How To: Keep Your Zoom Meetings and Webinars Private

This article explains how to keep your Zoom meetings and webinars private and to reduce the possibility of unwanted guests from joining. The following settings will increase the security of your Zoom sessions.

This article explains how to keep your Zoom meetings and webinars private and to reduce the possibility of unwanted guests from joining. The following settings will increase the security of your Zoom sessions.

Security Menu

The meeting host/co-host can check their in-meeting security controls through the new Security menu in the bottom toolbar.

1. Click Security in the bottom toolbar to show the Security menu. From the Security menu, you can lock your meeting, enable the Waiting Room, and restrict participants from sharing their screen, chat, or rename themselves.

Enable the Waiting Room

The Waiting Room feature is one of the best ways to protect your Zoom virtual classroom and keep out those who aren’t supposed to be there. This allows the host to control when each participant joins the meeting. When a participant joins the waiting room, the host will receive a pop-up notification above the Participants tab and the tab will change to the color orange until the host clicks on the tab. The list of participants in the waiting room is clearly delineated from the participants in the meeting. As the meeting host, you can admit attendees one-by-one, or admit them en mass.

Lock the Meeting

When a meeting is locked, any participant trying to join will be blocked from joining the meeting and/or entering the waiting room. The host will not receive any indication that someone tried to join. If you need to allow a locked out participant to join, unlock the meeting, admit the participant and lock the meeting again.

Participant Restrictions

• You can restrict participants from sharing their screen. By default, only hosts can share, which prevents an unwanted participant from interrupting the meeting by initiating inappropriate sharing.
• You can restrict the ability of participants to chat with others publicly and privately.
• You can disable/enable the ability for participants to rename themselves.

More information can be found in the following Zoom article: In-meeting security options

Disable Chat

You can disable the ability for participants to chat with others publicly and privately:

1. Click Chat in the bottom Zoom toolbar.
2. Click the  ellipsis.
3. Click Host Only.

We’d recommend controlling chat access in your in-meeting toolbar controls (rather than disabling it altogether) so students can still interact with the professor/host as needed.

More information can be found in the following Zoom article: Controlling and disabling in-meeting chat

Disable Join Before Host

You can disable the ability for anyone to join your meeting before the meeting host arrives. The Join Before Host feature can be convenient by allowing others to continue on with a meeting if the meeting host is not available to start it. With the option enabled, the first person who joins the meeting will automatically be made the host and have full control over the meeting until the meeting host joins.

Limit Screen Sharing

While you are in your meeting, you can limit who can share. By default, only hosts can share, which prevents an unwanted participant from interrupting the meeting by initiating inappropriate sharing. To modify the setting:

1. Click the  up-arrow next to the Share button in the bottom Zoom toolbar.
2. Click Advanced Sharing Options.
3. Under Who Can Share, select the setting desired.

More information can be found in the following Zoom article: In-meeting security options

Lock a Meeting

To lock a meeting to prevent unwanted participants from joining:

1. Click Manage Participants in the bottom Zoom toolbar.
2. At the bottom of the Participants panel, click More.
3. Click Lock Meeting.

When a meeting is locked, any participant trying to join will be blocked from joining the meeting and/or entering the waiting room. The host will not receive any indication that someone tried to join. If you need to allow a locked out participant to join, unlock the meeting, admit the participant, and lock the meeting again.

More information can be found in the following Zoom article: In-meeting security options

Meeting Passwords

By default, all Zoom meetings have a default password. To modify the default password to make it stronger:

1. After logging in to https://ithaca.zoom.us/, click Settings.
2. Under Require a password for Personal Meeting ID (PMI), click the  Edit button next to the existing password.
3. Input a new password that consists of numbers.

Registration

Scheduling a meeting that requires registration allows participants to register with their name and email. Additionally, you can ask custom questions in the form and generate meeting registration reports.

1. After logging in to https://ithaca.zoom.us/, click Meetings.
2. Schedule a New Meeting or edit an existing meeting.
3. In the Registration section, check the Required checkbox. After scheduling the meeting, you can manage attendees and modify registration options.

More information can be found in the following Zoom article: Setting up registration for a meeting

Remove a Participant

To remove an unwanted participant during a meeting:

1. Click Manage Participants in the bottom Zoom toolbar.
2. Next to the participant you want to remove, click More.
3. Click Remove.

Any removed participant cannot rejoin the meeting.

Waiting Room

The Waiting Room feature is one of the best ways to protect your Zoom virtual classroom and keep out those who aren’t supposed to be there. This allows the host to control when each participant joins the meeting. When a participant joins the waiting room, the host will receive a pop-up notification above the Participants tab and the tab will change to the color orange until the host clicks on the tab. The list of participants in the waiting room is clearly delineated from the participants in the meeting. As the meeting host, you can admit attendees one-by-one, or admit them en mass.

More information can be found in the following Zoom article: Secure Your Meetings with Zoom Waiting Rooms

Additional Settings to Consider for Meeting Control

• Manage annotation: Professors should disable participant annotation in the screen sharing controls to prevent students from annotating on a shared screen and disrupting class.
• Disable video: Turn off a student’s video to block distracting content or inappropriate gestures while class is in session.
• Mute students: Mute/unmute individual students or all of them at once. Mute Upon Entry (in your meeting settings) is also available to keep the clamor at bay when everyone files in.
• Attendee on-hold: An alternative to removing a user, you can momentarily disable their audio/video connections. Click on the attendee’s video thumbnail and select Start Attendee On-Hold to activate.
• Use the randomly generated meeting ID: It’s best practice to keep the randomly generated meeting ID for your class, so it can’t be shared multiple times. This is the better alternative to using your Personal Meeting ID, which is not advised because it’s basically an ongoing meeting that’s always running and is the same code each time.