My Zoom Settings
As of February,2022
More zoom Resources here: www.wildlysupportive.com/zoom
By Emily Weerts (she/hers) - Emily@wildlysupportive.com
For the Zoom
Emily & Wildly Supportive
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More zoom Resources here: www.wildlysupportive.com/zoom
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Mute Button
Start / Stop Video
See Participants List / Rename
Chat
Screen
Share
👏 👍
❤️ 😮
😂 🎉
Exit Meeting
I have like to orient participants on my Zoom calls by sharing an image that points out where the tools are:
How to Update Zoom:
Make sure you are running the latest version of the software to have all the newest features.
How to use this Slide Deck:
Look for my notes in these light orange boxes - they will (hopefully) explain what the setting means and give you examples of about why I have that particular setting turned on or off, and why you might want to do that (or the opposite).
The Personal Meeting ID (PMI) creates a virtual room, permanently available to you. Some folks use it for Office Hour style meetings or instant meetings. I don’t really use mine. More info:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203276937-Using-Personal-Meeting-ID-PMI-
This is the default display name - could be your name or a company.
This profile photo will display when your video is off. Could also be a logo.
This default is definitely the most secure, and passcodes are not a “sure thing” since they are not distinct. It’s easy to turn off passcodes when scheduling a meeting.
The waiting room is my favorite security tool - it puts folks in a waiting room and hosts or co-hosts can choose to let them in. I do this for everyone for pretty much all my meetings. It lets me cross check with registration or membership lists.
Sometimes names might vary (if they are using a different account, a business name, or a phone number could appear)
You can add a logo, title, and description to your waiting room. Remember to update it!
Puts the passcode in the link, which makes it easier to join a session, but also easier to send the link to join a meeting to a bunch of folks (so might not be as secure). I lean towards ease of entry.
By default (and recommended to be as secure as possible) passcodes are automatically turned on for all meeting types (Instant meetings, meetings using PMI, and for participants joining by phone). �If you want to make it easier for folks to join, turn on Embed Passcode in Invite Link (below) and consider turning off passcodes for certain meetings.
If you have a passcode for your meeting (you can turn that on or off in the Schedule a Meeting menu) this will also require folks joining from a phone to put in a passcode.
The Zoom Web client is an internet browser based version of Zoom (for folks who don’t have the application installed, like on a Chromebook). Turning this on would require that they are logged in to Zoom to join a meeting, it’s probably a small portion of the folks you are inviting, unless you have a ton of Chromebook users.
Requires that participants are logged in to a Zoom account. It’s more secure to have this on, but one more obstacle in the way for participants to join a meeting.
Somewhat irrelevant unless you don’t have waiting rooms, but lets phone users join directly if you don’t have waiting rooms turned on.
Would probably only be a problem if you were getting spammed by folks from a specific country or had some business reason not to let anyone from a different region join your calls.
Having these two settings off means that when folks enter the “room” their video is turned off until they or the host turn their video on.
Helps give participants options for how to join, in my experience folks just use their computers or headphones and it’s almost always fine.
Folks just see a “your host hasn’t started the meeting yet” screen until the host starts and then they are dropped into the room. If this is “on” people can join the meeting and interact before you get there.
More settings for Personal Meeting IDs (PMI) which I am not using, but might be useful for instant or “office hour” format meetings. More info: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362843-What-is-Personal-Meeting-ID-PMI-and-Personal-Link-
Add watermark might be good for accounts that are frequently sharing confidential (or semi-private) information on screens. It does, however, require that you select “only signed-in users can join meeting”.
This you might want to tweak - this has everyone automatically muted when they enter the room - good for big groups but could confuse folks. Hosts and co-hosts can unmute or mute participants.
I have had all my meetings set this way and prefer it - I do need to remind folks that they are muted when they enter the meetings.
If you want a reminder to pop up that a Zoom meeting that you have scheduled is coming up soon, turn this on. Otherwise, off is fine.
Zoom has some existing encryption enabled by default, but if you need more for security purposes, you can do this (but it will give a message that attendees need to turn encryption on on their end). For me, it’s just another barrier and not important for the type of sessions I’m hosting: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362723-Encryption-for-Meetings
Disabling chat would mean folks can’t use the chat to send message to everyone. Prevent from saving would mean that individual attendees can’t save the chat record.
This lets participants open a chat box just between themselves so is probably fine for adults but might be like “passing notes” for youth.
I also have this unchecked so my participants can save chat if they would like.
This saves chat at the end of a session as a .txt file - I just have this on so I don’t regret forgetting to save a chat when closing a meeting. Most meetings I don’t care about the chat history, and I just delete the file.
I like to hear a tone when folks join or leave but it could be distracting (or a bit hard to manage if you had dozens of participants). I think it’s not necessary for all the participants to hear it, so I do “host only”. Just plays a soft “doorbell” like sound when folks come on and an even quieter “ping” when they leave.
This is definitely a feature that I have granted permissions for currently but might remove if I’m doing big groups of folks who I don’t know super well (or if I was working with teens or something). A nice functionality for sharing but if you let anyone share anything… on the internet… you know where that might lead...
I don’t see any harm in this and honestly haven’t noticed it at all, so sure, why not? Also, Zoom is certainly overwhelmed with feedback right now.
This one also sounds distracting: Participants that join by telephone can record their name. This recording will be played back to all other participants, including those that joined by telephone, client, or all. The host will also hear the recording.
Prompts folks to give a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” at the end of a session, if they Thumbs Down it allows them to provide comments to the host that is saved in the associated meeting folder (where the chat gets saved). Not more customizable than that.
Yep! So that I can have someone else host (especially helpful for big groups or if you might have to step away). Giving the same controls seems fine by me but these can be modified.
Meetings polls and quizzes are optional, and you can set them up in advance of a session, or during a session. This is one of the settings that is great to turn on even if you don’t use it.
The meeting control bar is the buttons at the bottom of the screen, shown below. If you don’t select this setting, it disappears until you move the mouse, which is especially disorientating for folks who aren’t comfortable on Zoom.
Allows hosts to create and share a post-meeting survey, more info on how to do that here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/4404969060621
This just shows participants the Zoom toolbars while sharing your screen, unfortunately, not the host’s Zoom view. But it’s better than nothing. Might be cleaner without it turned on.
Host in this case means Hosts and Co-hosts. You can now change this setting from inside a meeting by clicking the ^ next to Share Screen. I tend to just make folks co-hosts if I want them to share screens, if you are always having sessions with trusted folks, set it to All Participants. The Share button is kind of prominent and inevitably someone will share accidentally - up to you and your setting (and capacity to moderate).
Turning this “on” disables desktop/screen share for users, so since I have screen sharing permissions granted and I don’t want folks to just share specific applications, I have this off.
Annotations are useful during screen sharing and especially whiteboard sharing - this allows folks to also draw/write/etc. - can get chaotic but also can be a fun way to engage. More info: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005706806-Using-annotation-tools-on-a-shared-screen-or-whiteboard
If you want your attendees to be able to annotate, you will probably need to walk them through the steps to turn the annotation tools on. I generally say something like:��“Near the top of your screen is a menu bar with a View Options item - select that and scroll down to Annotate to open up your drawing tools”
Also worth noting, Annotation can be done on any screen that is being shared (not just the whiteboard) so if you are sharing slides, someone can scribble or write “over” them using Annotation if it is turned on.
Allows participants to open a whiteboard for everyone to see - can add text, drawing, stamps, etc. The autosave generates a file at the end of the meeting for the host and saves it in a folder (in Documents → Zoom). Could be an opportunity to share picture of “bad things” so trust your audience.
This is really an IT feature that I don’t need, so have it turned off: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362673-Request-or-Give-Remote-Control
These are the “raise hand” “yes” “no” etc. icons under the Participant list which allow folks to place an icon next to their name. Useful for quick questions, expressing that someone is away, etc. Hosts and co-hosts can’t “raise hand”.
These are the Nonverbal Feedback icons - they are handy, especially the Raise Hand one (which jumps that participant to the top of the list). Host and Co-hosts don’t have Raise Hand.
I have this turned off because I feel like if I had to remove someone, I would really not like them to come back, but I can see instances where you might want this feature turned on. More info: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360021851371-Allowing-Removed-Participants-or-Panelists-to-Rejoin
If reactions are turned on, an icon appears in the Meeting Control toolbar and participants can display an emoji (👍👏 ❤️ 😂 😮 🎉 ) next to their photo for 10 seconds before it disappears. More info:https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360038311212-Meeting-reactions
To change the reaction skin tone, open up the settings in the Zoom application (not the web settings).
Allows participants rename themselves. When it is off, they have whatever name is associated with the Zoom account they are using. The reason to have this turned off is because people can rename themselves Bad Words if they want, so it’s another situation where you would want to know/trust your audience. At any point hosts can rename participants, but everyone would see the names before and after they were changed.
Having this “on” would mean that no ones profile photos/logos would appear when they turn their video off. Exactly like “rename” attendees could have an Inappropriate Photo as their profile picture that everyone would see if they turned their video off, so this is a balance of trust (and maturity) in your participants and limiting the functions on a call. �If folks do not have a profile photo (or their profile photos are hidden) just their name (or whatever it says in their name line) appears.
Turn this on just in case - I’m not sure how responsive Zoom has the capacity to be, but it’s better than nothing.
Here is more info about reporting: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360042791091-Report-a-participant-during-a-meeting
Yep, most of my sessions don’t have breakout rooms but I think it’s a super powerful feature and very valuable when you want to set up breakout. Just having this “on” lets you have that option if/when you want it.
More advanced IT features, like the ability to control or restart someone else’s computer. I have no need for this, so I have this turned off: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/208072316-Remote-support-session
Adds a Closed Caption button for the host - host can do CC or can assign that task to a Participant. This means that you or a participant has to live type the closed captions as the meeting is going. Overview of CC in Zoom: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207279736-Getting-started-with-closed-captioning
On third party CC devices: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115002212983-Integrating-a-third-party-closed-captioning-service
I would turn this on if I was using CC - just saves them as a .txt file in the folder for the meeting.
Allows participants to control Pan-Tilt-Zoom functions of a camera (if the camera you are using has those controls) https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203028599-Far-End-Camera-Control
Zoom is currently having a bit of a hard time keeping up with bandwidth demand, but I could see situations where you might want this.
I have Virtual Backgrounds on because it’s fun (and can be a practical way to keep your chaotic space hidden), but it could be distracting depending on your audience.
Again, participants could use any photo/image they have (however inappropriate).�
Also, allowing videos for virtual backgrounds is cool but takes a lot of bandwidth. �
Distinguishes “guests” from people who belong to the Zoom account. I am the only person on my Zoom account, so this is irrelevant to me: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115004791123-Identify-Guest-Participants
Another feature for larger/shared accounts (does not apply for a single Pro account). More info: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203736135-How-to-Use-Auto-Answer
Refers to the Video Filters in the Zoom settings (you can make yourself look like you have a slice of pizza as a hat). Fun, but definitely could be distracting. (Note: this only controls Zoom filters, not things like Snapchat). More here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115002595343-Video-enhancements#h_01EEEKW5C9492RGWQ6KN55WQJ7
Another internal workplace setting for large/shared accounts. Would only folks use the email address associated with the Zoom account to send invites (and not their personal email addresses).
Related to the Zoom Outlook plugin, I use gmail and google calendar so I don’t have this on. More info: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/200881399-How-To-Use-the-Microsoft-Outlook-Plugin
I haven’t explored the difference but it allows you to send audio in stereo if your microphone can process stereo: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115004830406-Enabling-stereo-audio
Uses sound direct from your microphone w/out Zoom’s echo cancelling & enhancements - only worth using if you have a fancy mic or sound equipment that automatically does this:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115003279466-Preserve-original-sound
Allows for a limited version of Zoom to be opened directly from your internet browser. I have it off just to limit confusion, and so far it hasn’t been an issue. More info: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005666383-Show-a-Join-from-your-browser-Link
I haven’t explored this yet, lets you enable live streaming to Facebook, YouTube, or a custom Live Streaming Service:
Mostly a consideration if you have international participants. Having the option to choose allows you to select data centers in more privacy oriented countries. Not something I’m messing with currently. More info: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360042411451-Selecting-data-center-regions-for-hosted-meetings-and-webinars
Gives the host permission to request that participants authorize host to unmute them during meetings. �Permissions, once given, will apply in all meetings scheduled by the same account.
I definitely think this is a good idea to have turned on, and would use it with student groups.
I’m pretty sure most users won’t use this feature, but it can be useful especially is a user has low internet connection. More info here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/4409500570381-Stopping-all-incoming-video-in-a-meeting-or-webinar
This lets the host rearrange the order of the Gallery View and is kind of useful in large meetings or in situations where you want different folks easily next to each other in the Zoom screen.
These features all have to do with what emails I get as the email account linked to the Zoom account.
The April 2020 Zoom update set “When attendees join meetings before host” setting to off - which is probably good. With that setting turned on, whenever anyone clicked a meeting link at any time before I had started a meeting, I would get an email (and that would happen just whenever people checked their email or whatever). I wasn’t about to start a meeting that wasn’t scheduled to start any earlier because someone mistakenly clicked the link, so I didn’t really need to get an email about that happening.
�More info about “Your Attendees Are Waiting”: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362713--Your-Attendees-Are-Waiting-Email-Notification
The When a Meeting Is Cancelled is super helpful.
The alternative hosts and scheduling a meeting for a host are only applicable settings if you have multiple accounts linked to your Zoom account, which I don’t.
I haven’t been saving meetings to the cloud, but if I do start to, I might turn this setting on.
This is a Mac/iOS features I haven’t explored but when I do, I’ll update this. Here’s some more info about this feature that I found: https://medium.com/@alexxjk_mar/blurring-app-screen-in-ios-multitasking-switcher-ea5bb3eedcd5
Set to the language the majority of your participants will be expected to use. Generates the invitation email in that language.
I don’t have anyone else on my account, but if I do, I can definitely see why this would be a useful feature, and also, you’d want to make sure that the other person wasn’t scheduling you for times you weren’t free. More info here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362803-Scheduling-privilege
These are the “keys” (like really long passwords) that are associated with your Zoom account - they are used when you install a third party apps with Zoom. More technical info about this here: https://marketplace.zoom.us/docs/guides/getting-started/app-types
Cloud recording saves in the Zoom cloud, the Pro account has pretty limited cloud storage, but you can buy more. �These checkboxes let you select what exactly is prioritized in the recording and what is saved separately (like audio and chat files).
Local recording saves a file on your computer (as opposed to the cloud). If the box is checked, hosts can let participants record too.
Could require that folks are logged into Zoom before they can watch your cloud recordings (which are able to be shared via a link).
More checkboxes that let you set specific choices for cloud recordings - for participant privacy, you might want to turn off “Display participants name in the recording”
If you need to have meetings recorded frequently (or are doing a multi-day event with a number of sessions you want recorded) it might make sense to record automatically. Then every meeting you start will start already recording everything.
If you only wanted folks in your office to view recordings, you could limit access to IP address. This is probably not as useful while we are all working remote.
Would auto delete recordings from the cloud - might be good if you have limited storage and someone isn’t going into clean up your cloud drive. Could be dangerous because a video could delete without anyone noticing and you would not longer have access to it.
Assigns a password to access any shared cloud recordings.
If you have a transcript of your recordings this would let viewers see the transcript on your recordings.
This would provide an audio indicator tone when a recording starts or is re-started. Could be good for notifying participants. I record so few of my sessions that I didn’t feel like it was important to have this feature turned on.
Sends a “This meeting is about to be recorded” popup announcement to all participants. �If the checkbox is selected, it makes participants “consent” before the recording starts (or they can leave the session).
Info about host and co-host privileges in a meeting: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362603-Host-and-Co-Host-Controls-in-a-Meeting
Good info about Chat records being saved here (basically “If a host chooses to record a Zoom meeting to the cloud, only chats sent publicly (to everyone in the meeting) are saved.” However: “If a host chooses to record a Zoom meeting locally, then chats sent publicly, as well as any private chat exchanges that the host who chose to record the meeting participated in during session, are saved.”): https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2020/03/31/are-your-zoom-chats-private-heres-why-you-should-think-before-opening-the-app/#b208a5219791
General info about saving chat from Zoom: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115004792763-Saving-In-Meeting-Chat
Difference between a Zoom Meeting and Zoom Webinar (I only have ever done meetings):
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005474943-Meeting-and-Webinar-Comparison
Sharing just music over Zoom:
Notes on updates:
11/02 - 5.4.1 is the latest version; includes bug fixes and a few feature improvements.
9/21 - Big Zoom Update today, more info here: 5.3.0: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360042414611
8/18 - Request Permission to Unmute is a new added feature that needs to be turned on in settings
8/11 - There’s a recent Zoom update, and among a few other things, there are new reaction emojis, so if you want them (❤️ 😂 😮 🎉 in addition to the existing 👏 and 👍) make sure to run the update: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360046840912-New-updates-for-August-4-2020
My Zoom Settings
As of February 2022
More zoom Resources here: www.wildlysupportive.com/zoom
Upcoming Trainings & Sessions Here: www.wildlysupportive.com/events
By Emily Weerts (she/hers)
Have questions? Email Emily!: Emily@wildlysupportive.com
Want to Jump on a call with Emily? Schedule one here: www.calendly.com/eweerts