When screen sharing a PowerPoint or Google Slides, you might see black bars on the sides of the screen share feed (letterboxing), as seen below. This occurs when the slides are one aspect ratio (e.g., 16:9 or 4:3) and your display is another (e.g., 16:10).

In this article, we will go over the steps to:

• Screen share a Google Slides Presentation
• Screen share a PowerPoint Presentation

Prerequisites

• Use Google Chrome to access Socialive
• Use Google Slides or PowerPoint Online

Screen Sharing a Google Slides Presentation

1. In Google Slides, open the presentation and navigate to File > Page Setup, and from the drop-down select either Widescreen 16:9 or Widescreen 16:10, depending on the aspect ratio of your display.
   
2. Click the caret next to the Present button and click on Presenter View. This will show the presentation in full screen within the browser tab and will open a pop-up window with the Presenter View (as seen in the GIF below).
   
3. In Socialive, click the Share Screen button.
   
4. In the pop-up that appears, select to share a Chrome tab.
   
5. Select the Chrome tab that has your slides.
6. Click Share.
7. If you see letterboxing, resize the window to fit the slides.
   
8. You should not see letterboxing in the session after re-sizing your tab (as seen below).
   

Screen Sharing a PowerPoint Presentation

1. Log in to office.com and open PowerPoint. If you don't have an account, you can create one for free.
2. Click on Upload and open... to upload the PowerPoint presentation.
3. Select the PowerPoint file from your computer and click Open. The PowerPoint will open in the tab.
4. Navigate to Design > Slide Size > Custom slide size and select from the "Slide size for" drop-down either On-screen Show (16:9) or On-screen Show (16:10), depending on the aspect ratio of your display.
   
5. In Socialive, click the Share Screen button.
   
6. In the pop-up that appears, select to share a Chrome tab.
7. Select the Chrome tab that has your slides.
8. Click Share.
9. In the PowerPoint tab, click Present.
   
10. You should not see any letterboxing in the session (as seen below).
    

Still looking for an answer?

Contact Socialive Support via live chat, email at [email protected], or submit a support ticket.