Comparison

Teams screen-share annotation vs. annotating the document

Microsoft Teams lets participants draw over a shared screen, so a fair first question about any annotation app is “doesn’t Teams already do that?” For some meetings it does. Here is the honest comparison.

What Teams’ built-in annotation does well

It is built into Teams: there is no app to add.
It works over anything the presenter can share — a website, an app, a design tool.
Participants can draw at the same time, and the annotations can be saved as a Whiteboard snapshot.

If you need to circle something on a live screen for a minute, that is the right tool.

Where it stops

The marks are drawn on a picture of one person’s screen. That has three consequences that matter in a review:

The marks belong to the screen, not the file. What you keep is an image of the moment, not a marked-up document someone can work from.
One person controls the view. Everyone else sees only the page the presenter is on, at the presenter’s zoom.
Someone has to share. The review lasts as long as one person’s screen share does.

Annotating the document itself

Annoteer opens the document inside the meeting for everyone, instead of sharing a picture of it. In practice that means:

Every mark is attached to the page it was drawn on, at any zoom level.
Each participant can read the page they need, or follow the presenter with one click.
The result downloads as the document: an annotated PDF for PDFs and decks, an annotated image for images, and the edited .docx or .xlsx for Word and Excel.
PDFs and decks can be turned into structured data — Markdown, JSON, CSV or plain text — without leaving the meeting.

Side by side

Draw on: Teams annotates whatever is shared; Annoteer annotates PDFs, PowerPoint, Word, Excel and images.
Marks live on: Teams — the shared screen; Annoteer — the page of the document.
Who sets the view: Teams — the presenter; Annoteer — each participant, or the presenter for those who follow.
What you leave with: Teams — a Whiteboard snapshot; Annoteer — the marked-up document.
Cost: Teams — included; Annoteer — €9 per user per month after a 14-day trial.

Use both. They do not compete for the same moment. Draw over a screen share to point at a live system; open the document in Annoteer when the meeting exists to review it.

Try it on your next review

Every organisation starts with a 14-day trial with no credit card. Add Annoteer from Microsoft Marketplace, then open it from the Apps button in your next Teams meeting.