Zoom Test

This Zoom test checks the three things that fail most often in a meeting: your camera, your microphone and your speakers. It runs in your browser in about a minute, before you open Zoom. You see the resolution and frame rate your camera really delivers, how bright your face is against the wall behind you, how loud your voice is over the room noise, whether sound plays on the left and right, and a 5 second clip of yourself as others will see you. It works on Windows, Mac, Chromebooks, iPhone and Android with built-in, USB and Bluetooth devices.

How to run the Zoom test

1. Put on the headset or earbuds you will use in the meeting and sit where you will sit.
2. Press Start the check and choose Allow when your browser asks for the camera and microphone.
3. Keep your face in the oval for 3 seconds while the page reads your picture and light.
4. Stay quiet for 3 seconds, then talk for 5 seconds at your normal meeting volume.
5. Press Play sound twice and say where you heard each sound: left, right, both sides or nothing.
6. Record the 5 second clip, watch it, and say whether it looked and sounded right.
7. Read the results. Every item that needs work lists the Zoom setting and the system setting to change. Copy results gives you a summary to send to IT.

What the results mean

The decibel readings count down from 0 dB, the loudest sound the mic can record, so -20 dB is louder than -40 dB. Peaks that touch 0 dB distort.

Zoom's own test meeting at zoom.us/test

Zoom runs a test meeting that, like most Zoom meetings, you can join without a Zoom account:

1. Open zoom.us/test in your browser and click Join.
2. Click Open Zoom Meetings if the app is installed. If it is not, click Download Now, or Join from your browser.
3. Follow the prompts to check your video. Zoom then plays a ringtone and asks whether you hear it. Answer Yes, or No, Try Another Speaker.
4. Speak, pause and listen for the replay of your voice. Answer Yes, or No, Try Another Microphone.
5. You then join the test meeting as a participant and can try mute, video and the other controls.

On a phone, open zoom.us/test in the browser, let it open the Zoom app and join audio with Wifi or Cellular Data. Zoom tests your speaker and microphone on its own, and Done ends the test.

The test meeting proves that the Zoom app and your connection work, which a browser page cannot. It does not measure light, noise or each speaker side, so run this check first to fix device and room problems, then join the test meeting to confirm the app.

Testing audio and video in the Zoom app

On Windows and Mac, click your profile picture, then Settings:

• Audio: choose your speaker and press Test speaker, then choose your microphone and press Test microphone. Zoom records you and plays it back while the input volume bar moves. Turn on Automatically adjust microphone volume if your voice is quiet.
• Video & effects: a live preview shows the selected camera. Pick another camera here, and turn on HD and Adjust for low light if you need them.
• When Zoom asks how to join audio, Test speaker and microphone runs the same ringtone and replay check. In a meeting, the arrow next to Mute switches mic and speaker, and the arrow next to the video button opens Video settings.

On iPhone and Android, Zoom asks for the camera and microphone the first time you join. If you said no, turn them on under Settings, Privacy & Security, Camera and Microphone on iPhone, or Settings, Apps, Zoom, Permissions on Android. To see your own video, start a meeting from the Meetings tab with video on.

Zoom keeps its own device choice, so after this check pick the same camera, mic and speaker in Zoom.

Others cannot hear you in Zoom

Work down the list, the most common cause first:

• You have not joined audio. If the button at the bottom left says Join audio, click it and choose computer audio.
• You are muted, by you or by the host. A red line through the mic icon means muted.
• Zoom is using another mic. Webcams and monitors often add a mic you are not speaking into. Click the arrow next to Mute and pick the right one.
• The system blocks Zoom. On Windows, turn on Let desktop apps access your microphone under Settings, Privacy & security, Microphone. On a Mac, switch on zoom.us under System Settings, Privacy & Security, Microphone.
• The level is too low. If your voice level here was below -40 dB, raise the input volume in your system and turn on Automatically adjust microphone volume in Zoom.

If the mic stays silent in every app, follow the microphone not working guide. The zoom mic test focuses this check on your mic and speakers alone.

You cannot hear anyone in Zoom

The usual cause is Zoom playing to another output, often a monitor or TV on HDMI. Click the arrow next to Mute and choose the speakers or headset you are wearing. Then check that you joined audio, that the volume is up and that Bluetooth headphones are not still connected to your phone. If you heard neither sound in this check, the problem is in the system, not Zoom: see no sound on computer.

Your camera does not work in Zoom

If this check showed your picture, the camera works and Zoom is blocked or set to another camera. Close other apps that use the camera, including this tab, allow Zoom under Settings, Privacy & security, Camera on Windows or System Settings, Privacy & Security, Camera on a Mac, and pick the camera in Video & effects. A black picture in this check points to a privacy cover or a camera key on the keyboard. If the camera fails in every app, follow the webcam not working guide. The zoom camera test runs this check on the camera alone.

You look dark, grainy or washed out

A window or lamp behind you makes the camera expose for the bright background and leaves your face dark, and this check warns when that happens. Face the window or put a lamp behind your screen. In a dim room most webcams also drop their frame rate, so more light fixes jerky video too. Zoom's Adjust for low light helps a little, and a white screen makes a soft zoom lighting source when you have no lamp. If you look washed out instead, the light is too strong or too close: move the lamp back or dim it.

Others hear echo, noise or a robotic voice

• Echo: your speakers feed into your mic, or two devices in one room joined with audio. Use a headset, and join with audio on one device only.
• Noise: in Zoom Settings, Audio, keep Noise removal selected under Microphone modes and set Background noise suppression to High.
• Thin or robotic voice: a Bluetooth headset drops to a low quality call mode while its mic is on. Use the laptop or a USB mic and keep the headset for listening.

What this check cannot test

This page sends nothing anywhere, so it cannot test your internet connection. Zoom lists about 1.2 Mbps up and down for 720p video in a one to one call and 60 to 80 kbps for audio only, and its test meeting checks your connection. The light reading cannot see faces: it compares the middle of the picture with the area around it. The clip skips Zoom's noise removal unless you switch on Call filters, so the real call sounds a little cleaner. The teams test call and google meet test pages run the same check with their own settings.

This test is independent and not affiliated with Zoom, Microsoft or Google. Their product names are used only to describe what the test works with.

Zoom test questions