How to Use Zoom: Join, Host and Run Your First Meeting

To use Zoom, open the meeting invite link you were sent (or enter the meeting ID and passcode in the Zoom Workplace app or browser), choose your audio and video, and click Join. To host your own meeting, create a free account, then start or schedule a meeting from the app and send people the link.

That covers the first five minutes. The rest of this guide walks through the parts that trip people up: which way to join, testing your setup, the meeting toolbar, sharing your screen, and what the free plan does and doesn’t include. Everything here is based on Zoom’s official help center as of October 2026. Zoom renames buttons from time to time (the desktop app is now called Zoom Workplace), so if a label looks slightly different on your screen, that’s probably why.

The ways to join a Zoom meeting

Zoom’s joining guide lists several routes into a meeting. They all end up in the same place, so pick whichever suits your device.

You don’t normally need an account to attend. According to Zoom’s FAQ, participants can usually join without one if the host invited them. You only need an account to host meetings, or if a host has chosen to require sign-in.

Joining with the invite link

1. Click the join link in the email, calendar event or chat message.
2. Your browser asks whether to open the Zoom Workplace app. Allow it, or choose to join from your browser instead.
3. Enter your name if prompted, and pick whether to join with video.
4. Choose Join with computer audio (or dial in if your mic isn’t working).

If the host hasn’t started the meeting yet, or has turned on a waiting room, you’ll see a holding screen. You’ll be let in automatically once the host starts or admits you.

Joining with a meeting ID

1. Open the Zoom Workplace app. On desktop, click Join (you can do this without signing in, as described in Zoom’s desktop getting-started guide). On mobile, tap Join from the Meetings or Home tab (mobile guide).
2. Type the meeting ID from your invite and your display name.
3. Enter the passcode when asked.
4. Choose your audio and video options and join.

Joining from a browser

When you join from a browser, Zoom’s web app asks for permission to use your microphone, camera and screen. Zoom’s web app permissions article is clear that you must allow microphone access or other people won’t hear you. If you clicked “Block” by accident, change it in your browser’s site settings and reload.

Test your audio and video first

The most common Zoom problem is a mic or camera that isn’t working. Fixing it before an important call saves you a lot of stress. Zoom runs a free test meeting for this (details here):

1. Go to zoom.us/test in your browser, or use it from the mobile app.
2. Click Join and open the meeting in the app.
3. Follow the prompts to check your speaker, then your microphone, then your video.

In the desktop app you can also preview your camera any time under Settings > Video & effects. If the wrong camera or microphone is selected, the small up-arrow next to the audio and video buttons in a meeting lets you switch devices without leaving.

Getting around the meeting toolbar

Once you’re in, the toolbar sits at the bottom of the meeting window. Zoom’s participant controls article lists these main buttons on desktop:

• Audio (mute/unmute): the microphone icon. On Windows, Alt + A toggles mute. On macOS it’s Command + Shift + A. You can also hold the spacebar to talk briefly while muted.
• Video: turns your camera on or off.
• Participants: shows who’s in the meeting. This is also where hosts find most of their controls.
• Chat: lets you message everyone or individual people.
• React: emoji reactions plus non-verbal feedback such as Raise Hand, Yes, No and Slow Down. Emoji disappear after 10 seconds. A raised hand stays up until you or the host lowers it.
• Share: shares your screen or a window (see below).
• Record: starts a recording, if you’re allowed to.
• More: extra options, which vary by plan and device.

If a button is greyed out or missing, that usually isn’t a bug. Zoom notes that hosts and account admins can turn features off, and some features depend on your plan or device.

Sharing your screen

According to Zoom’s screen-sharing guide, you can share your whole screen, a single app window or other content, and your video can stay on while you share. Nobody can see your screen unless you choose to share it.

1. Click Share in the toolbar.
2. Pick the screen or window you want to show. A single window is safer, because notifications and other tabs stay private.
3. If you’re playing a video or audio clip, turn on the option to share sound before you start.
4. Click Share. A green border shows exactly what others can see.
5. Click Stop Share at the top of the screen when you’re done.

If you can’t share at all, the host may have limited sharing to the host only. Ask them to change it from their host controls.

Hosting your own meetings

To host, you need a Zoom account. Sign up at zoom.us, then sign in to the Zoom Workplace app.

Starting a meeting right away

1. In the desktop app, click New meeting.
2. Invite people from the Participants panel, or copy the invite link and paste it into a chat or email.

Scheduling for later

1. Click Schedule in the app (or schedule from the Zoom web portal).
2. Set a topic, date, time and duration. Tick the recurring option if it’s a regular meeting.
3. Save it, then add it to your calendar or copy the invitation to send out.

Two details from Zoom’s support pages are worth knowing for recurring meetings. A recurring meeting ID expires 365 days after the last occurrence starts. And the “No fixed time” recurrence option is no longer in the desktop app, so use the web portal, Gmail or Outlook if you need it.

Basic host controls

From the Participants panel, hosts can Mute All, mute people as they join, and choose whether participants can unmute themselves, chat, share their screen or start video. If a meeting gets disrupted, Suspend participant activities turns off everyone’s video, audio and screen sharing and locks the meeting (Zoom’s host controls guide).

What the free plan includes

Zoom’s free video conferencing page describes the Basic plan as unlimited meetings for up to 100 participants, with each meeting limited to 40 minutes. Paid plans (Pro, Business and Enterprise) remove that cap.

Before May 2022, one-on-one calls on free accounts could run much longer. Since then the 40-minute limit covers one-on-one meetings too, as TechRepublic reported at the time. On Zoom’s community forum, users describe other edge cases, such as how long you have to wait before starting a new meeting. Zoom’s official pages don’t confirm these, so don’t rely on them.

On recording, Zoom’s recording guide says free accounts can make a computer recording that’s saved to your own machine. This only works in the desktop app and isn’t supported on iOS, iPadOS or Android. Cloud recording is a paid feature. Always tell people before you record; Zoom shows a recording notice, but saying it out loud is good manners.

Plans and limits change, so check Zoom’s pricing page for the current details before you rely on them.

Quick habits that make Zoom calls go smoothly

• Join two minutes early so you have time to fix audio before anyone’s waiting on you.
• Stay muted when you’re not talking in larger meetings, and use the keyboard shortcut to unmute quickly.
• Share a window, not your whole screen, unless you really need to.
• Use Raise Hand in big meetings instead of talking over people.
• Keep the app updated. Many “missing button” problems go away after an update, since Zoom adds and moves features regularly.