Virtual meetings are essential to remote work—but they can also be tedious. If Zoom is your video conferencing platform of choice, there are lots of hidden features you can tap to make meetings more efficient for hosts and engaging for participants. Here are the best tips and tricks for getting the most out of Zoom.

Use self-selected breakout rooms to create a virtual networking event

Virtual networking is already awkward, and potentially even more so if you send people to random breakout rooms to force conversation. While meeting participants are commonly assigned to breakout rooms automatically, Zoom has a feature that allows individuals to choose their breakout and move between rooms at their own pace. This creates a more flexible experience that simulates in-person networking—if you're the host, you can name breakout rooms so participants can self-select based on interests or themes.

Click Breakout Rooms, select the number of rooms you want to create, select Let participants choose room, and click Create. Then, click Options or the gear icon and check Allow participants to choose room and Allow participants to return to the main session at any time. Once breakout rooms have been started, you'll see a Rename option in the breakout rooms window, which you can use to add a name to each space.

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To join breakout rooms, participants will click Breakout Rooms, hover over the number in the list, and click Join > Join. They can follow the same process to move between rooms or return to the main session. Note that self-selection is available only on the desktop and mobile apps—those on the web client will need to be moved manually by the host.

Upload a CSV to pre-populate breakout rooms for large meetings

Alternatively, there are plenty of situations in which you'll need to assign meeting attendees to specific breakout rooms, rather than letting them choose or using Zoom's random assignment feature—for example, when you want to ensure that all members of a team go to the same room. This can be done manually once the meeting has started, but with large groups, it's much easier to do in advance, and all you need is a CSV file. There's a template on Zoom's support page: You'll simply need one column with the breakout room names and another with participants' email addresses. When you schedule the meeting, go to Options, check Breakout Room pre-assign > Import from CSV and drag and drop your file into the pop-up window. Zoom allows pre-assignment for up to 100 rooms and 1,000 participants.

Set your slides as a virtual background to simulate an in-person presentation

When you're presenting to an audience in person, you are likely standing in front of projected slides, so they can watch both you and your content at once. Zoom's Virtual Background feature simulates this by superimposing your video on your screen share, so attendees can see your expressions and gestures and follow your slides without needing to look back and forth. (Note that this is compatible with either PowerPoint or Keynote.) Click Share > Screens and select Microsoft Powerpoint from under Application Windows. You can then choose the overlay type for where your video will appear—In front displays you over your shared slides. You can resize your video and drag it around the screen. Then click Share.

Share your computer audio for ambient sound during breaks

If you want to maintain a specific vibe during meeting breaks—or use music as a cue to return from a break—you can share your computer audio for ambient sound. This works whether or not you are sharing your screen, so you could leave a slide up with information for participants while also playing music in the background. To share audio without sharing your screen, click Share Screen > Advanced > Computer Audio > Share. You can play audio from anywhere on your device, including music streaming services and YouTube. If you also want to share your screen, click Share Screen, select the program or desktop you want to share, and select Share Sound > Share.

Spotlight multiple speakers to simulate an in-person panel

Zoom's default is to highlight the video or icon for the current speaker. Depending on your view, this can be distracting as videos move around your screen—especially during a Q&A when many participants are unmuting and interacting with presenters. To prevent the chaos, Zoom hosts can spotlight up to nine people as primary speakers to appear in participants primary speaker view. (This is different than pinning a participant, which sets people as primary speakers on your device only.)

Spotlighting essentially simulates an in-person panel, allowing participants to see all primary speakers on equal footing. Remaining attendees will be visible via scroll at the top of the meeting screen. To spotlight, hover over a participant's video and click the three dots > Spotlight for Everyone. Repeat this process, selecting Add Sp

10 Hacks Every Zoom User Should Know