Video conferencing platforms like Zoom exploded in popularity during the pandemic in 2020, and is now one of the most popular choices for work or school. If you use Zoom, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the tool’s essential features. In this article, we’ll show you how to mute and unmute in a Zoom conference on a computer, phone, or tablet.
Conducting virtual meetings and webinars would be difficult if the mute option was not available. Imagine, you’re having an important meeting with your boss or client and suddenly somebody in your house yells or laughs out loud or talks loudly, it’d be a disaster.
Luckily most video conferencing apps including Zoom lets you mute or unmute your mic. Let’s understand how to do that.
How do you mute and unmute yourself on Zoom call in a PC or Mac?
Method 1: Click on the mic icon to mute or unmute
Launch the Zoom app on your PC or Mac.
When joining the meeting, click the microphone icon with your mouse. If you don’t see it, click the screen to bring up the icon row. When the indicator is red with a line crossing through it, it means that your microphone is muted.
Click on the microphone icon again to unmute when you wish to speak. You’ll notice that the red indicator disappears from the microphone icon.
Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut to mute or unmute your microphone:
- Mac: Command + Shift + A
- Linux: Alt-A
- Windows: Alt-A
You can also use the space bar, as it seems more convenient. When you want to speak, press and hold SPACE. This will temporarily unmute your device’s mic.
Note: To use the space bar method to temporarily unmute, you should first enable the option in the settings. Also keep in mind that it won’t work if the host has disabled unmuting.
Method 2: Enable Do not connect to audio in Zoom app
You can mute your audio by enabling “Do not connect to audio” on PC or Mac. By enabling this option, your microphone will be muted before you join the meeting.
Simply click on the join button of your Zoom app, and enable Do not connect to audio
Method 3: Mute the microphone when joining a Zoom meeting on PC or Mac
If you wish to mute your device’s microphone by default, you can do that easily by making a few changes in the settings.
Firstly, open Zoom on your computer, then click the gear icon near the top-right corner of Zoom.
Then head on to the Audio tab, you’ll notice the “Mute my microphone when joining a meeting” option.
Select the option to mute your microphone.
How do you mute and unmute yourself on Zoom call in an Android or iOS device?
Method 1: Tap on the mic icon to mute or unmute
Launch the Zoom app in your Android or iOS device, join the meeting.
Tap on the microphone icon to mute and unmute your Zoom conferences on your Android or iOS device. It is just the way you do it in a computer device as mentioned above.
Method 2: Don’t Connect To Audio in Zoom app on Android or iOS device
Zoom allows you to mute your audio before you join the meeting. To join a meeting, launch the Zoom app and tap the Join button. Then turn on the “Don’t Connect To Audio” toggle. This will mute your audio in the meeting.
Method 3: Enable Always Mute Microphone on your Android or iOS device
It would be more convenient if you could simply mute your microphone by default, here you wouldn’t have to worry about muting your audio before or after joining the call. Your audio would be on mute always.
To mute your audio by default, first launch the Zoom app on your Android or iOS device.
Then, At the bottom of the app’s home page you’ll notice the app settings with the gear icon, tap the Settings option. In the Settings screen, tap meeting.
Now enable the “Always Mute My Microphone toggle”.
Zoom is a fun app to host/ conduct meetings, connecting friends and family staying far away, all you need to do is familiarize yourself with Zoom’s interface, and you’re good to go.
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