Scrambling to find a place to host your next Zoom meeting for work can be stressful if your options are limited to a boring home office with bare walls or a messy bedroom. One effective way to address that is by using Zoom’s Virtual Background feature. It allows you to cover up your actual background with a photo or video instead. Your co-workers will still see your face, but this time your face will be in front of a prettier or more interesting background. In this guide, we’ll show you how to change your background in Zoom step-by-step.
We’ll also take a look at how to add a fun filter to your video, so be sure to scroll on to check that out too.
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Step 1: Access your Zoom settings
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To set your virtual background in Zoom, you must first access the Zoom app’s settings. To do so, open the Zoom desktop app and click on the gear-shaped Settings icon. This icon is located in the top right corner of the app’s main menu screen. It should be just under your profile picture icon.
Step 2: Select Backgrounds & Filters from the settings menu
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Once you’re in the Settings menu, select the Background & Filters option from the menu on the left side of the screen. This will open up a sub-section of the Settings menu on the right side of the screen. Here is where we’ll choose a background. You can also add video filters in this section, but we’ll get into that later on in this guide.
Step 3: Preview and choose your virtual background
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To choose a virtual background, make sure that the Virtual Background tab is selected. This way you can browse Zoom’s limited collection of preset video and image backgrounds. If you want to preview one of these backgrounds, simply click on its corresponding thumbnail icon and it should immediately appear in the preview screen toward the top of your window. It’s important to note that if you want to see how your virtual background will appear while you’re in a video call, you’ll need to turn on your webcam while you’re previewing these backgrounds. That way the preview screen will show a live stream of your face in front of the background, instead of just the background itself.
You’re also not limited to using Zoom’s preset virtual backgrounds. You can add your own images and videos by clicking on the plus sign icon next to Video Filters. A drop-down menu will appear giving you two options: Add Image or Add Video. Choosing either will open your PC’s File Explorer so that you can select an image or video file from your computer. Once you’ve picked a background, simply exit the Settings menu. Zoom will automatically save your selection.
It’s also worth mentioning that Zoom’s Virtual Background feature is optimized to function better with the use of a green screen. You can use the feature without a green screen, but if you have one, the quality is expected to be better. If you plan on using a green screen, be sure to tick the box next to the phrase I Have a Green Screen in the Background & Filters settings page, in order to get the most out of your virtual background.
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Note: You can set your virtual background while you’re in a meeting as well. To do so, click on the upward-facing arrow within the Start Video camera icon. Then in the menu that appears, select Choose Virtual Background. This will take you to the same Background & Filters menu from earlier.
More fun: How to add a filter to your Zoom video
Virtual backgrounds aren’t the only way to jazz up your Zoom meetings. Your backgrounds can also be adorned with a wide variety of preset Zoom filters. Here’s how to use them:
Step 1: Access the Background & Filters section of the Zoom Settings menu as we did earlier.
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Step 2: Then select the Video Filters tab. You’ll then be presented with a fairly large collection of Zoom’s preset filters, which include various color and image filters. Clicking on a filter’s thumbnail will allow you to preview that filter in the preview screen at the top of your window. Certain image filters will not appear in preview unless your webcam is on, and that’s because they require your face to appear correctly (such as the pizza-hat filter and the face-mask filters).
Step 3: Once you’ve picked a filter, simply exit the Settings menu. The filter will appear the next time you join a Zoom meeting.
Note: Just like with virtual backgrounds, you can add a filter while you’re in a meeting, too; it’s a similar process. Click on the upward-facing arrow within the Start Video camera icon. Then in the menu that appears, select Choose Video Filter. You’ll then be taken to the same Background & Filters section of the Settings menu so you can choose your filter.