Zoom and ONLYOFFICE DocSpace: how to collaborate on documents during your virtual meetings

Boost your productivity during Zoom meetings by enabling real-time document collaboration with the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app

Why online document collaboration is what your Zoom meetings need

Over the last few years, Zoom has become a phenomenon which is strongly associated with remote work and team collaboration. Thousands of Zoom meetings are held every hour allowing people from all over the world to connect and collaborate from different devices.

Now Zoom is a communications platform with plenty of features, including video and audio conferencing, team chats, online whiteboards, video recording and transcripts, calendaring and more. There is even an integrated AI assistant, called Zoom AI Companion, which is designed to increase the productivity of Zoom users by helping them draft emails and chat messages, summarize meetings and come up with new ideas during brainstorming sessions.

All these tools turn Zoom into a powerful collaboration platform for modern teams. However, the core Zoom’s functionality lacks an important feature that is essential for effective teamwork — real-time document collaboration. Of course, as a Zoom user, you can switch to a third-party software tool for online document collaboration during your meeting but jumping from one interface to another and back again might be irritating.

What would you feel if you could create, share and co-edit office documents in one place, without having to leave the Zoom platform? And you can! With the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app for Zoom, you have the freedom to collaborate on documents with other Zoom users within a single platform.

Let’s take a deeper look at how you can collaborate on documents during your virtual meetings via Zoom.

ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app for Zoom: a brief overview

The ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app is an official integration app developed by the ONLYOFFICE team for the Zoom platform with the purpose of enabling real-time document collaboration during videoconferencing sessions.

With this app, Zoom users can work on any content directly within Zoom meetings together with other participants. Here is what they can do:

• Create, upload and share office files granting the Edit or Live view permissions to others;
• Co-edit Word docs, Excel sheets and PowerPoint slides in real time using a full set of collaborative features, such as two co-editing modes, Track Changes and comments.
• Use the integrated ChatGPT-based assistant to generate, summarize and translate text content;
• Open PDF files for viewing, add comments, annotations and drawings;
• Fill out complex PDF forms, like sales agreements, contracts and questionnaires;
• Store all the files edited during a Zoom meeting in a dedicated collaboration room and access them from any device.

What’s more, the DocSpace app allows you to use your free DocSpace account to work with your office files after your Zoom meeting is over. For example, you can:

• Manage your files and create collaboration or custom rooms within the DocSpace platform for various purposes, such as form filling and commenting;
• Set up flexible access permissions: edit, comment, review, or view only.
• Create public rooms to share content externally with people outside of your personal space.

What you need to get started

Basically, the only thing you need to get started is your Zoom account. Log into your account and access the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app page on Zoom App Marketplace. After that, add this app to your collection.

You will see all the permissions that the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app requires. If you are OK with that, just click the Allow button.

If you don’t have the Zoom desktop client installed on your OS, you will be offered to download it. Alternatively, you can find the client on the Zoom website. You need the Zoom client to be able to co-edit documents via the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app.

When you log into your Zoom account in the desktop client, you need to access the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app via the Apps tab. When you click the app’s icon, you will be redirected to your personal space. At the same time, your free DocSpace account will be created, and you will be able to use it afterwards.

As you can see, now you have a free plan so real-time document collaboration via Zoom will cost you nothing. Everything is ready for your first document collaboration session in Zoom. Let’s go through this process step by step.

How to collaborate on documents during a Zoom call

When your DocSpace is ready, you can start a videoconferencing session with other collaborators by clicking the Start meeting button in the upper right corner. After that, you need to invite other participants by sending them invitations using the built-in Zoom tools. When they all accept the invitation and join your Zoom meeting, you can start a collaborative document editing session.

First of all, you need to choose a file you are going to edit collaboratively. In My documents section, you can see all available files. If your DocSpace has been created recently and you haven’t used it yet, you will only see some sample documents. Let’s open one of them to get familiar with the ONLYOFFICE editor’s interface.

When you open a file or create a new one, you need to choose the required access level:

• Choose the Edit option if you want to allow all the participants to edit the document without restrictions;
• With the LiveView option, the collaborators won’t be able to make any edits. All they can do is to watch you edit the document.

After you click the Open button, you will access the ONLYOFFICE editor being able to edit the document the way you like. The other collaborators and you will be able to co-edit the file in real time if the file is available with the Edit access permission. Now you can make edits to the text, leave comments, switch between the two co-editing modes (Fast and Strict), monitor the edits made by others with the Track Changes features and use other tools provided by the ONLYOFFICE online office suite.

When you finish your collaborative work, you can end the session by clicking the End button in the right corner. Just confirm the action, and that’s it. You have just finished your first collaboration session in Zoom with the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app.

When working with the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app during a Zoom meeting, you can also create a new file or upload one from your PC or laptop. Just use the required option from the Collaborate menu.

How to access your files after the Zoom meeting is over

All the files you edit during Zoom meetings are automatically stored in separate collaboration rooms in your DocSpace. Each meeting has a unique room whose name indicates the corresponding time when the meeting took place. That’s why navigating among the existing rooms is easy.

To access your files, go to ONLYOFFICE DocSpace and choose the Rooms option on the left-side panel. Alternatively, you can find what you need via the My documents section. The other participants of the meeting will also have access to this room.

How to manage your DocSpace without a Zoom meeting

With the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace app for Zoom, you can manage your personal space and work on documents without starting videoconferencing sessions. Let’s take a quick look at all the main features.

First of all, you can create rooms with flexible access settings for any purpose and configure them with ease. You are allowed to choose one of the available room types, invite other users and grant them the required access permission:

• Collaboration rooms for real-time document co-authoring;
• Custom rooms with specific settings for certain tasks, like form filling or commenting;
• Public rooms for effortless file sharing with outside users.

Moreover, you can create new documents, spreadsheets, presentations and fillable forms, and share these files with other people in your DocSpace rooms.

Finally, you can edit your DocSpace profile and get access to the built-in security features and the DocSpace configuration.

All these DocSpace features are designed to help you prepare better for the next document co-editing session with other Zoom users.

Special offer for new DocSpace users

The ONLYOFFICE DocSpace for Zoom app is available at no cost on Zoom App Marketplace. The DocSpace account created when you start using the app for the first time is also free.

Currently, there is a special offer for new users. Everyone who registers before August 1, 2024, will benefit from the following exclusive conditions:

• 100 admin users;
• 100 rooms;
• 100 GB of storage space.

This special tariff plan will be valid within 6 months from the registration date. After that, you can stick to the free Startup plan or upgrade to the Business plan with additional paid features. You can manage your tariff plan via the Payments section in the settings.

Learn more about ONLYOFFICE DocSpace and Zoom integration

If you want to master online document editing with ONLYOFFICE DocSpace during your Zoom meetings, you are welcome to read a detailed guide in the Help Center.

Also, you can watch this webinar on YouTube to learn the basics of this integration: