10 Hacks Every Zoom User Should Know

Virtual meetings are essential for remote work, but they can also be tedious. If Zoom is your video conferencing platform of choice, there are many hidden features you can leverage to make meetings more efficient for hosts and more engaging for participants. Here are the best tips and tricks for getting the most out of Zoom.

Use self-selected meeting rooms to create a virtual networking event

Virtual networking is already awkward, and potentially even more so if you send people into random meeting rooms to force conversation. While meeting participants are typically automatically assigned to breakout rooms, Zoom has a feature that allows individuals to choose their breakout and move between rooms at their own pace. This creates a more flexible experience that simulates in-person networking: If you’re the host, you can name breakout rooms so attendees can self-select based on their interests or themes.

Click Breakout roomsselect the number of pieces you want to create, select Let participants choose their roomand click Create. Then click Options or gear icon and check Allow participants to choose their room And Allow participants to return to the main session at any time. Once breakout rooms are started, you will see a Rename in the Breakout Rooms window, which you can use to add a name to each space.

To join the breakout rooms, participants will click on Breakout roomshover over the number in the list and click Join > Join. They can follow the same process to move between rooms or return to the main session. Note that auto-selection is only available on desktop and mobile apps: those in the web client will need to be moved manually by the host.

Upload a CSV to pre-populate breakout rooms for large meetings

Alternatively, there are many situations where you will need to assign meeting participants to specific meeting rooms, rather than letting them choose or using Zoom’s random assignment feature, such as when you want to ensure that everyone on a team goes to the same room. This can be done manually once the meeting has started, but with large groups it’s much easier to do in advance and all you need is a CSV file. There’s a template on the Zoom support page: you’ll just need one column with the names of the breakout rooms and another with the email addresses of the participants. When you schedule the meeting, go to Possibilitiescheck Pre-assign breakout room > Import from CSV file and drag and drop your file into the pop-up window. Zoom allows you to pre-assign up to 100 rooms and 1,000 participants.

Set your slides as a virtual background to simulate an in-person presentation

When you’re presenting in person to an audience, you’re probably standing in front of projected slides, so they can watch you and your content at the same time. Zoom’s virtual background feature simulates this by overlaying your video on your screen share, so participants can see your expressions and gestures and follow your slides without having to look back and forth. (Note that this is compatible with PowerPoint or Keynote.) Click Share > Screens and select Microsoft PowerPoint from below Application windows. You can then choose the type of overlay where your video will appear:In front displays you on your shared slides. You can resize your video and drag it across the screen. Then click Share.

Share your computer audio for ambient sound during breaks

If you want to maintain a specific ambiance during meeting breaks or use music as a cue back from a break, you can share your computer audio for ambient sound. This works whether or not you’re sharing your screen, so you can leave a slide with information for participants while music plays in the background. To share audio without sharing your screen, click Share Screen > Advanced > Computer Audio > Share. You can play audio from anywhere on your device, including music streaming services and YouTube. If you also want to share your screen, click Share screenselect the program or desktop you want to share, then select Share sound > Share.

Spotlight multiple speakers to simulate an in-person panel

Zoom’s default is to highlight the current speaker’s video or icon. Depending on your perspective, it can be distracting when videos move around on your screen, especially during a Q&A session when many participants are unmuting and interacting with the presenters. To avoid chaos, Zoom hosts can highlight up to nine people as keynote speakers to appear in participants’ keynote view. (This is different from pinning a participant, which sets people as keynote speakers on your device only.)

The spotlight essentially simulates an in-person panel, allowing attendees to see all the key speakers on an equal footing. Remaining participants will be visible via a scroll at the top of the meeting screen. To highlight, hover over a participant’s video and click the button three points > Spotlight on everyone. Repeat this process by selecting Add a projector for up to nine speakers.

Add an immersive view of real meeting locations

Virtual meetings are often boring, but Zoom’s immersive view makes a presentation, class, or group a little more interesting by placing participants in real-life scenes. Instead of floating heads in small boxes, you can move participants to “sit” at classroom desks, on chairs behind a podium on stage, or even on logs around a campfire. Zoom offers predefined scenes, or you can upload an image of your actual office or outdoor space. These virtual backgrounds can accommodate up to 25 participants. As a host, click View > ImmersiveChoose whether you want to add participants to your scene automatically or manually, then select the scene. Press To start to place people in an immersive view. For custom immersive views, you will need to move participants manually.

Separate audio files for recording podcasts or educational content

Since any Zoom meeting can be recorded, it is a convenient platform for creating and recording collaborative or conversation-based content, such as podcasts, instructional videos, board meetings, and more. However, having multiple people on the microphone at the same time can make it difficult to listen, if people are talking over each other or if one participant has background noise while another speaks. In these cases, you can record separate audio files and edit them together later for a cleaner experience. As the host, on the Zoom desktop app, click your profile picture > Settings > Save and activate Record a separate audio file for each participant. This will save and save each file locally under the participant’s name.

Set up a second device as a “co-host” to manage participants and chat

Hosting a meeting in which you have to share a presentation, watch the chat, and keep an eye on which participants want to participate: it’s a lot, especially if you’re trying to do everything on the same small screen. A workaround is to log in on a second device and use one for screen sharing and the other to manage participants and chat activity. Join the meeting on both devices: On your primary device with host privileges, click Participantshover over your other profile in the list, then click More > Make co-host > Confirm. (If you are not the primary host of the meeting, you can still have co-host privileges.)

With a paid Zoom account, you can be logged in simultaneously on two devices of the same type or on a computer alongside a phone or tablet. Alternatively, anyone can log in on another device under a different account or as a guest. If you are logged in under the same profile, make sure to mute all audio on the second device to avoid feedback.

Customize your waiting room to share a live agenda and chat with attendees

If you want a more refined (or interesting) waiting room experience than the standard Zoom landing page that says “Waiting for host to start meeting,” you can customize what participants see. The simplest option is the text title for the waiting room, but you can also add an image, upload a branded logo with a meeting message or description, or include a looping video (with or without sound) that could be used to display the meeting agenda, meeting rules, and a welcome message. Activate waiting room When you schedule your meeting, go to Waiting Room Options > Customize Waiting Room > Save once you have added your customizations.

Zoom waiting rooms also have a chat feature, so hosts can message everyone in the waiting room or communicate privately with individuals. Click Cat and select the individual or Participants in the waiting room to chat with everyone.

Use AI Companion to get a summary when joining a meeting late

AI Companion is Zoom’s generative AI tool with productivity capabilities like taking notes, creating meeting summaries, and identifying action items. If enabled for a meeting, it can also answer participants’ questions in real time. This means that if you join the meeting late, you can get a summary of everything you missed without drawing attention to your lateness. Predefined questions include “Catch me up,” “Has my name been mentioned?” » and “What actions should be taken?” although you can also ask custom questions. Tap the AI ​​Companion icon in the upper right corner of the meeting and select a proposed question or compose your own. Note that the Meeting Questions feature is only available on work and enterprise accounts and must be enabled by the host.