How to Blur Your Background in Zoom Meetings

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September 12, 2022

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By
Shan Abdul
Published 4 hours ago
Want to blur the background of your Zoom call before or during the meeting? Here's how to
easily do it on desktop and mobile.

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Would you like other participants not to see your messy room during a Zoom meeting? If so,
you're in luck—Zoom offers a "Blur" virtual background to help you hide your background
mess completely. In this article, we'll show you how to enable the blur background in Zoom
on desktop and mobile.

How to Blur Your Background in Zoom on Desktop

The process to blur the background in Zoom on desktop is almost the same on Windows and
macOS. Therefore, regardless of which device you use, you can blur the background in
Zoom for desktop by following these steps:

1. Launch Zoom on your device.

2. If you haven't already, sign into your account.
3. In the Zoom app, click on the gear icon in the top-right corner.

4. Select the Background & Effects tab from the left sidebar in the Settings window.
5. In the right pane, select Blur from the Virtual Backgrounds menu.

By following the above steps, you can hide your background with a blur effect and join the
meeting right away. However, what if you have already joined the meeting and want to blur
the background without leaving? That's also possible.

How to Blur Your Background in Zoom During a Meeting

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If you forget to blur the background and join the meeting, you won't have to leave it to make
the change. Instead, you can blur your background from the same meeting window. While in
a Zoom meeting, here's how you can blur the background on Zoom for desktop:

1. Move your mouse over the meeting screen so that a hidden bar with customization
options appears at the bottom.
2. Click on Stop Video to prevent others from seeing your messy background.
3. On the Stop Video button, click the upward arrow.
4. From the context menu, select Video Settings…

5. Select the Background & Effects tab from the left sidebar in the Settings window.
6. In the right pane, select Blur from the Virtual Backgrounds menu.

If you wish to remove the blur at a later time, you can easily do so. Follow the same steps
above and select None or any other virtual background from the same window where you
set Blur.

In addition, once you blur your background, it will stay the same for all future meetings. So,
you won't have to make this change every time you join a new meeting, both on Zoom's
desktop client and mobile app.

How to Blur Your Background in Zoom on Mobile

Like Zoom for desktop, you can blur your background in Zoom on Android and iOS in nearly
the same way. However, you can only blur the background when you've already joined the
meeting; there is no direct way to apply the blur effect the way we have done it on Zoom for
desktop.

Thus, you can either join the main meeting you're planning to and select the blur virtual
background in the middle, or start your own and make this change before your main meeting
starts. Here are the steps you need to follow to blur your background while in a meeting on
Zoom for Android and iOS:

1. Launch the Zoom app on your mobile device.

2. Start a new meeting or join the ongoing one.
3. Tap on the More menu in the bottom-right corner, represented by three horizontal
dots.
4. Go to Backgrounds & Effects (on iOS) and Virtual Background (on Android) from
the menu options.
5. Select Blur from the available backgrounds.
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To revert this change, you need to follow the same steps and select None or any other
background, the same way we chose Blur. If you get tired of the available virtual
backgrounds in the Zoom app, you can also use your own. Take a look at our guide listing
cool virtual backgrounds for Zoom meetings.

If you aren't seeing the option to blur your background in your desktop client or mobile app,
you're likely using an outdated Zoom version. Verify that the version of the app you're on
supports Blur background, as detailed on the Zoom website. Update it if it isn't.

Blur Your Messy Background With Ease

It should be possible for you to hide your background and prevent your colleagues from
seeing the mess behind you. Since we have explained how to blur it on all devices, you
shouldn't have a hard time doing so.

A Blur background is just one way you can protect your privacy, but Zoom offers many more.
Do explore them!

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