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Mattscreative edited this page Dec 5, 2025 · 2 revisions

Linux Screen Sharing Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to screen sharing on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including Wayland screen sharing, X11 screen sharing, and application screen sharing.

Table of Contents

  1. Understanding Screen Sharing
  2. Wayland Screen Sharing
  3. X11 Screen Sharing
  4. Application Screen Sharing
  5. Troubleshooting

Understanding Screen Sharing

What is Screen Sharing?

Screen sharing allows sharing your screen with others.

What it does:

  • Share screen: Show your screen to others
  • Remote presentations: Present remotely
  • Support: Help others remotely
  • Collaboration: Collaborate with others

Why use screen sharing:

  • Presentations: Present to remote audience
  • Support: Help others troubleshoot
  • Collaboration: Work together
  • Meetings: Share screen in meetings

Wayland Screen Sharing

Install Portals

Install desktop portals:

# Arch/CachyOS
sudo pacman -S xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-gnome

# For KDE
sudo pacman -S xdg-desktop-portal-kde

# For XFCE
sudo pacman -S xdg-desktop-portal-gtk

Using Screen Sharing

Most applications automatically use portals for screen sharing.

Applications that support:

  • Zoom: Video conferencing
  • Discord: Voice/video chat
  • Teams: Microsoft Teams
  • Browser: Web-based screen sharing

How it works:

  1. Application requests screen share
  2. Portal shows permission dialog
  3. Select screen/window to share
  4. Screen sharing starts

X11 Screen Sharing

Install Tools

Install sharing tools:

# Install VNC
sudo pacman -S tigervnc

# Or use x11vnc
sudo pacman -S x11vnc

X11VNC

Setup x11vnc:

# Start x11vnc
x11vnc -display :0 -auth guess

# With password
x11vnc -display :0 -auth guess -passwd password

# As service
sudo systemctl enable x11vnc
sudo systemctl start x11vnc

Application Sharing

OBS Studio

Install OBS:

# Install OBS
sudo pacman -S obs-studio

# Stream or record
obs

Browser Screen Sharing

Chrome/Chromium:

  • Built-in screen sharing
  • Works with portals on Wayland
  • Works with X11

Firefox:

  • Built-in screen sharing
  • Works with portals on Wayland
  • Works with X11

Troubleshooting

Screen Sharing Not Working

Check portals:

# Check portal service
systemctl --user status xdg-desktop-portal

# Restart portal
systemctl --user restart xdg-desktop-portal

Permission Issues

Check permissions:

# Check portal permissions
# Usually handled by desktop environment

Summary

This guide covered screen sharing for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions, including Wayland, X11, and application screen sharing.

Next Steps

This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.

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