Improve and troubleshoot your Zoom experience

• Overview
• Improve your experience
  • Review technical requirements
  • Check your network
  • Adjust your computer's settings
  • Adjust Zoom settings
• Troubleshoot
  • I can't join my meeting
  • I've joined my meeting, but no one else is here
  • I can't hear or talk to people
  • I want to turn off Zoom's automatic audio adjustments
  • People can't see me
  • My video is poor quality
  • I can't screenshare a video with sound
  • I can't access my recordings, I accidentally deleted a recording, or I can't record
  • My recording won't convert
  • Error adding alternative hosts
  • My problem isn't listed here

Overview

If Zoom appears to distort audio or video, or does not perform in a manner you expect, use the information here to improve your experience, or troubleshoot issues.

Improve your experience

Review technical requirements

Review Zoom's system requirements and ensure your system meets these recommendations.

Check your network

• Check your network speeds using one of the free services available online. Zoom's system requirements recommend a minimum of 1.5 Mbps for both upload and download speed. If necessary, check with your internet service provider.
• Power cycle your modem/router, if possible.
• If you're on a wireless connection:
  • Confirm that you have a strong signal.
  • Connect to a 5 GHz network (rather than 2.4 GHz), if possible.
  • Limit the number of devices connected to your wireless router.
  • Consider switching to a wired connection.
• Ensure that other devices on your network aren't consuming bandwidth; these could include cloud-connected security cameras, cloud backup solutions, smart TVs, streaming devices, smart hubs, gaming devices, or other cloud or internet-connected devices. You can turn them off, lower the bandwidth they consume by adjusting performance settings, or make other changes that may improve the amount of bandwidth available for Zoom.
• If you're using a network-wide VPN, consider disabling it.
  Important:

  Do not disable any necessary devices that help protect or otherwise secure your network.
• If you can't improve or resolve your connection, check with your internet service provider.

Adjust your computer's settings

• Restart your Zoom client.
• Restart your computer.
• Update system drivers, especially network drivers, if necessary.
• Close out of any unneeded programs, especially those that use the internet. This could include office applications, additional browser tabs, or anything that uses system or network resources. Closing out of these items will free more system resources for Zoom to use.
• Stop all downloads, uploads, or other unnecessary processes that are using network resources.
• Ensure that your devices are up to date.
• Ensure that your application(s) are up to date, especially the Zoom client.
• Disconnect from any VPNs you may be using.

Adjust Zoom settings

• Disable HD Video from your Zoom client:
  1. While not in a call, click the Home tab.
  2. Click the gear icon (Settings).
  3. In the left Navigation pane, click Video.
  4. Uncheck Enable HD.
  5. Click X in the top right corner to close the Settings window.
• Disable "Touch up my appearance" from your Zoom client:
  1. While not in a call, click the Home tab.
  2. Click the gear icon (Settings).
  3. In the left Navigation pane, click Video.
  4. Deselect Touch up my appearance.
  5. Click the X in the top right corner to close the Settings window.
• Mute your audio when not speaking.
• Consider disabling your webcam if it's not necessary.

Troubleshoot

I can't join my meeting

If you're unable to join a meeting, check these items:

• If you're on a desktop or mobile device, be sure you've installed the Zoom client and that it's up to date; see Viewing the Zoom version number
• If you've received any of these messages:
  • You are on hold: The host has enabled a waiting room; you'll remain on hold until the host admits you into the meeting room.
  • Room connector is not enabled for this meeting: If you are using videoconferencing equipment to join a meeting hosted by a free Zoom account or an account that doesn't have the room connector enabled, you will receive this error. Connect to the meeting using a desktop or mobile device instead.
  • Please wait for the host to start this meeting: The Join before host feature is not enabled, and the host has not yet joined the meeting. Hosts automatically receive email asking them to join. You will be prompted to join the meeting a short time after the host joins.
  • Please enter the meeting password: The meeting requires a passcode; enter the passcode provided by the meeting host (in the Zoom meeting invitation). If you do not know the passcode, contact the meeting host for assistance.
    Note:

    If you are connecting via telephone or an H.323/SIP videoconferencing system, and the IU Zoom meeting passcode contains alphabetic characters, check the meeting invitation for an all-numeric passcode (which Zoom generates automatically when the host sets a passcode containing alphabetic characters); for instructions, see Connect to Zoom from a videoconferencing room.
  • This meeting does not allow phone dial-in: The host may only have allowed VoIP audio. In this case, if you dial into the general Zoom teleconferencing number and enter the meeting ID, you will hear the message above and the call will disconnect. You will need to join the meeting with a computer or a smartphone app.
  • Not meeting host. (3,003): If you received a link to a Zoom meeting in the format http://iu.zoom.us/meeting/123456789, change /meeting/ in the URL to /j/ and try to connect again. For example, http://iu.zoom.us/meeting/123456789 should instead be http://iu.zoom.us/j/123456789.

I've joined my meeting, but no one else is here

If you've joined a meeting but don't see other participants:

• Confirm with the meeting host that the meeting has begun. If it has, ask for the meeting ID at the top of the host's Zoom window (for example, Zoom Meeting ID: 123-456-7890) and compare that to the meeting ID at the top of yours. If they don't match, you've joined a different meeting. Ask the host for the meeting ID, and join that meeting.
• If you're the host, check whether the waiting room is enabled. If it is, you may need to manually admit your participants before they can join your meeting.

I can't hear or talk to people

If you're unable to hear or talk to people in a meeting:

• Check the attendee controls at the bottom of your meeting window. If you see the Join Audio icon on the far left, click it. (If you've already joined your audio, you'll instead see the mute/unmute icon .)
• To check whether the issue is related to the Zoom program, see:
  • Testing computer or device audio
  • My audio is not working on iOS or Android
  • Audio settings for iOS (iPhone, iPad)
• If your audio isn't working in the Zoom client outside of the meeting, try troubleshooting the device itself. For instructions, see Troubleshoot audio and video issues on your computer or mobile device.
• The host may have allowed only telephony audio. In this case, you will not see the message "join meeting with computer audio". You may still be able to join the meeting with video or via phone.

I want to turn off Zoom's automatic audio adjustments

For musical content, applied lessons, or other situations where preserving audio quality is important, you can change Zoom's audio settings to minimize automatic adjustments such as gain, extended frequency response, and echo cancellation.

While turning off automatic adjustments can preserve the natural sounds of music, singing, or spoken word, it also requires meeting participants to position their microphones and speakers properly, and to manually adjust their microphone levels. Good conferencing etiquette is also important with these settings; participants should use headphones when possible and mute their microphones when not speaking or playing.

These are advanced features; the instructions below assume you have basic knowledge of Zoom and your computer's audio and video settings.

To turn off automatic audio adjustments:

1. Log into Zoom.

2. Select Settings from the menu at the top or left side of the page.
3. Under "In Meeting (advanced)", make sure these settings are toggled on (blue):
   • Allow users to select stereo audio in their client settings
   • Allow users to select original sound in their client settings
4. Launch your meeting normally.
5. Each meeting host and participant must then:
   1. From the Zoom client, click the gear icon (  ) in the upper right.
   2. Select Audio from the menu on the left.
   3. Under the microphone settings, uncheck Automatically adjust volume.
   4. Click Advanced in the lower right.
   5. Check Show in-meeting option to "Enable Original Sound" from microphone.
   6. From the drop-down menus under "Audio Processing", set "Suppress Persistent Background Noise" and "Suppress Intermittent Background Noise" to Disable.
   7. Close the settings window.
   8. At the top of the meeting window, a Turn [on/off] Original Sound button will now be visible. Turn original sound on to transmit more natural audio to other participants. Turn it off to restore default settings.

Remember that each participant will need to adjust their settings to transmit natural sound. Be prepared to advise other participants on how to adjust their audio settings and speaker and microphone placement for best results.

People can't see me

If you've joined a meeting successfully but others can't see you:

• Make sure your video isn't turned off by checking the Start Video icon in the attendee controls at the bottom of your meeting window.
• If you're connecting from a Lenovo device and your video isn't working, see Video not working on Lenovo devices.
• If your video isn't working in the Zoom client outside of the meeting, try troubleshooting the device itself. For instructions, see Troubleshoot audio and video issues on your computer or mobile device.

My video is poor quality

• The "Optimize for full screen video clip" setting greatly reduces video quality. Restart the screen share with that setting unchecked.
• If you are experiencing a problem with the internet or the device itself, see Troubleshoot audio and video issues on your computer or mobile device.

I can't screenshare a video with sound

Make sure you've muted unneeded microphones (your device and/or the Zoom meeting microphone). After you click Share to share your screen, select Share computer sound in the lower left of the screenshare window.

I can't access my recordings, I accidentally deleted a recording, or I can't record

• If your meeting is missing from the recorded meetings list in the Zoom client (for example, as a result of pressing Delete in the Zoom client for a recorded meeting), you may be able to find the recording on your device in its Zoom recordings folder.

  To see where your Zoom recordings are stored, see the "Change location for Recording" section of Local recording. Recordings will be named in the format double_click_to_convert_01.zoom. When you find the .zoom file you are looking for, double-click it.

  Note:

  Pressing Delete in the Zoom client removes the recording from the recorded meetings list in Zoom, but not from the device itself.
• Only current hosts can record a meeting. If you can't record, check to see whether you're the host by clicking the Participants icon in the attendee controls at the bottom of your meeting window; if you aren't the host, you can ask the host to record the meeting.

For more about recording Zoom meetings, see Create and store recordings of Zoom meetings.

My recording won't convert

Your device might be low on disk space. To check, see:

• Windows 11 and Windows 10: Find out how much storage your PC has
• Windows 8.x: Tips to free up drive space on your PC
• macOS: How to free up storage space on your Mac

Error adding alternative hosts

• To add an alternative host, you must enter that person's full @iu.edu email address, even if the person's primary email address uses another domain. Zoom recognizes @iu.edu email addresses only.
• The desired host must have logged into Zoom at least once before you can add that person to any meeting.
• People from outside IU cannot be added as hosts. This includes people with free or individual accounts, or accounts from other institutions.

My problem isn't listed here