Microsoft Teams; In this article. Desktop sharing lets users present a screen or app during a meeting or chat. Admins can configure screen sharing in Microsoft Teams to let users share an entire screen, an app, or a file. You can let users give or request control, allow PowerPoint sharing, add a whiteboard, and allow shared notes. Share the screen of another Mac. While your screen is being shared, the user of the other Mac sees what’s on your screen and can open, move, and close files and windows, open apps, and even restart your Mac. Before you start, make sure the Mac whose screen you want to view has screen sharing turned on. See Turn Mac screen sharing on or off.
Welcome to Mac Help, our new column focused on helping you, the reader, with troubles you're having on your Mac. This installment's question comes from Doug Larsen, who needs help sharing files between his and his wife's user accounts on their family Mac.
Dough writes:
My wife and I sometimes want to share files with each other. A year ago we got our first Mac but before that we were both longtime Windows users. In fact neither of us had even touched a Mac before that so everything about OSX is new to us.
I setup different user accounts for us and for the life of me I can't find an easy way to share files. With Windows you have the Public folders where files are easily shared but on the Mac there doesn't seem to be anything like it. I always have to find some clunky workaround to share a file with my wife who is using the very same machine.
There is an equivalent to the Public folders feature in Windows, but it's pretty well hidden. For whatever reason, Apple doesn't make it very easy to use. Fortunately it's not difficult to set up.
First of all, setting up different user accounts on the same Mac is a great way to keep things organized, and I wish more people would do it. You share the same applications and system files, but your individual settings and your documents are completely different. It's an efficient and productive way to let more than one person use the same Mac. So kudos, Doug, on doing the right thing.
If you check your /Users directory, you should see a folder called 'Shared.' That folder is dedicated to shared files that can be managed between different user accounts. A few of the applications I've installed use it so they can run without any trouble regardless of which user account is active, but you can use it for whatever you wish.
To access the Shared folder, simply open the Finder and select the Go menu, then select Go to folder... (or type command-shift-G). Then type /Users and hit return.
You should be staring at the list of user folders on your Mac, with a Shared folder there as well. If you'd like to make it easier to access, simply drag that Shared folder into the Favorites sidebar on the left of your Finder window, or (as I pointed out in last week's column), command-drag it to the Finder toolbar if you'd prefer to have it on the top.
Either way you'll be able to access the Shared folder instantly, so you and your wife can both have access to common files you need. Whoever created the file will retain ownership of it, so the second person will need to make a copy of it and edit the copy.
Another way to do it is to use a third-party sync tool like Dropbox, but that requires you to upload and download the file using the Internet. This way the file stays local only on your Mac, which could be an important consideration if security (or bandwidth conservation) is paramount.
Got a question? Send it to machelp@imore.com. If you need help with your iOS device, send a question to ioshelp@imore.com.
For all your USB-C needsThe HybridDrive is a USB-C dock with an SSD built in
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-->Important
Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. To learn more about this name change, read this blog post.
For details of when this change takes effect, and what actions admins might need to take, read this article.
Tip
The information in this article is intended for administrators and IT Pros. For information about activating a personal copy of Office, see Activate Office.
Shared computer activation lets you to deploy Office 365 ProPlus to a computer in your organization that is accessed by multiple users. Here are some examples of supported scenarios for using shared computer activation:
- Three workers at a factory share the same physical computer, each worker using Office on that computer during their eight-hour shift.
- Fifteen nurses at a hospital use Office on ten different computers throughout the day.
- Five employees connect remotely to the same computer to run Office.
- Multiple employees use Office on a computer that's located in a conference room or some other public space in the company.
The most common shared computer activation scenario is to deploy Office 365 ProPlus to shared computers by using Remote Desktop Services (RDS). By using RDS, multiple users can connect to the same remote computer at the same time. The users can each run Office 365 ProPlus programs, such as Word or Excel, at the same time on the remote computer.
Shared computer activation is used for situations where multiple users share the same computer and the users are logging in with their own account. If you have users who are assigned individual computers and no other users work on those computers, you use product key activation for Office 365 ProPlus.
Normally, users can install and activate Office 365 ProPlus only on a limited number of devices, such as 5 PCs. Using Office 365 ProPlus with shared computer activation enabled doesn't count against that limit.
How to enable shared computer activation for Office 365 ProPlus
If you have an Office 365 plan that includes Office 365 ProPlus, you can use shared computer activation. Make sure you assign each user a license for Office 365 ProPlus and that users log on to the shared computer with their own user account.
Note
Shared computer activation is also available for the following:
- Subscription versions of Project and Visio. For example, if you have the Project Online Professional plan or Visio Online Plan 2.
- Microsoft 365 Business subscribers, whose version of Office is Office 365 Business. But, Microsoft 365 Business subscribers won't be able to use Group Policy to enable shared computer activation, because Office 365 Business doesn't support the use of Group Policy.
Shared computer activation isn't available for Office for Mac.
To enable shared computer activation when you deploy Office 365 ProPlus, you need the current version of the Office Deployment Tool, which is available for free from the Microsoft Download Center.
The Office Deployment Tool, combined with a simple text file, is used to install Office 365 ProPlus on the shared computer, and to enable shared computer activation for that computer. Add the following lines when you create the text file.
After Office 365 ProPlus is installed, you can verify that shared computer activation is enabled on that computer.
Note
Here are some other ways that you can enable shared computer activation:
- Download and run the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant.
- Use Group Policy by downloading the most current Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) for Office and enabling the 'Use shared computer activation' policy setting. This policy setting is found under Computer ConfigurationPoliciesAdministrative TemplatesMicrosoft Office 2016 (Machine)Licensing Settings.
- Use Registry Editor to add a string value of SharedComputerLicensing with a setting of 1 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftOfficeClickToRunConfiguration.
How shared computer activation works for Office 365 ProPlus
Share Out
Here's what happens after Office 365 ProPlus is installed on a computer that has shared computer activation enabled.
Share Microsoft Application With Other Users Mac Os
A user logs on to the computer with her account.
The user starts an Office 365 ProPlus program, such as Word.
Office 365 ProPlus contacts the Office Licensing Service on the Internet to obtain a licensing token for the user.
To determine whether the user is licensed to use Office 365 ProPlus, the Office Licensing Service has to know the user's account for Office 365. In some cases, Office 365 ProPlus prompts the user to provide the information. For example, the user might see the Activate Office dialog box.
If your environment is configured to synchronize Office 365 and network user accounts, then the user probably won't see any prompts. Office 365 ProPlus should automatically be able to get the necessary information about the user's account in Office 365.
If the user is licensed for Office 365 ProPlus, a licensing token is stored on the computer in the user's profile folder, and Office 365 ProPlus is activated. The user can now use Office 365 ProPlus.
These steps are repeated for each user who logs on to the shared computer. Each user gets a unique licensing token. Just because one user activates Office 365 ProPlus on the computer doesn't mean Office 365 ProPlus is activated for all other users who log on to the computer.
If a user goes to another computer that also is enabled for shared computer activation, the same steps occur. There is a different licensing token for each computer that the user logs on to.
If a user logs on to a shared computer again, Office 365 ProPlus uses the same licensing token, if it is still valid.
Additional details about shared computer activation for Office 365 ProPlus
Licensing token renewal The licensing token that is stored on the shared computer is valid only for 30 days. As the expiration date for the licensing token nears, Office 365 ProPlus automatically attempts to renew the licensing token when the user is logged on to the computer and using Office 365 ProPlus.
If the user doesn't log on to the shared computer for 30 days, the licensing token can expire. The next time that the user tries to use Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 ProPlus contacts the Office Licensing Service on the Internet to get a new licensing token.
Internet connectivity Because the shared computer has to contact the Office Licensing Service on the Internet to obtain or renew a licensing token, reliable connectivity between the shared computer and the Internet is necessary.
Reduced functionality mode If the user is not licensed for Office 365 ProPlus, or if the user closed the Activate Office dialog box, no licensing token is obtained and Office 365 ProPlus isn't activated. Office 365 ProPlus is now in reduced functionality mode. This means that the user can view and print Office 365 ProPlus documents, but can't create or edit documents. The user also sees a message in Office 365 ProPlus that most features are turned off.
Activation limits Normally, users can install and activate Office 365 ProPlus only on a limited number of devices, such as 5 PCs. Using Office 365 ProPlus with shared computer activation enabled doesn't count against that limit.
Microsoft allows a single user to activate Office 365 ProPlus on a reasonable number of shared computers in a given time period. The user gets an error message in the unlikely event the limit is exceeded.
Single sign-on recommended The use of single sign-on (SSO) is recommended to reduce how often users are prompted to sign in for activation. With single sign-on configured, Office is activated using the user credentials that the user provides to sign in to Windows, as long as the user has been assigned a license for Office 365 ProPlus. For more information, see Understanding Office 365 identity and Azure Active Directory.
If you don't use single sign-on, you should consider using roaming profiles and include the %localappdata%MicrosoftOffice16.0Licensing folder as part of the roaming profile.
Licensing token roaming Starting with Version 1704 of Office 365 ProPlus, you can configure the licensing token to roam with the user's profile or be located on a shared folder on the network. Previously, the licensing token was always saved to a specific folder on the local computer and was associated with that specific computer. In those cases, if the user signed in to a different computer, the user would be prompted to activate Office on that computer in order to get a new licensing token. The ability to roam the licensing token is especially helpful for non-persistent VDI scenarios.
To configure licensing token roaming, you can use either the Office Deployment Tool or Group Policy, or you can use Registry Editor to edit the registry. Whichever method you choose, you need to provide a folder location that is unique to the user. The folder location can either be part of the user's roaming profile or a shared folder on the network. Office needs to be able to write to that folder location. If you're using a shared folder on the network, be aware that network latency problems can adversely impact the time it takes to open Office.
If you're using Group Policy, download the most current Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) for Office and enable the 'Specify the location to save the licensing token used by shared computer activation' policy setting. This policy setting is found under Computer ConfigurationPoliciesAdministrative TemplatesMicrosoft Office 2016 (Machine)Licensing Settings.
If you're using the Office Deployment Tool, include the SCLCacheOverride and SCLCacheOverrideDirectory in the Property element of your configuration.xml file. For more information, see Configuration options for the Office Deployment Tool.
To edit the registry, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftOfficeClickToRunConfiguration, add a string value of SCLCacheOverride, and set the value to 1. Also, add a string value of SCLCacheOverrideDirectory and set the value to the path of the folder to save the licensing token.
Note
If you're using Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) to deploy Office 365 ProPlus, the registry location is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftOffice16.0CommonLicensing.