private chat with a colleague and quickly understood that the presentation was fully visible to other participants but not to me.

In this short post i would like to describe the simple troubleshooting process i went through to be able to access that presentation. I use a Windows 10 operating system, so this should be relevant for previous Windows versions. Took 2 minutes and i was up and running.

Can’t join / view Microsoft Teams presentation – how to fix?

Step #1: check your network.

I initially thought the issue was related to my Virtual Private Network connection (VPN). I disconnected, and the issue wasn’t solved. I then look into the WIFI signal in home office – all good. Problem still there.

Step #2: Re-start Microsoft Teams

Quit and restart the Microsoft Teams app.

• From the Windows taskbar (bottom of your screen), find the Microsoft Teams icon.
• Make a right Click and hit Quit .
• Then from taskbar hit the Search icon (Magnifying Glass).
• Then type Microsoft Teams and hit Enter to launch the application.
• Next step was to try again to view the presentation, again – no luck.

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Step #3: Clear Teams cache

My third step was to reset the application cache. Here’s how that is done:

• First off, quit Microsoft Teams. Note that Teams won’t allow you to clear the cache if the app is still running in the background.
• From the Task bar, hit the Search button. Alternatively, use the Windows button + S shortcut.
• Type %appdata% .
• The Windows Explorer dialog will open. Now navigate to the Microsoft folder.
• You’ll see a folder named Teams . Make a copy of that folder, and store it in a safe place in your PC.
• Now enter the Teams folder and delete the Cache folder.
• Restart Teams, the problem should be gone.

Follow up question: How to Share Powerpoints in Teams Meetings

Here is a question from Wendy:

Hello folks, i work as a consulting in an IT software firm. So far used Webex and now transitioned to Microsoft Teams. I understand that there are several techniques to share pptx slides in Microsoft Teams for Windows. Specifically i am interested to share my presentation without showing the presenter notes to the participants (i still would like to view my notes though). One extra requirement is to be able to view the participants list and video feed of those connecting using their cameras. Any pointers are appreciated.

Thanks for the question. There are several ways to show your slides in a Teams meeting. We’ll focus on the most prevalent ones.

• Using the PowerPoint Slide view shared over Teams.
• Using your PowerPoint Presenter View and two screens
• Using the Microsoft Teams PowerPoint live sharing

Note: We developed this answer using Windows but this will work almost perfectly in PowerPoint and Teams for macOS.

Share the PowerPoint Slide View

This is probably the simplest and most straightforward option for sharing slides.

• First off, open PowerPoint and load your presentation.
• Then start or connect to your Teams meeting from your Calendar; or start a new Team meeting.
• Use the Teams share tray to start sharing your desktop.

• Then pick the Screenshare (Desktop/Window) option.

• Choose to share the content of one of your screens or the relevant PowerPoint presentation window.
• Hit Share .
• Back to PowerPoint, move to Slide Show view by clicking F5. This will allow to share your PowerPoint presentation in full screen mode.

Summary : Note that although this method is pretty simple it has shortcomings. Unless you have two screens you won’t be able to access your notes. You won’t also be able to view the Teams meeting controls when presenting, so you’ll be able to display the participants list or access the meeting chat while presenting.

Present your slides using Presenter View

If you have two screens you are able to use the PowerPoint presenter View.

• Open PowerPoint and load your Presentation slides.
• From the PowerPoint Ribbon hit Slide Show .
• Then in the Monitor section tick Use Presenter View .
• Then hit F5 (or select Slide Show and then From Beginning ).
• Now access your Teams meeting from your Teams or Outlook Calendar.
• In the Teams Meeting controls sharing tray , select Screenshare and then select the monitor that displays your slide in full screen.
• Hit Share , and present your slides.
• This is a more robust method, which allows you to see your notes when presenting, but it requires more than one screen. It also doesn’t allow you to access the Teams user interface and view the participants list etc’.

Using PowerPoint Live to present in Teams

You can now use PowerPoint live capability to improve your presentation delivery in Teams.

• First off, upload your Presentation to a Teams channel or OneDrive.
• Then access your Teams Meeting from Outlook or the Teams Calendar.
• Next, from the meeting control, select the PowerPoint presentation you would like to share. In the example below, we have only one presentation available named Share.pptx.

• If you see your Presentation in the list, you can use the Browse button (as shown above) to either upload a presentation to Teams, browse from existing presentations shared in your Channel or pick one from OneDrive.
• Once the presentation is picked you’ll see your Teams live PowerPoint view.

• As you can see, the presenter view in Teams allows you to access the your notes. Obviously the meeting participants will see the full screen view . Note that both you and participants will be able to move back and forth between the slides as needed.
• You can use the Teams meeting controls (from the lower part of the screen) to view the Team conversation and participant list.

This capability is a very cool option for presenters. Main drawback being that given the fact that it currently leverages the web version of PowerPoint, there might be some features and animations that might not fully work in PowerPoint live.

Forum Discussion

Late arrivals can't see powerpoint presentation.

PowerPoint Top Contributor: John Korchok  ✅

November 12, 2024

PowerPoint Top Contributor:

John Korchok  ✅

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Powerpoint shared through teams not allowed to open through powerpoint app

"We've encountered an error and cant open your presentation with the desktop app." Can only be opened online. How can i fix this?

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Replies (1) 

• Microsoft Agent |

Dear Peter,

From the issue title "Powerpoint shared through teams not allowed to open through powerpoint app", it seems that you open the shared file from the Files tab in Teams and encounter the error "We've encountered an error and cant open your presentation with the desktop app." when selecting Open>Open in app.

If yes, may I know whether the issue happens in both Teams Web App and the Teams application?

If it is convenient, could you click on Open in SharePoint>select the affected file>...>Open>Open in app to see whether the issue also happens?

Does the issue occur with a specific file?

Have you tried clearing the browser cache and cookies and clearing the Teams application's cache via the steps in Clear Teams cache - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn to see the result?

Thanks for your effort and time.

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

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