Using Slides as Virtual Background in Zoom

Using a Slideshow as a Virtual Background in Zo om

While you can share your PowerPoint or Keynote slideshows in a meeting, Zoom made an update

recently allowing you to also share the m as a virtual background. Sharing slides this way allows your

meeting attendees to see you on top of your slides, similar to a TV meteorologist. You can resize and

reposition your camera image as needed and advance your slides from w ithin the Zoom m eeting

controls.

NOTE: In o rder to u se a slid eshow a s a vir tual background you must be using the latest version of the

Zoom ap p an d yo ur computer must meet Zoom’s requirements to u se a virtual background, which c an

be found at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360043484511

NOTE: If an attendee is not using Zoom desktop app 5.2 or higher or joining from the web, they will

see your slides as a n ormal screen sh are and vid eo f rom y our camera w ill not be superimposed o ver

your slides.

TO SH ARE YOUR SLIDES AS A VIRTUAL BACKGROUND:

• Press the Share Scre en button in your meeting controls.

• In the window that comes up where you pick what you want to share, click “Advanced” at the

top, then select the fi rst option on the l eft “PowerPoint as Virtual Background” on a Windows

machine, or “Slides as Virtual Background” if on a Mac. Then press the “Share” button in the

lower right-hand corner.

•

A dialog

box

will

pop

up

where you

can

browse and

select the

slideshow y

ou want to have

behind you as a virtual

background.

•

When

your

presentation imports

into Zoom

(This may take a few seconds depending on how

many

slides

you

have), the sl

ides will

be show

n

as your virtual

background.

If

your camera is on,

it will be superimposed over the slides. The d

efault position

of

your camera video is

the l

ower

right corner.

•

Once you

begin

sharing your

slides

as

a

virtual

background,

you

can

control

moving back and

forth between your slides right in Zoom. At the bottom of your screen,

you

will

see arrow

s for

navigating forward and backward in your presentation. Zoom also tells you what slide number

you

are on

and how m

any total

slides you have i

n your presentation.

NOTE: Sounds, transitions, or animations in your slides are not supported when using slides

as a virtual background. The Annotation feature in Zoom is also not supported when sharing

slides as a vir tual background a s well.

The M ore button (3 dots) has two options:

• Split/Merge Video from PowerPoint/Slides – If your video is currently over your slides and you

select Split Video, your video will become a separate fe ed from your slides. You will be shari ng

your screen as if you were doing a normal screen share. You can still move between the slides

through the meeting controls. Selecting Merge Video after you split your video superimposes

your video feed over your slides again.

• Resize My Video – Clicking this allows you to resize and reposition your video on the sl ide.

When you click this, a blue box will appear around your video. Clicking and dragging one of the

corners of the box or blue l ines will allow you to resize your video. Clicking and dragging your

mouse within the box will allow you to reposition your video somewhere else over your slide.

NOTE:

While

you

can

resize

and

reposition

your

video

in a m

eeting, it is best practice to test

and

rehearse with your slides and video ahead of time,

so y

ou kn

ow w

here to b

est position y

our

video

and

not

cover

content

your

students need to

see.

You can also

join your meeting a few minutes early

before

your

attendees

(leave them in th

e waiting room) to p

osition y

our

camera w

here your

slide text

is most easily seen

.

NOTE:

If

you sto

p sh

aring your

slides as background o

r

share another

item a

nd th

en go b

ack to

share

the same slide deck as a vir

tual background a

gain,

Zoom d

oes not remember

where you lef

t off

in

your

slide

show. Zoom will start with the first slide in your slide show as the slide behind you initially.

You will

have

to manually move

ahead to the

slide

you left

off

on.

NOTES ABOUT RECORDING SLIDES AS VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS:

• If recording the meeting locally to y our hard d rive, the re cording w ill feature the v ideo of your

camera superimposed over your slides. If you want students to view the recording in this

format, you will need to upload the re cording to Panopto. For more i nformation on uploading a

file to Panopto, please see https://support.panopto.com/s/article/Batch-Upload-Video-Files

• If recording to the cloud, the recording will have your camera and slides as a normal screen

share re cording.