Joining a Zoom meeting
You can join an online meeting through an email invite, an instant messaging invite, from the browser, from the Zoom desktop and mobile application, from a landline or mobile phone, or with an H.323 or SIP device.
Before joining a Zoom meeting on a computer or mobile device, you can download Zoom from the Download Center. Otherwise, you will be prompted to download and install Zoom when you click a join link.
You can also join a test meeting to familiarize yourself with using Zoom, or join a meeting without an account.
Scheduling meetings
Zoom offers multiple methods to schedule a meeting. A host has control over the options for their scheduled meetings, except for settings that an administrator has locked for all users in the account or for all members of a specific group.
- Schedule from the Zoom desktop client or mobile app
- Schedule from the Zoom web portal
- Schedule for someone else – PDF Guides for Executive Assistants (Outlook, Google)
For instructions on scheduling using our plugins and extensions, see:
- Scheduling from the Outlook add-in
- Scheduling from the Outlook plugin
- Scheduling from the Chrome Google Calendar extension
- Scheduling from the Firefox Google Calendar extension
- Scheduling using the G Suite Google Calendar add-in
Using host and co-host controls in a meeting
Host controls allow you as the host to control various aspects of a Zoom meeting, such as managing the participants.
The co-host feature allows the host to share hosting privileges with another user, allowing the co-host to manage the administrative side of the meeting, such as managing participants or starting/stopping the recording. The host must assign a co-host. There is no limitation on the number of co-hosts you can have in a meeting or webinar.
Co-hosts do not have access to the following controls as they are only available as host controls in a meeting:
- Start closed captioning and assign someone or a third-party to provide closed captioning
- Start live streaming
- End meeting for all participants
- Make another participant a co-host
- Start waiting room (co-hosts can place participants in waiting room or admit/remove participants from the waiting room)
Co-hosts also cannot start a meeting. If a host needs someone else to be able to start the meeting, they can assign an alternative host.
Prerequisites for using host or co-host controls
- Host permission in the meeting, or co-host permission (set by the host)
- Zoom desktop client for Windows, macOS, or Linux: Global minimum version or higher
- Zoom mobile app for Android or iOS: Global minimum version or higher
- Zoom web client