Update Your Mac to Avoid a Humiliating Screen Sharing Disaster
Apple released a new update for Mac on Tuesday, December 19th. However, when you install the update, you won’t find a bunch of new features and changes like you did when you updated to macOS 14 Sonoma . Instead, the update might just save you at your next virtual meeting. According to Apple’s security release notes , macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 fixes a single WindowServer bug: “A user sharing their screen may unintentionally share incorrect content.” Yes.
The bug affects WindowServer, the process in macOS responsible for drawing windows and other elements on the screen. So this applies to all macOS and is not application specific. It’s unclear how exactly this bug might work, but based on the description, it appears that macOS randomly displays the wrong window when you choose to share your screen during a video call. There’s no telling what window your Mac will decide to show, but I’m guessing you have a lot of windows open on your screen that you might not want to accidentally share with clients, colleagues, or corporate employees.
As for FaceTime , there are several ways to share your screen: you can share a specific window, all windows of a selected application, multiple windows, or your entire screen at once. Ignoring the latter option, it’s safe to say that relying on versions of macOS prior to 14.2.1 to share the windows of your choice is a risky proposition. Since the bug affects WindowServer and not FaceTime specifically, this likely applies to all video conferencing apps and services, including Zoom and Google Meet.
If you use any kind of screen sharing at work or in your personal life, you should update your Mac as soon as possible. You may also want to update other Apple devices: Apple has also released updates for iPhone (iOS 17.2.1 and iOS 16.7.4) and iPad (iPadOS 17.2.1 and iPadOS 16.7.4), but has not released release notes for either these updates. So we don’t know exactly what bugs or security vulnerabilities each of them fixes.
How to update to the latest version of macOS
To fix this screen sharing error, go to System Settings > General > Software Update . Allow macOS to check for the latest updates, and then click Update Now when macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 appears.