How do I use Zoom security controls when teaching?

Zoom provides a set of security controls you can use when your Zoom meeting is in progress to manage participant behavior during a class .  

These are found under the "Security" and "Participants" icons in the toolbar at the bottom of your Zoom meeting window.

Click the "Security" icon to pop open a menu of possible actions

Choices in the Security menu include:

  • Lock Meeting - prevents any additional visitors from joining the meeting
  • Enable Waiting Room - adds a Waiting Room to the meeting, so you can screen new visitors before admitting them
  • Hide Profile Picture - hides profile pictures of all participants, in case a participant has posted offensive content as their profile picture

Check or un-check "Allow participants to" settings to allow or prevent certain actions

  • Share Screen - allow or prevent content sharing by all participants
  • Chat - allow or prevent chat by all participants in the Zoom "Chat" window
  • Rename Themselves - allow or prevent renaming; use this if participants are renaming themselves with offensive names
  • Unmute Themselves - allow or prevent participants to unmute themselves; use this if participants are making accidental or intentional unwanted sounds
  • Start Video - allow or prevent participants to show video from their webcam; use this if participants are showing unwanted imagery on their video

Suspend Participant Activities is your "Panic Button"

The last item in the Security menu is called "Suspend Participant Activities", and is essentially a "panic button".

If you select this item, the Zoom meeting stays open and all participants remain in the meeting but the following are turned off for all attendees: video, audio, chat, and content sharing. The meeting also becomes locked to new participants.

Once you've chosen this option, you can turn your own audio and video back on, to communicate with meeting participants, and let them know what your next steps will be. After you suspend activities, if you have participants in the breakout rooms, you should close the rooms to bring those attendees back to the main meeting, where their activities will also be suspended.

To manage the behavior of individual participants during the meeting, click the "Participants" icon at the bottom of the Zoom window

To mute a given participant click "Mute" next to their name

Click the "More" button next to the name of any given participant to see a list of options to manage them

From this "More" menu you can manage that given participant by choosing among the following:

  • Chat - to chat privately with them
  • Stop Video - to turns off their video
  • Make Host - to make them a meeting Host
  • Make Co-host - to make them a meeting Co-host
  • Rename - to rename them to a name of your choosing
  • Put in Waiting Room - to move them into the Waiting Room (if it has been enabled)
  • Remove - to eject them from the meeting entirely
  • Report - to report them to Zoom

Visit this page for more detailed information about Zoom security features: Zoom In-Meeting Security Options