10 Life Hacks Every Zoom User Should Know
Virtual meetings are essential for remote work, but they can also be tiring. If Zoom is your video conferencing platform, there are plenty of hidden features you can use to make meetings more efficient for hosts and engaging for participants. Here are the best tips and tricks for getting the most out of Zoom.
Use custom breakout rooms to create a virtual networking event.
Virtual communication is already awkward, and sending people into random breakout rooms to force conversation can make it even more difficult. While meeting participants are typically automatically assigned to breakout rooms, Zoom has a feature that allows everyone to choose a breakout room and move between them at their own pace. This creates a more flexible experience that mimics in-person interactions. If you’re the host, you can name breakout rooms so participants can choose them based on their interests or topics.
Click “Breakout Rooms,” select the number of rooms you want to create, select “Allow participants to choose a room,” and click “Create.” Then click “Options” or the gear icon and check “Allow participants to choose a room” and “Allow participants to return to the main session at any time.” Once the breakout rooms are launched, a “Rename” option will appear in the rooms window, allowing you to name each room.
To join groups in individual rooms, participants should click “Group Rooms,” hover over the number in the list, and click “Join” > “Join.” They can also move between rooms or return to the main session in the same manner. Please note that self-selection is only available in the desktop and mobile apps—in the web client, participants must be manually moved to the room by the host.
Upload a CSV file to automatically populate breakout rooms for large meetings.
Alternatively, there are many situations where you’ll want to assign meeting participants to specific breakout rooms instead of letting them choose themselves or using Zoom’s random assignment feature—for example, when you want to ensure everyone on your team is assigned to the same room. This can be done manually after the meeting starts, but for larger groups, it’s much easier to do it in advance, and all you need is a CSV file. Zoom’s support page has a template : you’ll just need one column for breakout room names and another for participant email addresses. When scheduling a meeting, go to “Settings,” check “Pre-assign breakout rooms” > “Import from CSV,” and drag 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 presenting in person to an audience, you’re likely standing in front of your projected slides, so your audience can see both you and your content at the same time. Zoom’s virtual background feature mimics this by overlaying your video on the screen, allowing participants to see your facial expressions and gestures and follow your slides without distraction. (Note that this is compatible with both PowerPoint and Keynote.) Click Share > Screens and select Microsoft PowerPoint under Application Windows . Then, choose the overlay type for your video— “Front” displays you on top of your slides. You can resize the video and drag it around the screen. Then, click Share .
Connect audio from your computer to create background noise during breaks.
If you want to maintain a certain atmosphere during meeting breaks—or use music as a cue to return from a break—you can share computer audio to create background noise. This works whether you’re sharing your screen or not, so you can present a slide with information for participants while playing music in the background. To share audio without sharing your screen, tap Share Screen > More > Computer Sound > Share . You can play audio from anywhere on your device, including music streaming services and YouTube. If you also want to share your screen, tap Share Screen , select the program or desktop you want to share, and select Share Audio > Share .
Highlighting multiple speakers simulates an in-person discussion.
By default, Zoom highlights the video or icon of the current speaker. Depending on your perspective, this can be distracting as videos move across the screen, especially during Q&A, when many participants are unmuting and interacting with the presenters. To avoid chaos, Zoom hosts can designate up to nine people as primary speakers, who will appear in the participant’s primary speaker view. (This is different from participant pinning, which sets people as primary speakers only on your device.)
The “Highlight Speaker List” feature simulates in-person participation in a discussion, allowing participants to see all keynote speakers equally. Other participants will be visible as a scrolling list at the top of the meeting screen. To highlight speakers, hover over a participant’s video and click the three dots > “Highlight All.” Repeat this process, selecting “Add Highlight Speaker List” for nine speakers.
Add a fully immersive experience to real-life meeting locations.
Virtual meetings can often be boring, but Zoom’s Immersive View feature makes presentations, classes, or group discussions a little more engaging by placing participants in a real-life setting. Instead of seeing heads floating in small squares, you can move participants around so they’re “sitting” at desks in a classroom, in chairs behind a podium on a stage, or even on logs around a campfire. Zoom offers pre-made scenes, or you can upload an image of your real office or open space. These virtual backdrops accommodate up to 25 participants. As the host, click View > Immersive View , choose whether to add participants to the scene automatically or manually, and select a scene. Click Start to place people in the Immersive View. For custom Immersive Views, you’ll need to move participants manually.
Individual audio files for recording podcasts or educational content.
Since any Zoom meeting can be recorded, it’s a convenient platform for creating and saving collaborative or discussion-based content, such as podcasts, training videos, board meetings, and more. However, if multiple people are using the microphone at the same time, listening can be difficult—for example, if participants are speaking at the same time or one participant creates background noise while another is speaking. In such cases, you can record separate audio files and edit them later for better audio quality. As a host in the Zoom desktop app, click your profile picture > Settings > Recording and enable “Record a separate audio file for each participant.” This will record and save each file locally under the participant’s name.
Set up a second device as a “co-host” to manage participants and chat.
Running a meeting where you need to simultaneously present, monitor chat, and manage participants is a real challenge, especially if you’re trying to do it all on one small screen. As a workaround, sign in to a second device and use one for screen sharing and the other for managing participants and chat activity. Join the meeting on both devices: on the primary device with host permissions, tap Participants , hover over your other profile in the list, then tap More > Make Co-Host > Confirm . (If you’re not the primary meeting host, you can still be given co-host permissions.)
With a paid Zoom account, you can simultaneously log in to two devices of the same type, or to a computer and a phone or tablet. Additionally, anyone can log in on another device using a different account or as a guest. If you’re logged in under the same profile, be sure to mute the second device to avoid feedback.
Set up your waiting room to display the event agenda in real time and chat with attendees.
If you want your Waiting Room to look more engaging (or interesting) than the standard Zoom landing page that says “Waiting for the host to start the meeting,” you can customize what participants see. The simplest option is a text title for the Waiting Room, but you can also add an image, upload a branded logo with a message or meeting description, or include a looping video (with or without sound) that can be used to display the meeting agenda, meeting rules, and a welcome message. Enable the Waiting Room when scheduling a meeting, then go to Waiting Room Settings > Customize Waiting Room > Save after adding the settings.
Zoom Waiting Rooms also feature a chat feature, allowing hosts to send messages to all Waiting Room participants or chat privately with specific individuals. Click “Chat” and select an individual Waiting Room participant or participants to start a chat with everyone.
Use AI Companion to get a quick overview of the meeting if you’re running late.
AI Companion is a Zoom tool powered by generative AI and offers productivity features like note-taking, meeting summaries, and action item generation. When enabled for a meeting, it can also answer attendee questions in real time—meaning if you join late, you can get a quick recap of what you missed without drawing attention to your tardiness. Preset questions include “Give us a rundown of the meeting,” “Was my name mentioned?” and “What action items need to be completed?”, though you can also create your own questions. Tap the AI Companion icon in the upper-right corner of the meeting and select a suggested question or create your own. Please note that Meeting Questions is only available for enterprise accounts and must be enabled by the host.