Commonly-Used Controls for Participants

The participant controls appear at the bottom of your screen if you're not currently screen sharing. When you are screen sharing, the controls will appear at the very top of the screen you are sharing (move your mouse to the top to view them).

All participants have access to these features:

Join Audio or Unmute/ Mute: Mute and unmute your microphone. If you see a red slash you are muted.
Audio Controls (click the ^ arrow next to Mute / Unmute): Allows you to change the microphone and speaker that Zoom is currently using on your computer, switch to phone audio, and access the full audio settings.

Tip: Use the following keyboard shortcuts to mute or unmute yourself. You can also use push to talk if you want to unmute yourself by holding the spacebar.

Windows: Alt + A
Mac: Shift + Command + A

Start Video / Stop Video: Turns your camera on or off. If you see a red slash your camera is off.
Video Controls (click the ^ arrow next to Start Video / Stop Video): Change cameras if you have multiple cameras, select a virtual background (not all computers are capable of running virtual backgrounds), or access your full video settings.

Participants: See who's currently in the meeting and invite others. You can also access to these options:

Rename: Hover over your name, click More, and choose Rename to change your screen name displayed to other participants.

Chat : Access the chat window to chat with other participants. You may also send direct messages, if enabled.

Share Screen: Start a screen share (if the host allows). You will be able to select the desktop or application you want to share. Learn more about screen sharing here.

Record : Start or stop a local recording. Participants do not have access to start a cloud recording. Learn more about recording here.

Note: The host will need to give you permission to record. If you don't have permission to record, use the in-meeting chat or audio to ask the host for permission.

Reactions : Meeting reactions, nonverbal feedback, and Raise Hand allow you to communicate issues or feedback to the host or presenter without disrupting the meeting. These reactions are shown on your video panel and next to your name on the participants panel.

Leave: Leave the meeting while it continues for the other participants. Only the host can end the meeting. If you are in a breakout room, you may have the option to leave the breakout room and return to the main session.