Zoom is designed for video calls where everyone on the line has a live camera feed of their face. But we all know there are times when you’d rather keep your camera off.
This is why Zoom lets you pick a profile picture, which will show up whenever your camera is turned off. It’s a great way to keep a professional look without staying on camera at all times.
You can add or change your Zoom profile picture in any version of the app, as well as on the website.
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How to change your Zoom profile picture in the desktop app
These steps work for both the Mac and PC desktop apps.
1. Open Zoom and log into your account, if you haven’t already.
2. Click your current icon in the top-right corner, and then select Settings.
Open your Zoom settings.
Zoom; William Antonelli/Insider
3. Select Profile in the left sidebar, then click your current profile picture.
Click your current icon.
Zoom; William Antonelli/Insider
4. Click Change Picture and pick a new profile picture from your computer, then resize it and click Save.
Alternatively, when you’re in a meeting, hover your mouse over your picture and click the three dots that appear in the corner, then select Edit Profile Picture. The pop-up that lets you pick a new photo will appear immediately.
How to change your Zoom profile picture in the mobile app
Like before, this works for both the Apple and Android Zoom apps.
1. Open the Zoom app and log into your account.
2. Tap the Settings option in the bottom-right corner, then tap your account name at the top of the screen.
Your current profile picture and name are at the top of this menu.
Zoom; William Antonelli/Insider
3. Tap Profile Photo, then choose whether you want to take a new photo or pick from your existing photos.
Your “Profile Photo” option is the first one on the page.
Zoom; William Antonelli/Insider
4. Pick or take your new photo and crop it, then hit Done.
How to change your Zoom profile picture on the website
The Zoom website gives you the most control over your account settings.
Famed stock picker Cathie Wood snapped up 200,000 shares of Zoom Video Communications on Tuesday, amounting to $57 million, as the video-conferencing company tumbled 17% on a disappointing outlook.
Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF bought 157,233 shares worth roughly $45.5 million while her ARK Next Generation Internet ETF purchased 36,847 shares at a roughly $11 million valuation, according to a daily trading update distributed via email.
Zoom shares rallied as much as 3.4% on Wednesday.
The video-conferencing firm’s stock fell on Tuesday after the company predicted that its revenue will roughly flatline for the rest of the year, with the lifting of coronavirus restrictions set to weigh on the customer demand. The stock slide, its biggest since November 2020, came despite the company’s second-quarter earnings beating expectations.
Zoom was one of the most popular companies that benefitted from the pandemic when large swathes of the world were shut down to curb the spread of the virus. Its revenue for the quarter rose 355% year-on-year.
Still, company CFO Kelly Steckelberg said this pace of growth will be challenging to maintain after pandemic restrictions ease.
Zoom isn’t Wood’s first bet on COVID-friendly companies. She also doubled down on virtual healthcare firm Teladoc Health earlier this year, which she bought following a sharp fall in the company’s share price.
Teladoc, at one point in March 2021, was the largest holding in the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF and was tied for the third-largest holding in the ARK Innovation ETF with Roku.
The ARK Invest CEO in July also scooped up shares of Robinhood Markets right after the brokerage app’s debut, purchasing nearly 1.3 million shares worth over $45 million.
US stocks slipped from record highs Tuesday as investors grow concerned about the economic impact of rising COVID-19 cases.
Consumer confidence data released on Tuesday fell to a six-month low, indicating that Americans have been less inclined to purchase big-ticket items. US consumers however were more willing to spend on travel and hospitality as lockdown restrictions ease.
The headline consumer confidence index fell to 113.8, worse than the 123 consensus estimate and downwardly revised 125.1 prior reading. Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said the reading “should add to the worry that we are seeing the peak with the US consumer.”
Labor market data, meanwhile, is due out Friday. Deutsche Bank’s US economists expect the pace of hiring to slow after a strong July report.
Still, all three indexes notched gains for the month, with the benchmark S&P 500 ending higher for the seventh consecutive month – its longest winning streak since January 2018.
Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Tuesday:
Despite Tuesday’s downturn, US stocks have responded with optimism since Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last week signaled that tapering asset purchases and easing bond-buying could happen this year, but interest rates would remain low until 2023.
“Stocks can’t go up forever,” Ryan Detrick, LPL Financial chief market strategist, said in a note. “This reinforces our belief that in the event of a well-deserved pullback, it would be an opportunity to buy at cheaper prices.”
With a highly anticipated Federal Open Market Committee meeting next month, on top of the surging COVID-19 cases, investors should be on the lookout for some seasonal volatility in September, which is historically the worst month of the year for stocks, Detrick said.
“We remain in the camp that any weakness, should it occur, could be short-term and likely be contained in the 5-8% range,” he added. “This bull market is alive and well and we would view any potential weakness as an opportunity.”
Zoomplunged as much as 17% in early trading after the company forecast that its revenue will roughly flatline for the rest of the year.
Allbirds, the direct-to-consumer sneaker company focused on sustainability, made the first steps necessary to go public on Tuesday with its S-1 filing with the SEC.
In the digital asset space, FTX.US, the American arm of crypto exchange FTX, announced it had acquired derivatives dealer LedgerX as FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pushes crypto to embrace regulation.
The CEO of eToro, Yoni Assia, broke down the four factors the exchange looks at from customer interest to token liquidity. Meanwhile, the number of crypto breaches and fraud is on track to break records in 2021, a study by Crypto Head showed.
The 10-Year US Treasury yield edged up to 1.305%, from 1.284% in the previous session. Yields move inversely to prices.
Sometimes, you really need to know that your tech won’t fail you.
Whether you’re gearing up for a video job interview, making an important presentation to your team from home, or having some other important virtual interaction, a test meeting on Zoom is probably a good idea. It lets you make sure that your audio and video is working beforehand.
Here’s what you’ll need to do to get it done.
How to start a Zoom test meeting on a computer
For this method, you’ll have to have downloaded the Zoom app on your computer, and you need to be logged in to your account.
3. Select Open Zoom.us – this will prompt your Zoom app to open.
Click “open zoom.us” in the pop-up.
Devon Delfino/Insider
4. You’ll see a pop-up preview of your webcam. You have the option to select a camera if you have multiple to choose from. If everything looks good, click the desired button to join with or without video.
Choose either “Join without Video” or “Join with Video.”
Devon Delfino/Insider
5. Next is the audio test: If you hear the ringtone (which will play automatically when the Zoom meeting opens), click Yes – otherwise click No and select a different microphone in the drop-down menu and re-do the test to make sure it works and when it does, select Yes.
Select “Yes” or “No” depending on if you heard the ringtone or not.
Devon Delfino/Insider
6. Next, when prompted, speak aloud or make noise for a few seconds. If everything works, you’ll hear a recording of the noise or speech play back for you (if so, click Yes to move on) – otherwise select No and select a different microphone, then do the test again to make sure it works, then click Yes.
Choose “Yes” or “No” to indicate if you heard the recording or not.
Devon Delfino/Insider
7. Click Join with Computer Audio twice as prompted.
Click “Join with Computer Audio” in the pop-up.
Devon Delfino/Insider
8. Select Leave to end the test meeting.
When you’re done, click “Leave.”
Devon Delfino/Insider
How to start a Zoom test meeting on a mobile device
You should already be logged in to your account to speed up this process.
3. If you already have the app, select Launch Meeting, otherwise download it for your iPhone or Android device.
4. When prompted, confirm your choice to open the test meeting by selecting Open.
5. If necessary, give the app permission to use your camera and/or microphone.
Select “OK” to grant the app access to your camera.
Devon Delfino/Insider
6. If everything looks good, you’ll see your test results pop up on the screen with green check marks. Tap Done.
If the video and audio tests were successful, you’ll see green checkmarks.
Devon Delfino/Insider
Note that the test results are only available on iPhone. Android users can enable their video and audio by clicking on the Start Video and Join Audio icons in the bottom-left. If your camera is working, you’ll see yourself in the video. Your microphone is enabled if it’s not crossed off with a red line in the Participants tab.
7. On an iPhone, if there’s a problem, you’ll see a pop-up explaining what isn’t working and how to fix it. Tap OK. (You’ll also see a yellow exclamation point next to the issue on your results.)
If there’s an issue, a pop-up will explain how to fix it.
Devon Delfino/Insider
On an iPhone, exit the window, but leave the test open (rather than ending it), and follow the directions from the pop-up to allow the app to have the necessary access to your device. Then enter the test window again and will update with your new results. If it’s all clear, tap Done to end the test. Android users can hit Leave to exit the meeting since there isn’t a test result pop-up.
While working from home, we’ve grown accustomed to using Zoom for work and for fun, so you’ve probably seen people change the scenery behind them while using Zoom’s virtual backgrounds.
This feature allows you to change your background to one of Zoom’s presets or to a photo or video you upload yourself.
While it’s fun to change your surroundings to a funny photo, there is the added benefit of privacy. Working from home doesn’t mean we want coworkers to gain a glimpse into our homes, and the feature is great if you haven’t had time to declutter your workspace.
Changing your background is easy. For the best results, you may want to purchase a green screen but it’s not necessary.
Also, for virtual backgrounds to appear, the admin of the call (which may be you) may have to enable the feature.
How a green screen can improve your Zoom backgrounds
If a clean, quality background is important for your work, you may want to consider using a green screen.
Green screening is an old filmmaking technique also known as “chroma keying.” We’ll save the history lesson, but the basic idea is a uniform background in high contrast with the color of human skin tones is easier to digitally paste over with another image.
Consistent, uniform lighting also helps separate you from the background, whether or not you have a green screen behind you.
You’ll also want to avoid wearing green unless you prefer to look like a floating head with floating arms.
Without a green screen, your virtual background may look imperfect or “glitchy” at times with objects of the room you’re in. For casual and most work settings, this is not a big deal.
But if you’re giving a presentation or livestreaming, you probably want the viewer’s focus centered on you instead of a distracting background.
