Troubleshooting Zoom Problems
This table give symptoms of possible problems that may arise at all levels of use in the Zoom system, along with suggested approaches to solutions. If a problem persists, contact one of the people listed in the table at the bottom of the page.
Note: for a printable version of this table, press here.
| Participant | Symptom | Potential Solutions |
| Member | Member registered, but did not receive confirmation email. | Have member check spam or junk folder. If not there, register again. |
| Member | Member registered, but cannot find confirmation email. | Member can register again for same class. |
| Member | Member cannot join class with link in confirmation email. | If link does not work, member should go to zoom.us in browser and select “JOIN A MEETING.” Follow prompts and insert Meeting ID number and possibly passcode. If all else fails, member can enter a session on a phone by dialing 1-929-205-6099 and following the prompts. |
| Member | Can’t get into a Zoom meeting. Gets message “you’re already in a meeting.” | Try each of the following until you are able to join meeting: 1. Restart computer 2. Reregister for meeting 3. Try getting in with a friend’s invitation 4. Upgrade Zoom to most recent version 5. Uninstall and reinstall Zoom |
| Member | Not receiving NWAQ emails | Member should check trash or spam email folders for weekly NWAQ email. If NWAQ emails are not in spam, check with Wayne Cotter to ensure member is on the QuestBusiness mailing list. |
| Member | NWAQ continually goes to her spam or trash folder. | Every email system allows users to prevent specific email addresses from being tagged as spam. For example, to prevent QuestBusiness emails from going to spam in gmail accounts one must: 1. click settings>Filters>Create a New Filter 2. enter questbusiness@googlegroups.com in the “From” field 3. Click “Create Filter With This Search” 4. Select “Never Send it to Spam”; and 5. Click “Create Filter” Also, if the NWAQ email is in the spam folder, click on “reply.” This may avoid future QuestBusiness emails from getting routed to the spam folder. |
| Presenter | In sharing screen, does presenter need to select “Share Computer Sound” and “Optimize for Full-Screen Video” if she has no videos in presentation? | No, these two options need not be selected if the presenter has no videos. By selecting them (particularly optimization), some attendees may see blurry PowerPoint slides. |
| Presenter | Presenter does not see her video panel | Presenter should go to floating meeting controls and select “More.” Select “Show Video Panel.” If this doesn’t work, then go to arrow to the right of the Zoom camera icon and select video settings. Then make sure that the option “Spotlight my video while speaking” is checked. |
| Presenter | Not able to share DVDs | 1. Download DVD to computer in mp4 format. Embed it in Power Point. To do this use DVD ripper software such as “WinX DVD ripper Plus”. 2. If it’s already downloaded in the computer, open Power Point > Insert > Video > Video on my PC. 3. Contact Victor Brener for help. |
| Panelist | Cannot enter webinar | Check that panelist is entering webinar with the same email address as that used by the host in the invitation. |
| Panelist | Cannot share screen in a webinar | Host should make panelist a co-host. |
| Panelist | Does not see raised hands | Host should make panelist a co-host. |
| Host | Does not see raised hands on attendee list | Assign panelist or co-host as host, then leave webinar and re-enter. |
| Host | Needs to know how many people registered for class | 1. The number of people registering for a class can be found at the bottom of the scheduling page (i.e., the invitation) that the host prepared. Most classes have a size limit of 100 unless the meeting / webinar was scheduled by Bob Reiss or Wayne Cotter. 2. If the class is approaching 100 registrants, the host should contact Bob Reiss. |
| Host | Needs to know names of people who have registered for class | 1. Go to bottom of schedule page of class (i.e. the invitation) where number of registrants appears. To the right is a link labeled “View.” 2. Click on “View” and the names of all registrants are listed. |
| Host or Attendee | Get banner “Internet connection not stable” | 1. Move laptop closer to router 2. Turn off other computers on wifi 3. Put cell phone in airplane mode, turn off wi-fi on cell phone, or turn off cell phone. 3. Purchase wi-fi extender to strengthen wi-fi signal. |
| Attendee | See screen inadvertently shared by another attendee in meeting | Host clicks on carat or arrow next to “share screen” > advanced sharing options > “Who can share” – click on “only host” |
| Attendee | Presenter cannot share Keynote presentation | Presenter should share “desktop” and play Keynote. |
| Attendee (Webinar) | Cannot be heard when unmuted | Upgrade Zoom. See next two rows. |
| Attendee (PC) | Want to upgrade to latest version of Zoom | To upgrade to latest version of Zoom, currently Zoom 5.4, go to Zoom.us > Resources > Download Zoom Client > Download |
| Attendees (Mac) | Want to upgrade to latest version of Zoom | To upgrade to latest version of Zoom, currently Zoom 5.4: 1. Open the Zoom application > 2. Click on “Zoom.us” in the upper left-hand corner of the screen > 3. Click on the fifth item from the top in the pull-down menu, “Check for Updates” > 4. Follow directions on the screen. |
| Attendee | Panel is seen by attendees as a black square obscuring some of PowerPoint | 1. Presenter should select the PowerPoint “standard” (4:3) slide size rather than “widescreen” (16:9). 2. To change “Slide Size”: go to “Design” tab in PowerPoint and move cursor to far right and select “Slide Size” option. 3. If too late to change slide size, presenter can hide her video panel during presentation (but will not be able to see herself). 4. Even if PowerPoint slides are standard size, presenter’s video panel should always be positioned as far right as possible so as not to obscure any portion of PowerPoint. |
| Attendee | Attendees cannot hear sound on video | 1. Presenter should stop share, then resume share and check “share computer sound.” 2. Presenter can also go to “more” on the floating meeting controls and select the sound option. 3. If using blue-tooth earbuds, switch to computer speaker. |
| Attendee | Presenter’s floating meeting controls are seen by attendees as a long, black rectangle | 1. Presenter should click “More” on the floating meeting controls. Select “Hide floating meeting controls.” 2. The presenter can bring back the controls by hitting ESC key on his keyboard. 3. After using the controls, presenter should hide them again. |
| Attendee | Ads on YouTube videos | 1. Ads can often be circumvented by including a suffix to the URL indicating an exact time the presenter wants the clip to start. 2. If presenter wants clip to start near the beginning, she can still add a suffix indicating that the clip should start at the first second. |
| Attendee | Cannot hear presenter when talking while video is playing | 1. Presenter can try to lower sound level of video while speaking but this is not recommended since it is difficult to navigate. 2. It is preferable to simply pause the video, make some remarks, and then resume the video. |
| Attendee | Volume levels on videos too high | 1. During rehearsals, presenters should check audio levels of videos and note what volume level is comparable to the presenter’s speech. 2. Note: Audio levels of YouTube videos can only be adjusted by using the audio control of YouTube, not by adjusting your computer’s audio control. 3. Attendees will then not have to adjust their own volume controls. |
| Attendee | Video and audio are not in sync when sharing screen | 1. Presenter should stop share, then resume share and check “optimization” box. 2. Presenter can also go to “More” on the floating meeting controls and select the optimization option. |
| Attendee | Why does presenter need to check “Optimize for Full-Screen Video” when she begins sharing screen? | 1. This setting increases frame rate of screen share while playing a video clip, so that the playback appears smoother for attendees. 2.Choosing this option prevents videos from appearing “choppy” and allows the video and audio to be more in sync for attendees. |
| Presenter | Unable to embed non-Youtube video | Recommend that presentation videos be limited to those available on Youtube. |
| Presenter (Mac) | Videos cannot be shared | Presenter should contact Ruth Ward for instructions on embedding videos in PowerPoint. |
| Attendee (Mac) | PowerPoint presentation is very blurry. | 1. This apparently can happen to some Mac users when “Optimize for Full-Screen Video” is selected by presenter. 2. We have found that upgrading the Zoom application to the latest version helps. |
| Attendees (Mac, PC) | Difficulty in seeing cursor | On both PCs and Macs, presenter can increase cursor size to make it more visible: 1. On PC, Go to Settings> Find a setting > Type in cursor size > Change cursor thickness > Here you can adjust pointer size and cursor thickness. 2. On Mac, click on the “System Preferences” (it looks like a gear or bike front sprocket) > select Accessibility > select Cursor > sliding scale appears showing Normal to Large. Sliding 1/3 of the way toward Large gives cursor that shows up well on a Zoom presentation. |
| iPad User | Cannot find icons such as audio, video, etc. | Icons are on the top of the zoom screen not the bottom. Use cursor to find them. |
| iPad User | Cannot hear/be heard | Use the two buttons on the side of the iPad to adjust the sound. Or use earbuds |
| iPad User | Cannot see entire screen | Turn iPad sideways to landscape view, use the little side button to unlock and relock the view |
| iPad User | iPad User Cannot see speaker | Limitation of the iPad |
| iPad User | Cannot see all participants | Limitation of the iPad |
| iPad User | We are seeing attendee’s picture moving | Have attendee stabilize iPad on a table. User cannot hold it in hands. As a last resort turn off video. |
| iPad User | We are seeing ceiling | Have attendee raise iPad on some books until it is height of face |
| iPad User | We are not seeing attendee | Remind attendee to look into the camera, which is a small dot on the top of the iPad in portrait view. |
If you need help contact one of the following people.
| Bob Reiss | 516 356 4036 | Victor Brenner | 646 321 2953 |
| Wayne Cotter | 631 357 2973 | Pete Weis | 646 259 5869 |
| Ruth Ward | 530 867 5066 | Ellen Shapiro | 212 861 0494 |
| Michael Russo | 631-264-9006 | Michael Wellner | 212 486 3064 |