Screen sharing a single window is not possible on KDE

[ManuelMoralesKw]

It's only possible or me to share the full screen instead of just a single window. How to reproduce:

- Start a "New meeting".

- Click "Share".

- Choose "User system window capture" and click "Share".

- [UNEXPECTED] "Remote control requested" is show.

- Click "Share".

- [UNEXPECTED] The whole screen is shared.

I expected to see KDE's "Screen sharing" dialog that allows me to choose a single window. This works when using the web client through Firefox.

I tried running the app with QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb or XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME and it made no difference. I also tried setting capture mode on Wayland to "Pipewire Mode" and "Original Mode". No success either.

Software versions:

Zoom: 6.1.1.443 x86_64 installed from zoom-6.1.1.443-1.src.rpm.
OS: Fedora 40 running KDE Plasma 6.1.2 on Wayland.

[OleksiyF]

I see the same on KDE Neon, started seeing it from zoom 6.1.0. And I had to return to 6.0.12 to have all the sharing works. Also here they said it could be fixed in 6.1.15

[JMFernandez]

The very same symptoms happen with version 6.1.5.871 installed from .tar.xz bundle (Gentoo, KDE Plasma 6.1.3 Wayland, Pipewire 1.2.1).

[OleksiyF]

Yes, nothing changed. Also it's nothing said about fixing the sharing in the Release Notes. So need to wait the next release

[petersaints]

I have the same issue on Fedora 40 KDE.

On Fedora 40 GNOME it works well. I am given the choice of which window I want to share.

On KDE I can only share the whole screen.

EDIT:
According to this official support page, this is something that should have been fixed:

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0059085

[petersaints]

In fact, the issue seems to be even worse than I thought. If I have two monitors, Zoom will share both of them. I rarely ever share just a single window, but I almost never share more than one screen.

The best solution right now is to use the Web client. However, it doesn't have feature parity with the desktop client. For instance, afaik it is not possible to give remote control if you are sharing your screen from the Web client.

[ManuelMoralesKw]

Exactly. That's what I had to do. I'm using the web UI. And, as you say, it's a sub par experience. I have this weird problem in Firefox in which the view streams flicker. The whole experience is very poor.

[petersaints]

Also, I have tested older versions of the Zoom Client for Linux and version 6.0.12.5501. The next version is 6.1.0.198 and this one has the same behavior as the current 6.1.6.1013.

So this is something that worked on 6.0.x but was broken when they worked on the 6.1.x version.

[OleksiyF]

Yes, and I opened the ticket for the tech support and at the end of conversation they proposed me to use either web version of zoom or use OBS as a virtual camera and share the screen through it. So now I'm still on 6.0.12

[JMFernandez]

Newer version 6.1.11.1545 still has the issue.

[ZachAtDuke]

This issue is present on my Debian 12 system running KDE + Wayland with all of these recent Zoom releases:

6.1.5.871

6.1.6.1013

6.1.11.1545

The last version that does not have this issue is 6.0.12.5501, however I worry that running this old version may not have up to date security fixes. Please address this issue as screen sharing is critical to my role at work.

[ZachAtDuke]

Still broken on 6.2.0.1855 as well...

[JMFernandez]

Still broken on 6.2.2.2028 (tested on KDE 6.1.5 Wayland, Pipewire 1.2.3, Wireplumber 0.5.6)

[dylanwolters]

Broken for me as well across Fedora & Arch! I've tried official and unofficial packages of Zoom (mainly Flatpak). You cannot select a window to screen share anymore regardless of what you select. Zoom Version 6.2.2, KDE Version 6.1.5.

[jayabbhi]

Still an issue on Fedora KDE. Discord has already figured this out, so it isn't a distribution issue, just a Zoom issue.
Version 6.2.3 (2056)

[tommi_dee]

Hello everyone,

I’m using Zoom on Linux with Wayland as my display server and have encountered the same limitation that’s being discussed here. According to the support page, "Linux sessions utilizing Wayland can only share an entire desktop or whiteboard. To share just a specific application, you need to launch your Linux session with Xorg instead."

In my opinion, this is not a sustainable solution, as Xorg is gradually being replaced by Wayland. The current recommendation to use Xorg doesn’t really satisfy me as a user. I would like to see Zoom address this issue and at least communicate that they are working on a solution.

Has anyone seen any updates or a roadmap for better Wayland support? I think many Linux users would appreciate even a small indication that this issue is being looked into.

[tommi_dee]

Thanks, anie67,
your response is as generic as it is useless.

1. I have already tried a lot of different permission settings -> without success.
2. Yes, I’m using Wayland, and I’m reluctant to cling to outdated technologies just because the developers of a single program (Zoom) don’t want to address this issue.
3. I keep hoping with every update that full Wayland support will finally be integrated.
   I would already feel a bit better if I knew that this is at least being worked on.

[ZachAtDuke]

Still broken on 6.2.3.2056 released Sept 30, 2024. ☹️

If your organization still allows older versions to connect, Zoom client version 6.0.12.5501 does work to share individual windows on Wayland. This also means that this is not something broken in the OS or other packages, but rather something that has changed to cause this issue within the Zoom client itself starting around version 6.1.x.

[ZachAtDuke]

Progress is being made with the window sharing issue on a support ticket I have open with Zoom. Hopefully a fix will be released soon!

[dataspindle]

Confirmed downgrading to 6.0.12.5501 still works and it does not work on the latest version as of today. I found the best results using the flatpack. This command will "downgrade" you to the version that doesnt have this bug.

sudo flatpak update --commit=b9505f108b5f9acb2bbad83ac66f97b42bc6a75b9c28ed7b75dec1040e013305 us.zoom.Zoom

[tommi_dee]

I finally got around to testing it. It works very well, thank you.
However, it’s not exactly the solution I had in mind.
Now there’s a new problem: Files shared in the chat are not usable.

[dataspindle]

With the "workaround" people cant control your screen in Wayland either. There are issues because its an old version of Zoom (without other bug fixes and enhancements)  at this point we are downgrading to in order to avoid the screen sharing problem. So frustrating!

[eduardom]

I'm having this issue and i notice that if i run it as root i can select the scree i want to share, there should be some kind of access right issue, that not sure if it's something i can fix on my end, i work with zoom i'm in meetings the whole day so this is a real issue for me (and i believe for all of you also) wondering if this is going to be solved

[dataspindle]

Interesting... Perhaps someone with the skills to should look into this deeper. If there a better functional workaround other than using an old version, im down. I agree with you, sounds like permissions...

[dylanwolters]

Just updated zoom to version 6.2.3 and screen sharing is still broken, but additionally the app now fully crashes when you attempt to stop screen sharing. 

Rolling back to an older version isn't ideal, but it seems to be the only workaround until Zoom developers decide to fix the linux version.

[dataspindle]

GEEZE! I was getting ready to suggest you use the flatpak, as I do and it fixed the freezing issue when you stop sharing. However I just verified and confirmed that Zoom, including the flatpak does indeed now crash when you stop sharing.... Reverting again. This def gets worse before it gets better!

[DasArne]

Same behavior here.
I use Zoom 6.2.3 (2056) under Manjaro-Linux with KDE 6.1.5 with Wayland.

[qasqaqa]

6.2.5 - screen sharing is still broken.

[dataspindle]

It looks like SOME progress is being made. The freezing issues is fixed (again) and Im seeing some new screens to talk about what specifically you want to share when you start sharing in 6.2.5.2440. Still nothing that actually lets you share only a window, or one monitor instead of all of them (if using multiple screens)

[petersaints]

This is a very annoying issue that hinders Zoom and Linux desktop as a whole. To be fair, it works well on GNOME, so if you really need Zoom and you are on the fence between KDE and GNOME, GNOME tends to be much better supported in this kind of things, even though KDE is usually more technically advanced these days.

[dataspindle]

Im sure this is obvious and most people here know this, but this is only an issue in Wayland. Zoom needs to fix Wayland support. If I start my session in X11 it works perfectly. I have glitches and other issues in X11 so defiantly not a reason to switch to that and am still doing the downgrade for now.

Just throwing it out there incase others didnt know there is a workaround that lets you use the latest version and share one screen or a window. 

[MGSR]

Hello community members!

I'm sorry for the late response and inconvenience.

Our engineering team has acknowledged this issue and is actively working on a solution.

We will update you on this thread once we have an update.

For now, thank you for your patience and understanding.