Mastering Zoom Annotations: The Ultimate 2025 Guide to Enhancing Your Virtual Meetings

Zoom stands out as one of the leading video conferencing tools currently available, and it offers a useful feature: users can draw or write on shared screens. This makes explaining ideas through screen sharing much clearer during meetings. You can use annotations on Zoom for a variety of purposes like brainstorming, giving presentations, teaching, and more. In this article, I’ll guide you step-by-step on how to use the annotation feature effectively to enhance your Zoom meetings.

Let’s begin.

Helping others understand your points during a Zoom call can be achieved in several ways. One efficient method is by drawing or inserting text directly onto the shared screen—this is called annotating. Annotations allow you to highlight specific areas or emphasize important details, making your explanations more impactful. Zoom provides several annotation tools within its client, but remember, these tools need to be enabled before you can use them.

Depending on the meeting host’s settings, you can turn annotation features on or off. If you are the host, you have the ability to enable or disable annotation options for all participants in a Zoom account by following these steps: Access the Zoom web portal, navigate to Account Management, then to Account Settings, select Meeting, and ensure that the Annotation option under In Meeting is turned on. If it isn’t active, check the box to activate it and confirm any prompts that appear. You can also set these permissions for specific groups or just for your user account when hosting a meeting.

Once you’ve confirmed that annotation tools are enabled, you’re ready to start annotating. Begin a Zoom meeting via the client or web version, then share your screen by clicking the “Share Screen” button on the menu bar at the bottom and selecting the screen you want to display. Sharing the entire desktop means everything visible on your screen can be seen, so be cautious about sensitive content. Alternatively, you can share a specific window, such as PowerPoint slides, Word documents, or any other application relevant to your discussion. When sharing starts, you’ll see a green border around the shared window or desktop, confirming the broadcast.

Click on the annotation icon—typically represented as a pen or pencil in the menu bar—to open a toolbar with multiple drawing and annotation options. Once activated, you’ll see various tools such as the selection tool for moving items, text insertion, freehand drawing, predefined shape stamping, cursor highlighting, and erasing. You can customize your annotations with different colors, line widths, and fonts, and you can undo or redo your actions as needed. If you want to keep a record of your annotations, there’s a save option to capture everything you’ve marked up. To disable annotations, simply click the mouse icon, which switches back to your regular pointing device.

As the host, you also have the authority to restrict annotations by selecting “Disable Attendee Annotation,” preventing all participants from drawing on your shared screen. If you leave this option disabled, anyone in the meeting can annotate, which can be useful for collaborative activities.The option to “show names of annotators” can be enabled, allowing anyone using the Zoom annotation tools to have their name displayed next to their drawings or writings. You can also toggle this setting off by selecting “hide names of annotators.” When you’re finished annotating, simply close the toolbar to disable smart recognition drawing and hide the annotation tools.

If you’d prefer a dedicated space to annotate directly on the screen during your Zoom session, sharing the Zoom whiteboard is an excellent choice. This allows you to have a full-screen whiteboard where all participants can draw, write, or markup in real time.

You can utilize the same annotation tools on the shared whiteboard, providing a collaborative space for noting ideas, highlighting points, or drawing diagrams together. To access the whiteboard, go to the Share Screen menu and select Whiteboard. This will open a new window where participants can begin annotating immediately.

Yes, but the availability of annotation tools may depend on the device being used by the host. While options might be somewhat limited during Zoom meetings on mobile devices like iPhones, Android phones, or tablets (such as iPads or Android tablets), the core annotation features are still accessible through the mobile app, allowing users to draw or write during the session.

Absolutely. Participants can annotate within breakout rooms just as they would in the main meeting room. The process involves selecting the annotation tool and starting to draw or write. Keep in mind that any annotations made are visible only to those within the same breakout room, not the entire session.

Annotations are a valuable feature of Zoom that enhance collaboration, especially during group projects or presentations. They allow participants to point out critical information or emphasize areas that need further attention. Using annotations is a quick and straightforward way to ensure everyone stays on the same page. Next time you’re in a meeting, try incorporating this feature to boost your productivity.

For more information, visit StepThroughThePortal.com: Understanding how to choose the right video conferencing software can help you meet all your needs. If you’re interested in other software options that offer different features, check out my post on the best Zoom alternatives of 2025.