Testing Audio and Video in Zoom
Before starting a Zoom meeting, test your audio (microphone and speakers) and your video. This article will show you how!
Before the Meeting
Before joining your meeting, go in to the Zoom desktop app and test your settings. Find settings by clicking the "gear" icon.
In the Zoom application settings, click on Video. If your video source is properly installed, you should see an active video window here.
If you see a grey box with no video and you are using a webcam, try unplugging the webcam from your computer and plugging it back in.
Next, click on the Audio tab to check your microphone and speakers.
On this screen, text your speaker by clicking the Test Speaker button. A sound should play.
Your computer speakers or headphones should be visible in the sound source dropdown menu. If you want to send the sound to a different source, click the dropdown menu and select it.
While the sound is playing, click to adjust the volume slider to your preferred loudness level.
If the sound is still playing, click Stop to finish.
Repeat these steps with the Microphone settings just below.
If you want to have Zoom set a default loudness level for your microphone, leave Automatically adjust volume checked.
During a Meeting
Once you've joined a zoom meeting, you can check your audio and video connections via the audio and video buttons in the meeting's toolbar. This is usually at the bottom of the meeting screen.
You can toggle the audio and video on and off by clicking these icons. Here they are toggled off.
To test audio, click the menu icon to the right of the audio icon.
Under the audio menu that will open when you click the menu icon, look to make sure that your webcam and speakers are properly selected.
To test your current setup, click the Test Speaker & Microphone link just below in the menu.
First Zoom will test your speaker.
- If necessary, you can switch the current speaker from the speaker menu displayed.
- You should see the output indicator go up and down and hear a series of tones.
- If so, click Yes to proceed.
Once you click Yes on the speaker test screen, you will be taken to the microphone test screen. This screen is very similar to the previous one. To test your microphone, simply speak. The test will record your speech and play it back to you. If the sound is clear, click Yes to continue.
On the test results screen, click Finish to close the window.
Testing your video connection is very similar to audio. Click the video menu link next to the video icon.
On the video menu, click the Video Settings link.
The video settings window will open with the Video tab selected. You should see your camera video displayed in the window if it is working properly. Note that this is the same menu window as the application screen for setting up your audio and video before the meeting as described above.
If your video and audio are both working, you are ready for your meeting! If you are still having issues with your audio and video, contact the distance learning department (in the main campus library) for extra support.