Zoom is widely used by people globally for virtual meetings and other videoconferencing needs.
With Zoom, you can create or join a meeting. Besides, Zoom has different window layouts that you can utilize to achieve different preferences.
Knowing how to work around these layouts is beneficial in ensuring you have an enhanced Zoom experience and can quickly change the layout.
The default mode is the entire screen when you open Zoom and join a meeting. This mode lets Zoom cover all the window space on your device. However, you can activate the floating thumbnail window to minimize your Zoom window. While in this minimized layout, you can click the arrow inside a square at the top of the minimized window, and you will return to the full-screen Zoom layout.
We will discuss the different Zoom layouts and how you can access them. Still, we will discuss the minimized Zoom layout and the steps to use when you want to make it bigger. Let’s get started!
How To Change Zoom Layouts
When using Zoom, you can customize the video layout preferences to adjust how your Zoom window appears on your screen.
These layouts help you decide how you want to view everyone in the Zoom meeting and even when you want to hide participants.
Ideally, Zoom has four main video layouts that anyone can switch between. We will discuss each layout in detail.
Layout #1: Speaker View
When you open your Zoom or join a meeting, you will notice that once the speaker starts talking or sharing their screen, their display will take up the entire space on your window.
This layout is the “Speaker view” and is the default layout. Other participants will be arranged at the top.
With this layout, only a few participants will be visible on Zoom.
Layout #2: Gallery View
Suppose you want to see everyone participating in the Zoom session. That’s where the “Gallery View” comes in.
With this layout, every participant will be arranged in a grid pattern that changes whenever participants join or leave the meeting.
Besides, you can adjust the number of participants you wish to view in this grid pattern.
Whenever someone starts speaking while in this layout, they will automatically get marked as the active speaker to ensure you don’t miss out on seeing who the current speaker is.
Layout #3: Full-Screen View
The speaker view will leave room for participants to appear at the top of the speaker’s window. However, if you want to occupy the entire screen, you can achieve that by double-clicking on the Zoom window.
Once you do, Zoom will fill up the screen, and you can exit this full screen by double-clicking on the window again.
Layout #4: Floating Thumbnail View
The last layout is the “Thumbnail view”. This option lets you achieve a minimized Zoom window that will appear on top of other open applications.
This layout is ideal when you want to work on another application on your computer but want to keep Zoom open, such that you can quickly view what’s happening in the meeting.
How To Make Minimized Zoom Window Bigger
The minimized Zoom window represents the floating thumbnail window. While in this layout, you can collapse or expand the Zoom video using the arrows in the thumbnail window. You can also reposition the thumbnail window by dragging it to your preferred position on your window.
To make this minimized Zoom window bigger, you must tap on the View option in the top right corner of the screen. Select the Fullscreen option to make the Zoom window bigger.
Once you do, the floating thumbnail window will immediately enlarge and obtain a full-screen size.
From there, you can switch to any other layout you feel comfortable using. The Zoom toolbar at the top has all the options you can select from.
Conclusion
Zoom has a small window referred to as the floating thumbnail.
We’ve discussed the four main Zoom layouts that you can use.
Moreover, we’ve seen how you can exit the minimized Zoom window by clicking the icon with an arrow inside.
Hopefully, you can now comfortably enjoy using Zoom.
