Zoom has steadily improved as more people have used it and has become a very flexible meeting platform. Still, the app has a few quirks that annoy users and can get in the way of an effective meeting.

Do Not Disturb

Notifications during a meeting can be awfully distracting. So as not to be bothered by incoming emails, text messages, and the like, you can temporarily disable them all with Do Not Disturb.

You can find this setting by clicking Notification Center on the far right of the Menu Bar and scrolling up. Or, as I noted briefly in Mac Mondays: Hidden Options, hold Option and click Notification Center to toggle Do Not Disturb on or off. When Do Not Disturb is active, Notification Center is grayed out, as shown above.

To take this a step further in efficiency, you can also create a keyboard shortcut to Turn Do Not Disturb On/Off. I outlined this a year earlier in Mac Mondays: Command Day. In Keyboard Shortcuts preferences, the command is in the Mission Control category.

Floating Meeting Controls

Zoom offers ample support and flexibility with screen sharing and remote control, which is extremely beneficial in my work with clients. However, when sharing their screens, many folks get frustrated by the floating control bar at the top that slides down every time they mouse to the top of a window or the Menu Bar.

The tendency is to move the window down so its top is accessible, but Zoom offers two even better options:

  1. You can drag this status/control bar anywhere on the screen to get it out of the way but keep it accessible.
  2. You can hide the controls entirely with a command in the View menu on the Menu Bar as well as the More menu on the Zoom control bar itself — Hide Floating Meeting Controls — which has the keyboard shortcut Control+Command+Option+H. To show the controls, issue the same command again or press Escape.

Hide Self View

Do you find it distracting to watch yourself talk? In Gallery View, some Zoomers lose focus or confidence if they can see themselves among the Hollywood Squares.

To resolve this, you can hide yourself. Just click yourself and choose Hide Self View from the bottom of the contextual menu.

Do you feel greater self control when both self and control are hidden? Are you finding yourself addicted to the quiet, sans notifications? When you’re done meeting, remember to turn off Do Not Disturb, if you like.