Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and other video conferencing platforms provided a little glimmer of hope to conduct business, educational or personal meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, today, when the pandemic is the event of history, Zoom remains an integral part of our lives.
Zoom originated the dilemma of Zoom fatigue associated with longer Zoom meetings. If you are tired of an excessively dragging Zoom meeting and want to get out of it subtly without offending anyone, try our hacks to fake a bad connection to get disconnected from it.
You can make it look like you disconnected from Zoom through these tricks.
1. Using Zoom keyboard shortcuts to cut on/off your audio and video and set your profile picture to “Reconnecting.”
2. You can use Zoom Escaper, SnapCam, and the “Bad Connection Simulator” plugin for Google Chrome to fake distorted audio and video.
3. You can also set your Zoom status to “Away” to appear offline to other users.
Let us walk you through some tricks to appear disconnected during the Zoom meeting. We will start with the easiest and make our way to ones that require external software.
Trick #1: Playing With Zoom Keyboard Shortcuts
This one is the easiest that you can play without the help of any third-party tool.
- Open Zoom Settings and click “Keyboard Shortcuts” from the panel on your left.
- Now, scroll down and check the “Start/Stop Video” and “Mute/Unmute My Audio” options.
- Be sure to remember their shortcuts which are as follows.
- Start/Stop Video – ALT + V
- Mute/Unmute Audio – ALT + A
- Now, it is time to do the trick during any boring Zoom meeting.
When the meeting starts dragging, keep playing with the above shortcuts to mute/unmute your audio or stop and play your video to appear disconnecting from Zoom.
Additionally, you can try the infamous “Reconnecting” stunt – change your profile picture to something that says “Reconnecting.”
Now, stop your video and audio using the shortcuts. When this happens, your profile picture saying “Reconnecting” will appear in front of other participants. It will make you look disconnected from the Zoom call while, actually, you are just laughing at how gullible these people are.
The reconnecting stunt has become very popular now, so try it on people you know who are naïve and not tech-savvy.
Trick #2: Fake Bad Connection
There are three ways we can recommend you fake a bad connection.
Method #1: Distort Your Audio Using Zoom Escaper
The first method is via using the Zoom Escaper web widget. This widget helps you to sabotage your Zoom meeting with various sounds from fussy baby to crying roommate. Additionally, it can also distort your audio and make it appear broken due to poor internet connection.
To use it on a Zoom desktop client, follow the steps below.
- Navigate to the Zoom Escaper website.
- Install VB-Cable on your computer.
- After the installation, navigate to the Zoom Escaper website and refresh it.
- Click the “Enable Microphone” button on the website.
- Now, open the Zoom desktop client.
- Open Zoom settings and select “VB-Cable” under “Microphone” in the “Audio” tab.
Now, whenever you are in a Zoom meeting, go to the Zoom Escaper website and select the “Bad connection” option to fake distort your audio to make fake connectivity issues.
Method #2: Fake Video Distortion Using SnapCam
You can use SnapCam buffering filter to distort your video during the Zoom call to disconnect it.
- First, get the SnapCam downloaded and installed on your PC.
- Next, select “SnapCam” as the video output under your Zoom Settings.
Now, whenever you want to fake a bad connection during the Zoom call, open SnapCam and select the buffering filter.
Your video and audio will be distorted, and others will assume you have a bad connection. So, even if you drop the call, it will not be a problem as people will believe you.
Method #3: Bad Connection Simulator Chrome Plugin
It is the plugin by Google Chrome that you can use to stimulate technical difficulties by distorting your audio and video during any video conferencing service, including Zoom.
- First, add the stimulator plugin to your Chrome browser.
- Open the Zoom web version on Google Chrome to join the video call.
- During the call, when you start feeling Zoom fatigue, click on the Bad Connection Simulator icon to stimulate technical problems to disconnect the call.
- You can select impairment levels however you like, from Moderate to Severe. The severe impairment level will make your audio and video unusable completely.
The moderator or host of the meeting will understand you have a connection problem and will be okay with you dropping the call.
It will only work with the web version of any video conferencing platform and not on the desktop app.
Alternative Tip
You can also select offline status on your Zoom App to appear disconnected. Tap on your Zoom profile icon at the top right on the Zoom desktop client and select the availability to “Away” to appear disconnected from the Zoom app.
Sum Up
When Zoom fatigue prevails, dropping the call to prevent brain freezes is only rational. Often it is not easy to do, so under such circumstances, you can fake technical problems to make it look like you are losing connection or disconnected from Zoom. You can use Zoom Escaper, SnapCam, or Bad Connection Simulator Google Chrome plugin to appear as you lose connection.
We have given you tricks to help you fake the bad connection to disconnect the Zoom call. Be sure to use them intelligently without raising any suspicions.
Also, avoid using them excessively, as it may let others believe you are manipulating things yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, Zoom lets the meeting host know when anyone leaves the meeting with a pop-up stating the name of the person who left the meeting. Similarly, if anyone wants to rejoin the meeting, the host must admit them provided the auto-join option for the meeting is not on.
Yes, with third-party tools like Snapcam, a Bad connection stimulator plugin for Chrome, and Zoom Escaper, you can fake a bad connection during the Zoom call to get out of it.
