Online school has become the new normal and it seems that it is not going away any time soon. For this reason, you might want to learn these zoom hacks to make your online experience easier. Some of them will save you time, and others will simply avoid embarrassing situations. Enjoy!
1. Temporary Un-mute
Do you know what the scariest situation is? Realizing that your microphone was on the entire time and the whole class heard everything. I personally live in constant paranoia when it comes to my microphone. The solution to this is remaining mute and holding the spacebar while you speak to temporarily un-mute yourself.
2. Silence Notifications for Screensharing
Everyone’s worst nightmare is receiving a message notification that pops up or a call while you’re screen sharing. It is even scarier when your friends text you on purpose because you’ll never know what they will send you. How can you avoid this? Turn on “Do Not Disturb” on Mac, or use “Focus Assistant” on Windows to banish those embarrassing pop-ups.
3. Allow Multiple Screenshares Simultaneously
This is it. This is what we need: viewing two screens at the same time. It can be irritating when you constantly have to switch over screens during class time. Now, you can save up some time and avoid confusion with this feature. Visit here to see how to do it.
4. Touch up your appearance
Let’s be honest here. There are some mornings when we literally wake up 2 minutes before online classes and don’t even have time to get ready. Don’t worry, Zoom has your back! This special feature called “Touch Up My Appearance” might help you out in those harsh mornings. It won’t drastically change your appearance but might cover those dark circles in your eyes that you’ve woken up with. Go to the Video Settings dialog and click “Touch up my appearance”.
- Hide self-view
Tired of seeing your own face on Zoom calls all the time? Yeah, me too. Some of us have to admit that we tend to stare at ourselves during online classes. We might get distracted with how messy our room looks or how our hair is doing that day, and then stop concentrating in class. The good news is that we can hide from our own screens, but keep in mind that other people can still see you. All you have to do is right-click your video to display the menu and choose “Hide Self View.”
6. Whiteboard function
Remember when we used to take our notebooks and pencils to take notes in class? Well, those days might be over with this feature. Now, Zoom allows you to make your own annotations with its whiteboard feature. Just go to Settings, hit Meetings, and double-check that the Annotations option is checked. Then by using your finger or your mouse you can make as many notes as you’d like. Don’t worry about forgetting your pencil ever again!
