How to Mute Everyone in a Zoom Meeting
current Zoom Workplace desktop app; phone app differences noted · Last checked · Suggest an edit
https://instructions.wiki/zoom/mute-everyone-in-a-zoom-meeting
One open microphone can derail a whole meeting. As host or co-host, you can mute every participant in two clicks and decide whether they are allowed to unmute themselves.
Open the Participants panel
Click Participants in the meeting toolbar at the bottom of the Zoom window. A panel listing everyone in the meeting opens on the right. Only the host and co-hosts see the controls below; if you do not, ask the host to make you a co-host.
Click Mute All
At the bottom of the Participants panel, click Mute All. If the button is tucked behind a More menu, click that first.
Decide whether they can unmute
A dialog asks whether to allow participants to unmute themselves. Leave the box checked if people should be able to speak when they are ready. Uncheck it to keep them muted until you ask them to unmute. Click Yes (some versions say Continue). Everyone except you is now muted.
Lock it from the Security menu
To keep the room muted after the fact, click Security in the toolbar and uncheck Unmute Themselves under the list of things participants are allowed to do. From then on participants can only unmute after you click Ask All to Unmute at the bottom of the Participants panel (or in its More menu), which sends each person a request they can accept or ignore.
Mute people before they join
When scheduling the meeting, open the meeting options and check Mute participants upon entry. In a running meeting, click More at the bottom of the Participants panel and check the same option. Anyone who joins from that point arrives muted, including people coming back after a break.
If you want a keyboard shortcut. Press Alt + M on Windows or Cmd + Ctrl + M on Mac to mute everyone except the host. It runs the same Mute All command. Participants see a notice that the host muted them, so the action is not invisible on their end.
If you are running a webinar. Attendees in Zoom Webinars are muted by design and cannot unmute unless a host promotes them to panelist or allows them to talk. Mute All in a webinar applies to panelists only.