7 Tips & Tricks to Use Zoom Cloud Meetings Like A Pro

by Hariom Balhara Digital Marketing Manager

Zoom Cloud Meetings is a video conferencing application software that supports various operating systems, be it MacOS, Windows, Android, and more. It is one of the most popular video chat apps that is helping people to connect during social distancing. Due to the ongoing health crises, people in the world are forced to stay in their homes. Now it has been a long when people met physically with each other.

In case you have started using Zoom video conferencing software, then you might be using it just like any other video calling app, but Zoom is much more than a normal chat app. It is equipped with a plethora of modern and crazy features that can make you wonder.

In this article, we are going to tell you what are some cool features of the app and how you can master in using Zoom. Here are the top 7 Tips & Tricks to Use Zoom Cloud Meetings Like A Pro.

Virtual Background

First and foremost, if you are hesitating to make a video call with your colleagues or formal people because your house is messed up, then this feature is for you. By choosing a virtual background in the Zoom Cloud Meetings app, your actual background can be replaced with a virtual background.

There are several virtual background options in the app that you can use while making a video call when your home feels untidy.

To enable Virtual background in the Zoom app, go to Settings and then head to Virtual background. There you can see several virtual backgrounds to choose from, and you can even upload a custom image for using as your background.

So from now on, don’t feel embarrassed while making a video call in your messy house; make sure to wash your face if you are making a formal meeting.

Unmute and Mute With Spacebar

It could be hard to unmute yourself with your mouse quickly, so it is good to know the quickest way to unmute your mic when you are asked to say something. You have to only press the Spacebar key on your keyboard to mute or unmute your mic on Zoom.

Keep Your Camera and Mic Off While Joining a Meeting

When you join your meeting on the application, it can be hard to turn off your video and audio quickly. It can also cause some loss of self-confidence since your video and audio instantly appear to other members, and if you are not ready, it can make you uncomfortable.

It is best to keep your audio and video off while joining a video in advance, and when you feel ready to show you face, you can turn it on. To keep your camera and mic off in advance, follow this guide:

Head to Settings in your Zoom app.
Then choose the Audio tab from your left menu.
After that, go to the option saying, “Mute microphone when joining a meeting.”
Then head to the Video tab on the left menu.
Once there, go to Turn off my video when joining a meeting.

Get to Know All Keyboard Shortcuts

Don’t delay some actions while in a meeting by using your mouse cursor. Using the mouse to perform certain things quickly may feel pity, so you should learn the basic keyboard shortcuts for using the Zoom app functions. Here are some basic shortcuts keys for Zoom Cloud Meetings:

Alt + V: Start/Stop Video
Alt + A: Mute/unmute audio
Alt + S: Launch share screen window and stop screen share
Alt + F2: Switch to gallery video view in video meeting
Alt + N: Switch camera
Alt + F: Enter or Exit full screen
Alt + Y: Raise/lower hand
Alt + F1: Switch to active speaker view in video meeting
Ctrl + T: Jump to chat with someone
Alt + Shift + T: Screenshot
F6: Navigate among Zoom popup windows.

Switch to Gallery Mode

The gallery mode helps you see the videos of all participants at once. By default, you see the speaker’s view, which makes you only see the speaker. To open gallery view or mode in the Zoom app, find the option that says Gallery view in the upper right corner of the interface. Then click on it to open the Gallery Mode. If the participants are more than 49, then you will not be able to see all members at once. You will need to slide to the left to see more screens.

Hide the Non-video Members

The non-video members on Zoom can fill the gallery space that will make you scroll through multiple slides in order to see all faces. To avoid this, just hide the participants that have turned off their videos.

To do this, navigate to Settings and then to Video.
After that, go to Meetings.
Select the option named as Hiding non-video participants.

Now you are good to go as you will not see the screens of the members who are not using video. This will make you see the most participants in the Gallery Mode at once.

Share Your Display

You can even share your device screen so that other participants can view your device display while a meeting is live. To share your screen on Zoom Cloud Meetings, follow these steps:

Navigate to the Share Screen button on the toolbar on the lower part of the app.

You can share your whole screen or a particular window that you want to show other participants.

When you want to stop it, simply head to Stop Share icon.

This option can also be used by the participants to make a distraction between meetings, so make sure to limit the screen sharing feature to the host or only trusted ones. Here’s how to stop participants from screen sharing on your Zoom app:

At the host controls, press the arrow beside to Share Screen.
After that, go to Advanced Sharing Options.
Inside the option saying “Who can share?” make sure to select the Only Host option.
Then close the current window.
Now you can only share the screen on the Zoom app.