Teaching with Zoom

Learn the basic features of the Zoom client on Windows and Mac, including signing in and joining a meeting.

Getting started on Windows and Mac OS

Zoom regularly provides new versions of the Zoom desktop client and mobile app to release new features and fix bugs. We recommend upgrading to the latest version when it is available to receive the best video and audio experience.

Upgrading Zoom to the latest version

Zoom offers multiple methods to schedule a meeting, including scheduling from Outlook. A host has control over the options for their scheduled meetings, except for settings that an administrator has locked for all users in the account or for all members of a specific group.

Scheduling Zoom meetings

The Virtual Background feature allows you to display an image or video as your background during a Zoom meeting, which can provide you with more privacy or a consistent and professional look for a presentation. Additionally, instead of a static image, the virtual background feature, with or without a green screen, allows you to select short videos as your virtual background.

If you don’t have your own images or videos for use as a virtual background, you can use nothing and just blur the background instead.

Changing your virtual background image

The allow participants to join before host feature permits attendees to join the meeting before the host joins or when the host cannot attend the meeting. If you select this option, then the participants can join the meeting before the host joins or without the host. This can be enabled to allow participants to join anytime before the scheduled start time, or just 5, 10, or 15 minutes before the scheduled start time.

If you do not select join before host, the participants will see a pop up dialog that says “The meeting is waiting for the host to join.” If you are the host, there is a login button to login and start the meeting as the host.

Allow participants to join before the host 

Forgot your password? If you have previously registered for a Zoom account, you can reset your password using your email address.

Reset your password

There are two ways to join meeting audio: joining via computer or joining via telephone. Follow these sections to test your audio before or after joining a meeting. 

Testing audio before a Zoom meeting

You can test your video camera with Zoom before joining the meeting to ensure the camera is working properly.

Tesing your video before a Zoom meeting

You can also join a test meeting if you want to test your audio/video and familiarize yourself with meeting controls.

If your Zoom video is not responding or your camera crashes during a meeting, there are some quick fixes that can help. Common Zoom video conferencing problems are due to device settings, competing applications, or quality issues. This guide will walk you through what to do if you’re experiencing any video or camera concerns during your Zoom Meetings.

Troubleshooting Zoom video crashes

With Zoom, share your screen, desktop, or other content during a meeting, even while your video is on.

Screen sharing during Zoom meetings is designed with a collaborative environment in mind. This feature gives only the users who choose to share their screen full control over their own screen and what other meeting participants can or cannot see.

Sharing your screen or desktop on Zoom

There are three methods you can use to screen share a PowerPoint presentation in a Zoom meeting. If you have dual monitors, you can share a slide show while viewing presenter’s notes in another monitor. If you have a single monitor, you can also start the slide show in a window so you have access to other meeting features while sharing your presentation.

If you have other participants presenting portions of the PowerPoint, you can give them slide control in Zoom, so that they can control the slideshow on their end, without needing to ask you to move the slides forward.

This article covers:

– Dual monitors with slide show and presenter’s views
– Single monitor with slide show in a window
– Single monitor with slide show in full screen

Screen sharing a PowerPoint presentation

While you can share PowerPoint presentations or share Keynote presentations in meetings, you can also share your presentation as a Virtual Background for an immersive sharing experience.

Sharing your slides as a Virtual Background allows your participants to view your video imposed directly on the screen share. It also allows you to manage your presentation directly from within the Zoom meeting controls.

Note: Sound, transitions, or animations embedded in slides are not supported.

Sharing slides as a virtual background

Zoom Whiteboard provides a set of easy-to-use tools to collaborate together to capture ideas, processes, and concepts.

With features focused on fostering innovation, Zoom Whiteboard makes it simple for hybrid teams to interact in new ways for seamless collaboration.

Getting started with Zoom Whiteboard

For a more detailed walkthrough, see our Zoom Whiteboard User Guide.

Breaking into groups for smaller, focused discussions is a hallmark of the in-person meeting experience, and with Zoom’s Breakout Rooms feature, you can bring that same dynamic meeting structure to the digital space.

To get better acquainted with Breakout Rooms, here is a comprehenisve guide covering all you need to know to successfully use them in your next Zoom class or meeting.

All you need to know about using Zoom Breakout Rooms

Breakout rooms allow you to split your Zoom meeting in up to 50 separate sessions. The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually, or they can allow participants to select and enter breakout sessions as they please. The host can switch between sessions at any time.

Enabling Zoom Breakout Rooms

Managing Zoom Breakout Rooms

As a meeting host, you can pre-arrange your meeting participants into breakout rooms when scheduling the meeting. This can be useful if you already know how you want to group your participants.

Pre-assigning participants to Breakout Rooms