Zoom software usage is at its peak. When working from home, Zoom packs enough features to host virtual meetings and webinars. Everyone can get the most out of it, from teachers running online teaching classes to small and midsize offices exchanging ideas with clients. And when it comes to this kind of exchange, users should use the screen sharing and Whiteboard features in Zoom. But many people wonder how they use Whiteboard in Zoom.
While the usual screen sharing remains everyone’s essential feature, the Whiteboard function remains a bit of a hassle. A whiteboard is useful for brainstorming with a team, explaining a topic in detail, sharing your ideas, and you can always be more creative with it.
In this article, we will talk about the Zoom whiteboard function. Where to find it, features, and other Whiteboard tips and tricks.
Where is the Whiteboard Function in Zoom
As mentioned earlier, the Whiteboard feature is not pre-existing. It can be used with the screen sharing option during meetings. To access, follow the steps below.
Stage 1: Open the Zoom app and select New meeting to start a new meeting. Share the meeting ID and password with team members.
Step 2: After everyone has joined the meeting, you can tap on Share Screen from the submenu. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Alt+S to initiate screen sharing.
Stage 3: Before you start screen sharing, you need to enable a few options from the Advanced Sharing Options. Click the small up arrow in the upper right corner of the Share Screen button and select Advanced Sharing options.
Step 4: From the next window, select ‘One participant can share at a time’ from the first option. Next, Who can share? Select Host Only. choice. When you select these two options, Zoom disables screen sharing for other participants.
Step 5: Now tap on Share screen or use the keyboard shortcut Alt + S to open the screen sharing menu.
Step 6: Here you have a bunch of options to share the screen. You can select open application windows, attach files from OneDrive or Google Drive, use part of the screen, or select the Whiteboard function.
Step 7: Select Whiteboard and tap share in the lower right corner.
Zoom will open the Whiteboard with a toolbar consisting of a set of functions to use in the Whiteboard. Let’s pass them.
Whiteboard Editing Functions
Unlike the basic Whiteboard from Microsoft Teams, Zoom provides a number of useful features for the presenter in the Whiteboard. Let’s take a look at some of the vital options available.
To draw: The drawing menu consists of a number of shapes you can choose from. You can use arrow, circle, rectangle and other tools from the drawing menu. It’s much better than Microsoft’s highlighter and pen tool in Teams.
Stamp: As the name suggests, the stamp menu offers several ready-to-use stamps. Arrow, star, heart, question mark, cross, etc. they contain. You can select the relevant stamp from the menu and tap the whiteboard to add it.
Text and Format Menu: This is one of the many reasons why many people prefer Zoom over Microsoft Teams to use Whiteboard. Zoom lets you add text to the whiteboard. You can also change the text color, size, add a bold or italic effect.
Apart from that, you can use the undo, redo and clear options to make the changes. The save button is a must have for everyone. After brainstorming with the team members, you should save the current Whiteboard to PC. Press Save and the Whiteboard is saved as an image in the Zoom folder on the device.
If the Single Whiteboard is small enough for you, you can tap the small icon below the Whiteboard and it will open the new Whiteboard for you. You can move between them using the arrows.
It’s a security feature to keep in mind when sharing a Whiteboard on Zoom. During a live video call, you can tap the Security button at the top of the screen sharing window and disable Annotate Shared Content from the Allow Participants menu. It will prevent other members from annotating the screen shared on Zoom.
Chat During Screen Sharing
Pro Tip: Use Zoom Keyboard Shortcuts to quickly open options instead of navigating menus.
Select Chat from the menu below and the chat window will open to send a message to everyone. You can also use file integration from chat windows and share related files with team members.
Record Meeting
Zoom also lets you record a meeting for future reference. To record the meeting, you can start the recording by pressing Alt + R. Alternatively, you can tap More from the options bar at the top of the window and select Record to start the recording.
You can record a simple video or audio video of your screen sharing session or whiteboard activities.
Use the Whiteboard Like a Professional
I can see Zoom’s Whiteboard functionality becoming popular in the education industry. I’ve seen teachers use it to mimic the physical classroom whiteboard on Zoom’s whiteboard and teach long subjects using Zoom’s multi-boards. As for us, we use Zoom Whiteboard to discuss the code logic among the junior developers on the team.
Next: Want to learn how to use zoom like a power user? We have a great guide to help you with this. See below.
