A beginner’s guide to using Zoom

Before the pandemic, many companies were already using the video conferencing app Zoom for business meetings, interviews, and other purposes. These days, many people who spend long days without contacting their friends and family have moved to Zoom for face-to-face and group meetings.

This is a quick guide for those who haven’t tried Zoom yet or are not yet familiar with its features (or those who have used it with friends but want to start their own meetings). Contains tips on how to start using the free version. One thing to keep in mind: One-on-one video calls can last as long as you want, while any group call on Zoom is limited to 40 minutes. If you want to have longer conversations without interruption (and want a few extra features), you can pay for Zoom’s Pro plan ($14.99 per month); You can also try an alternative video conferencing application. (Note: there are reports of the 40 minutes being extended sometimes – at least one employee Boundary An evening meeting with five friends discovered that an extension had been sent as time began to run out – but there was no official statement from Zoom that there had been any changes.)

How to sign up for Zoom

The first thing to do, of course, is to sign up for the service. You can do this from your laptop or mobile phone. Let’s first consider the web service.

1. Go to Zoom’s registration page. You may be asked to enter your date of birth first. This is because if you are under 16, you cannot open a Zoom account unless it is for school.
2. You will then be presented with several options to create an account. At the top, you can enter your email in the box labeled “Your work email address”. If you do, skip to step two. While Zoom requests a business email, a personal email should work fine. In March, it was reported that Zoom leaked some email addresses and user photos through Zoom’s Contact Directory feature, as people with certain email domains might think the app works for the same company, but Zoom had removed the domain matching feature. in april.
3. You can also create an account by clicking the “Sign in with SSO”, “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Facebook” buttons, then download the Zoom desktop app and proceed to step seven.
4. If you entered an email, Zoom will send an activation email to that address. Click the “Activate Account” button in the email or copy and paste the activation URL into your browser to activate your account.
5. On the page that opens in your web browser, you will be asked if you have registered for a school name. Assuming you are not, click the “No” button and then the “Continue” button.
6. On the next page enter your first and last name and a password
7. On the next page, you can invite other people to create a free Zoom account via email. You can skip this step if you want.
8. You will then be given a link to your personal meeting URL and have the option to click the orange “Start Meeting Now” button to start a test meeting. If you copy this URL into your browser or click that orange button, you will be prompted to download the Zoom desktop app. Follow the instructions to install the application.
9. After installing the Zoom app, you will see “Join Meeting” or “Sign In” buttons. Click “Sign In” to start your test meeting.
10. On the next screen, enter the email and password you used to sign up for Zoom in your browser. If you signed up using the “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Facebook” buttons, click the buttons here and follow the prompts.
11. Once you’re logged in, make sure you’re on the “Home” tab and then click the orange “New Meeting” button in the Zoom app. Your meeting will begin.

If you sign up for Zoom using the mobile app, the process is similar to the web. (We tested the recording process using the iOS app.)

1. Download iOS or Android application. When you open the app for the first time, you’ll be presented with options to join a meeting, sign up for Zoom, or sign in to a Zoom account. Tap “Register”.
2. You will then be asked to verify your age.
3. After doing that, you will be asked to enter your email address, first and last name on the next screen. After doing this you will “Sign Up” and then you will receive an activation email.
4. Tap the “Activate Account” button in the email you received or copy and paste the activation URL into your mobile browser
5. From here, you will be asked to complete the steps outlined above to create an account from your mobile browser only.
6. Once you get to the screen with your personal Zoom meeting URL and the orange “Start Meeting Now” button, tap either one and you’ll be taken straight to a waiting room for your test meeting in the Zoom app.
7. Tap the “Login” button at the bottom of the screen to open the meeting. On the next screen, enter your login details and tap the “Sign In” button.
8. Your test meeting will open in the app

start a meeting now

It’s easy to start a meeting after you sign up for Zoom and install the app.

Using the web app:

• open app
• If you want to start a meeting right away, click the orange “New meeting” button. A video window will open and a popup will ask if you want to join the meeting using your computer audio and test the speaker and microphone. (If you don’t want to deal with this question further, check the box at the bottom of the popup.)

• To invite people to the meeting, find the toolbar that appears when you move your mouse in the meeting window and click the small arrow on the “Attendees” button. When you do this, Zoom will open a window where you can invite your Zoom contacts, send an email with information on how to access your Zoom meeting, copy your meeting URL to your clipboard or copy a longer message with your meeting URL and search. information to your clipboard. You can also find the password for your meeting in this menu. When you’re ready, click the “Invite” button.

Using mobile app

• In the app, tap “New Meeting”
• Choose whether you want to start while the video is open and use your personal meeting ID (not recommended; see above). Then tap “Start Meeting”.
• To invite people to the meeting, tap “Participants” on the bottom row of icons, then tap “Invite” at the bottom of the next screen. By doing this you will be able to send a message invitation via various services such as Messenger, Messages or Gmail; Invite your zoom contacts or copy the invite link to your phone’s clipboard.

scheduling a meeting

Using the web app

• Click on “Program”
• A pop-up window gives you various options such as the meeting topic, scheduling, whether to use a “waiting room” (in other words, whether each participant should ask permission to enter the meeting), and whether. this is a recurring meeting
• If you click “Advanced options”, you can decide whether attendees can join before the host arrives, whether to mute attendees upon entry, and whether you want to record the session automatically.

Note: You can choose to have a unique meeting ID that will be generated automatically or use your personal meeting ID (this does not change). We strongly suggest you do the first; By using a unique ID, you make your Zoom meetings much less likely to be “Zoombombed” when trolls take over.

The scheduled meeting will be visible in the first Zoom window, which you can start or delete.

Using mobile app

• Click on “Program”
• Set the date, time and time zone of the meeting and whether to repeat it. Choose whether you want to use your personal meeting ID; if not, a unique ID is generated (we recommend using the latter; see above).
• Choose from various security options such as passwords and waiting rooms
• Under “Advanced options” you can select options such as allowing attendees to join before the host or automatically recording the meeting. You can also add it to a calendar.
• Tap on “Done” (Android) or “Save” (iOS) in the upper right corner.

Invite people to your meeting

You can invite people to a Zoom meeting in a few different ways. If you’re using the desktop or mobile apps, click or tap the Meetings tab. From here:

• On the desktop app’s front page, you should see your scheduled meeting on the right. Click the three dots to the right of the meeting title and then select “Copy Invitation” to copy your Zoom meeting URL, ID, and phone call information to your clipboard. You can then leave it in an email or text message. You can also click the Meetings tab and click the “Copy Invitation” button on the screen.

• In the mobile app, tap the “Meetings” app at the bottom of the screen. By tapping the “Send Invitation” button, you will be able to send a message invitation via various services such as Messenger, Messages or Gmail; Invite your zoom contacts or copy the invite link to your phone’s clipboard.

Once you start using Zoom, be sure to also check out our guides on how to keep your Zoom meetings safe, find keyboard shortcuts, change your Zoom background (here are a few free backgrounds you can use) and record your video. Zoom calls.

Update Oct 9, 10:40 pm ET: This article was originally published on March 31, 2020; The instructions have been updated.