Zoom Tips: The Settings and Features Most Users Never Find (2026)

Zoom has been the world's most popular video conferencing platform for five years. It has also added hundreds of features during that time, most of which live in menus that casual users never open. We have been testing Zoom thoroughly across every major update — here are the settings and features that actually improve your call quality, your productivity, and your security.

This guide covers video settings, audio settings, security, breakout rooms, reactions, recording, screen sharing, and Zoom's 2026 AI features. For platform comparisons, see our guides on Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. For general video call setup, see our best practices guide.

Zoom Video Settings You Must Change

These settings are not enabled by default. Changing them is the fastest way to significantly improve how you appear to others on Zoom.

Enable HD Video

Settings → Video → Camera → HD (checkbox)

This is off by default on all accounts. Enabling HD bumps Zoom's output from 360p/480p to 720p on Free accounts and up to 1080p on Pro and above. It is the single most impactful quality toggle available in Zoom. Enable it now.

Touch Up My Appearance

Settings → Video → Touch Up My Appearance

Leave this off. At any intensity above about 20%, this feature creates an artificial, plastic-skin effect that reads as obviously filtered in close-up video. Good lighting should handle your appearance naturally. If you feel you need the effect, your lighting setup needs improvement — see our lighting guide.

Adjust for Low Light

Settings → Video → Adjust for Low Light

If your environment is poorly lit, switch from Auto to Manual and set the slider to about 35–40%. Auto mode over-corrects and introduces visible graininess. Manual at a moderate setting provides useful brightness boost without the quality loss. Leave it on Auto only if your lighting changes throughout the day and you want hands-free adjustment.

Video Aspect Ratio

Settings → Video → Aspect Ratio

Set to 16:9 widescreen. The 4:3 option, which some older systems default to, displays as a small box surrounded by black bars on modern widescreen displays. 16:9 fills the available space and looks more contemporary.

Always Display Participant Names

Settings → Video → Always display participant names on their video — enable this for meetings with people you do not know well. It eliminates the awkward "who was that?" moment at the end of a call.

Zoom Audio Settings

Select Your Microphone Manually

Settings → Audio → Microphone

Never let Zoom auto-select your microphone. Auto-selection can switch to a different device (a built-in mic, a monitor's built-in mic, a headset mic) unpredictably when you connect or disconnect devices. Select your preferred microphone explicitly and leave it set.

Background Noise Suppression

Settings → Audio → Background Noise Suppression

Set to Auto for typical home offices. Set to Highif you work in a genuinely noisy environment — kitchen, shared space, near construction, or with kids or pets present. High suppression can slightly affect voice quality at the edges of words; Auto handles the trade-off better for most situations.

Music and Professional Audio

Settings → Audio → Music and Professional Audio

If you ever play audio (music, video clips, presentations with sound) during a call, enable Show in-meeting option to enable Original Sound for Musicians. This adds a toggle in the call toolbar that bypasses noise suppression — essential because noise suppression otherwise processes and degrades audio output quality.

Zoom Security Settings

Zoom's default security settings are reasonable but can be improved. These settings are particularly important for external or public meetings.

Waiting Room

Settings → Security → Waiting Room

Enable waiting room for all meetings with external participants. This gives you control over who joins — you must admit each person. It prevents uninvited guests from joining before the meeting starts and allows you to see who is waiting before admitting them. For internal team meetings, waiting room can be turned off to reduce friction.

Meeting Passcode

Settings → Security → Passcode

Enable passcode for any meeting link you share publicly or post on a website. Zoom embeds the passcode in the meeting link by default (it can be one-click joining), but it prevents the link from being used without the encoded passcode, significantly reducing the risk of Zoom-bombing.

Who Can Share Screen

In-meeting security settings (Host Controls) → Screen Sharing: Host Only

Change screen sharing permissions from "All Participants" to "Host Only" for any meeting with external guests or more than 10 participants. Accidental or intentional screen shares from participants can derail meetings. You can grant individual participants permission to share as needed.

Breakout Rooms: The Most Underused Feature

Breakout rooms are the most powerful engagement tool in Zoom's arsenal and the one most meeting hosts never use. They transform a passive group call into an active, participatory experience.

Creating Breakout Rooms

You can create breakout rooms before the meeting starts (in the meeting settings → Breakout Room) or during the meeting (Breakout Rooms icon in the toolbar). Pre-creating rooms lets you pre-assign participants by name — useful for workshops where you want intentional group compositions. Creating rooms during the meeting allows for random or manual assignment in the moment.

Key Controls

• Broadcast to all rooms: Sends a text message to all breakout room chats simultaneously. Use to give time warnings ("5 minutes remaining"), share links, or provide instructions.
• Timer countdown: Set an automatic timer that closes all rooms and returns everyone to the main meeting. The countdown timer appears in each room, creating natural urgency for discussion.
• Allow participants to return to main session: Participants can leave their breakout room and return to the main meeting early if needed.
• Join rooms as host: You can move between rooms to check in on discussions without disrupting them.

Use Cases

• Small group discussion in large team meetings or all-hands sessions
• Icebreaker activities for new team members or onboarding sessions
• Workshop breakout sessions with specific tasks per group
• One-on-one practice or role-play in training settings

Zoom Reactions and Non-Verbal Feedback

Reactions allow participants to communicate without speaking, reducing interruptions and making large meetings more manageable. They are significantly underused.

Available Reactions

In the Reactions toolbar during a meeting: thumbs up, clap, love heart, laughing, surprised, raised hand, and custom emojis (Pro+). Raise Hand is the most important — it flags in the participants list that someone wants to speak, letting the host manage speaking order without chaos.

Non-Verbal Feedback (Yes/No/Go Slower/Go Faster)

In Participants panel, there are non-verbal feedback buttons beyond the main reactions: Yes, No, Go Slower, Go Faster, Away, and Coffee Break. These are particularly useful in training and webinar contexts. Enable them in Settings → Meeting → Non-verbal feedback.

Recording and Transcription

Local vs. Cloud Recording

Local recordingsaves to your computer's hard drive and is available on all plans (Free included). Format: separate MP4 video, M4A audio, and TXT chat log.Cloud recordingis a Zoom Pro+ feature that stores recordings on Zoom's servers, automatically generates transcriptions, and enables easy sharing via link.

Recording Layout

Before recording, set your layout preference in Settings → Recording: choose between Active Speaker (one person at a time), Gallery View (grid of all participants), and Shared Screen + Speaker. For reference recordings, Shared Screen + Speaker is usually most useful. For team meeting archives, Gallery View captures everyone. You can enable recording of multiple layouts simultaneously on paid plans.

Auto-Transcription (Zoom AI Companion)

Zoom Pro+ users have access to Zoom AI Companion, which generates meeting summaries, identifies action items, and allows participants to ask questions about the meeting ("What decisions were made?"). Transcription quality in 2026 is excellent for English and good for major European languages. The transcript is attached to the cloud recording and searchable.

Screen Sharing Best Practices

Share a Specific Window, Not Your Desktop

Always choose a specific application window when sharing, not Desktop. Sharing your desktop exposes all notifications, browser tabs, and file names. In the Zoom share picker, select the Window tab and choose the exact application.

Optimize for Video Clip Sharing

When sharing a browser tab or window that contains video content you plan to play, check Share Sound and enable Optimize for video clip in the share settings. This increases frame rate and bitrate for the shared content, preventing choppy playback.

Zoom AI Companion (2026 Features)

Zoom AI Companion (Pro+) has become significantly more capable in 2026. Key features:

• Meeting Summary: Automatically generates a structured summary of key points, decisions, and action items after the meeting ends. Sent to host and optionally to all participants.
• Action Items Extraction: Identifies tasks assigned during the meeting and creates a structured action list with owners.
• In-Meeting Questions: Participants can ask the AI "What was decided about the budget?" during the meeting and get answers from the real-time transcript.
• Smart Recording Chapters: Cloud recordings are automatically chaptered by topic, making long recordings easy to navigate.

For setup guides to complement your Zoom experience, see our audio setup guide, lighting guide, and best practices guide. For job interview-specific Zoom setup, see video interview tips.