1. Keep Zoom updated
In your Zoom application, you may click on your avatar on the upper right of the application and click on the Check for Updates link. That will tell you what version you have and if you need to update to the latest version.
- Berkeley Desktop computers can find instructions to install Zoom 5.0 here.
- All other computers download Zoom 5.0 here, and install on your computer.
- Mobile device users, go to the platform where you usually get app updates to download and update your Zoom app.
2. Use a Unique ID and (optional) Password for meetings
When you create a Zoom account, the app assigns you a Personal Meeting ID (PMI). It's a numeric code that you can give out to people when you want to meet with them. However, you have a second option, which is to generate a unique ID instead of using your PMI. This is a permanent ID so you can use it over and over which is easy if you have to schedule a lot of meetings. However, once you give that ID out, anyone who has it can potentially jump into your meetings at any time. This has also led to Zoom bombing, where random attendees can enter a meeting and show potentially inappropriate pictures or text. To prevent this you should always have the system automatically generate a unique Meeting ID for each meeting. You can also require a password for each meeting if you desire. To do this, go to your Zoom profile located at:
Login at the upper right of the page.
From there go to the upper left of the page and select Profile.
Where it says Personal Meeting ID, click edit on the right side and deselect the box next to "Use this ID for instant meetings." Then click on Save Changes.
3. Enable passwords for meetings (optional) and waiting rooms
When you schedule a meeting you are given several options. The most notable are the Password and Waiting Room.
The password option is self-explanatory. Meeting participants must enter that prior to entering the meeting. The Waiting Room option prevents people from coming into the room directly. The host lets them in. The host can let people in all at once or one at a time, which means if you see names you don't recognize in the Waiting Room, you don't have to let them in at all.
4. Make sure only the host(s) can share their screen.
You can enable this setting in advance as well as during a call.
In advance, go to the Zoom web portal (not the desktop app) and in the settings navigate to Personal > Settings > In Meeting (Basic) and look for Screen sharing. Check the option that only the host can share.
During a call, you can use the Security button to change the setting. You can also click the up-facing carrot next to Share Screen and choose Advanced Sharing Options. There, choose to only let the host share.
5. Lock a Meeting once it starts.
If you start a meeting and everyone you expect to join has, you can lock the meeting from new participants. While the meeting is running, navigate to the bottom of the screen and click Participants. The Participants panel will open. At the bottom, choose More > Lock Meeting.
6. Eject someone from a meeting or put them on hold.
To kick someone out: During the call, go to the Participants pane on the right. Hover over the name of the person you want to boot and when options appear, choose Remove.
By default, an ousted guest cannot rejoin. What to do if you make a mistake? You can allow a booted party to rejoin. Enable this feature by going to the web portal and navigating to Settings > Meeting > In-Meeting (Basic). Toggle on the setting called Allow removed participants to rejoin.
Alternatively, you can put someone on hold. During the call, find the video thumbnail of the person you want to put on hold. Click on their video image and select Start Attendee On Hold. When you are ready to lift the Hold, you can press Take Off Hold in the Participants panel.
7. If required, disable someone's camera.
Hosts can turn off any participant's camera. If someone is being rude or inappropriate on video, or their video has some technical problem, the host can open the Participants panel and click on the video camera icon next to the person's name.
8. Manage microphones.
While the call is ongoing, click Manage Participants at the bottom of the Zoom window. The Participants panel opens, and you can individually mute people and disable their cameras by clicking the microphone or camera icon next to their name. The option to mute everyone at once is at the bottom of this pane.
Mute upon entry. You can also mute everyone automatically when they join a call. Before the call starts, go to the web portal and navigate to Settings > Meetings and choose the meeting. At the bottom of the screen, click to Edit the meeting. Look for Meeting Options and check the box next to Mute participants upon entry.
If you didn't set it up ahead of time, you can still mute people upon entry when you start the meeting. In the same panel shown above, look for the More option. Click it and choose Mute participants upon entry. You'll also see an option here to let participants unmute themselves. That's a useful setting if you want people to be able to speak up or ask questions at an appropriate time.
8. Manage chat.
If you're hosting a Zoom call and have invited strangers to join, someone in your crowd could harass another participant by sending them private messages. Or people could start talking behind your back. You can prevent this by disabling private chat. When you disable private chat, it doesn't affect the public chat, which everyone on the call can see and participate in.
Open Settings in the Zoom web app (it's not in the desktop app). On the left side, go to Personal > Settings. Then click In Meeting (Basic). Scroll until you see Private chat. When the button is gray, it's disabled.
You may want to manage the chat in other ways, too. From an active meeting, click on the Chat icon in the toolbar at the bottom. A chat panel opens on the right side. At the bottom, click on the three dots and decide who participants can chat with: no one, host only, or everyone.
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These are some of the most important aspects to securing your meetings. There are many more options available but in order to have a better Zoom meeting experience, please review these points and incorporate them into your account.