Guide
How to use a looping video as a Zoom virtual background
In the Zoom desktop app open Settings, then Background and effects, click the plus and add a video. Zoom takes MP4 or MOV files from 360p up to 1080p, so landscape 1080p clips fit exactly.
Updated
Add the video in Zoom
- Open the Zoom desktop app and sign in.
- Click your profile picture, then Settings, then Background & effects.
- Under Virtual backgrounds, click the + button and choose Add video.
- Select the MP4. It plays in the preview straight away and stays in your list for future meetings.
Zoom accepts video backgrounds as MP4 or MOV files with a resolution between 480 x 360 and 1920 x 1080. Every landscape clip linked from this guide is 1080p or smaller, so none needs converting.
Pick a calm clip
People are looking at you, not the background. Scenes where the motion is small, such as steam from a cup or rain on a window, work better than waterfalls or busy fires right behind your head. Check the description on each product page for how much moves.
Cleaner edges
- Sit in front of a plain wall with light on your face, not behind you. Zoom separates you from the room more cleanly.
- If you have a green screen, tick I have a green screen in the same settings page.
- Turn off Mirror my video if text in the scene looks backwards to you. Other people always see it the right way round.
Clips with no sound
Our clips have no audio track, so nothing plays into your meeting from the background.
