A beginner’s guide to Zoom: the newest social network

If you’re an extreme beginner to tech or too spaced out by current events to focus, I hope this click-by-click guide is soothing, informative, and helps you get up to speed so you can see your friends zoomer.

Have you recently been invited to a Zoom? Here’s a short guide to how to use Zoom, starting with ‘How to join your first meeting’.

How to join your first meeting

You’ll usually receive a link in an email or calendar invite. It will look like this — https://zoom.us/j/30974350yew09jc98w409u or https://us04web.zoom.us/j/30974350yew09jc98w409u or https://organisation.zoom.us/j/30974350yew09jc98w409u

Sometimes for whatever reason, the link won’t work.

In this case, manually:

1. Go to join.zoom.us if on desktop/Go to the App Store if on Apple or the Google Play Store if on Android and download Zoom. Then go to your Zoom home screen and click ‘Join meeting’ if on your (smart)phone

2. Type in the meeting ID and click ‘Join’

3. Enter the password (if provided) to access the meeting.

The meeting ID is 10 characters, all numbers. It looks like 123–456–7890. Correspondingly, the password is 6 characters, all numbers.

There’s a slightly different process depending on what device you’re using but the good people at Zoom have worked really hard to make it as simple as possible.

If you are using a (smart) phone or laptop

1. Click the link in your email. You will be redirected to a screen which requests you download Zoom.

On desktop, you will see this screen.

Click ‘download & run Zoom’.

On mobile, you will see this link.

1. Click ‘download from App Store’ if you have Apple or ‘download from Play Store’ if you have Android. It will be downloaded on your device.
2. Go back to the link provided in the email, and click it again. This little workaround saves you from having to type in the ID above, which you may find a little fiddly.
3. Now you’re been automatically joined to the meeting! You do not have to be signed in to an account to participate.
4. You will be prompted to turn on your mic (voice) and video.

If you are using a non (smart) phone or landline

1. Type in the zoom phone number and wait until you hear the voice
2. Type in the meeting ID.

Joining meetings after you’ve downloaded Zoom

This section assumes you have downloaded Zoom.

Usually, there is no need to type in any details. Simply click the link provided. However, sometimes the link doesn’t work.

In that case, follow the instructions below.

In your email message, a meeting ID and Password is provided.

1. Type in the zoom meeting ID
2. Click ‘Join’
3. Type in the password if requested

Joining meetings on mobile after you’ve downloaded Zoom

1. Find the Zoom logo on your homescreens. Click it.

2. Click ‘Join a meeting’

3. Type in the meeting ID in the field provided, and click ‘Join’

Joining meetings on the desktop after you’ve downloaded Zoom

You have two options:

There is the website, which redirects to the web app.

1. Type https://zoom.us/join into your web browser.
2. Press enter.
3. This screen appears.

The web app.

If you’re using Windows, this is how to find Zoom.

1. Search for it on your computer

2. Click Start Zoom

3. Click ‘Join a meeting’

4. Enter the meeting ID and your name, and click ‘Join’. If the meeting requires a password, you will be asked for the password on the next screen.

Joining meetings if you are using a non (smart) phone or landline

1. Type in the zoom phone number and wait until you hear the automated voice asking for the meeting ID
2. Type in the meeting ID.

Creating your own account

While you don’t need an account to join meetings, you need one to host them. This section assumes you have already downloaded Zoom in the previous step.

You can’t create accounts on landline or a non (smart) phone, so below is a guide to signing up on desktop, the easiest way to sign up.

Desktop

1. Click the ‘Sign up, it’s free’ link.

Click the ‘Sign up, it’s free’ link.

2. Enter your email address. You DO NOT have to have an email address from a work domain. If it’s a free AOL or hotmail or Gmail or Live or so on, you can still make an account. Click ‘Sign up’

3. If you’ve successfully entered your email address into the system. This screen will appear.

4. Click that email

5. Now we’re here.

6. Invite some friends and family in this step if you feel like it

7. You’re ready to host your first meeting, which we’ll get to next

8. What’s in the basic plan?

• You can host 1 video chat with 1 person at a time with no time limit
• You can host meetings with 3 or more people for up to 40 minutes

How to host a meeting

The best way to host an event that people are able to attend, is to schedule a meeting.

This is what the screen looks like on mobile. It’s more spaced out on desktop, with a description field, as shown below.

Scheduling meetings on mobile

Desktop description field

How to invite people to your Zoom meeting

The best way to host an event that people are able to attend, is to schedule a meeting.

This is what the screen looks like on mobile. It’s more spaced out on desktop, with a description field, as shown below.

The settings I recommend for a 1-to-1 chat are below. For virtual events or business meetings, I recommend muting participants on entry, and asking them to un-mute only when they are speaking.

When you have clicked ‘Schedule’, you will be redirected to your calendar, as shown in the next step ‘how to invite people to your Zoom meeting’.

Scheduling meetings on mobile

Desktop description field

How to invite people to your Zoom meeting

Email

1. In the step above, select ‘Other calendars’.

1. After you click ‘Schedule’ you will be directed to this page, which you can copy into

Google Calendar

1. Choose an account

2. Click ‘Allow’

3. Click ‘Allow’ again

4. You are brought to a screen which looks like this.

Add guests, and click ‘Save’. An invitation will be sent to your friends.

How to use Zoom

Want to share your screen with the meeting?

In Zoom, everyone can share their screen.

Ready to speak?

Ready to be looked at?

Want to have a chat that everyone can get involved in?

Want to keep a copy of your real-time virtual event?

You have two options. The first option, presented in the meeting scheduler, is that you can record the whole meeting, screen and sound, from the very beginning to the end of the meeting. Alternately, you can make a recording of part of the meeting by clicking ‘Record’, during the meeting. Just like an mp3 records sound, an mp4 records video and sound. Think of it as the next step.

~~ Desktop ~~

Clicking record for sections of your event

1. Click ‘Record’

1. Click ‘Pause’ for sections of the event you do not want to record

1. Click ‘Stop’ when you no longer want to record any more of the event. You can click ‘Record’ again if you need to, and at the end of the meeting you will simply receive multiple mp4 files for this event.

1. When you have clicked ‘Stop’, this message will appear.

1. You will see a ‘downloading’ screen and then a new folder will appear on your computer. It will look like this.

That’s it! Your event is now recorded.

Recording the whole event

1. Click the down button on Advanced Options in Schedule Meeting

1. Put a tick in the last box ‘Automatically record meeting on the local computer’

1. To know that you have done this successfully, it should look like this.

1. You will see a ‘downloading’ screen and then a new folder will appear on your computer. It will look like this.

That’s it! Your event is now fully recorded.

Want to pretend you’re….somewhere else?

Try virtual backgrounds.

Desktop

1. Click the ^ button, then ‘Choose virtual background’.

2. Choose your virtual background.