We’ve all used Zoom at some point. It could be you were attending a meeting, a remote session, catching up with friends, webinars, conferences, etc. Zoom has numerous features making it the most preferred videoconferencing option.
Zoom can get annoying when it opens full-screen, yet you have other things you want to do on your screen. Still, when someone shares their screen, Zoom goes full-screen. So, how do you stop this?
You can stop Zoom from going full-screen in two main ways. First, you can disable the option for Zoom to open in full screen when you enter a meeting. Access the “General” section of the Zoom settings and ensure you uncheck the “Enter full screen when starting or joining a meeting.” The second option is to prevent Zoom from going full-screen when someone shares their screen. For that, navigate to the “Screen share” section and uncheck the option for “Enter full-screen when a participant shares the screen.”
We will understand why Zoom defaults to full screen in different cases. Moreover, we will give the step-by-step process of preventing Zoom from going full screen on a Windows and a Mac.
Why Does Zoom Go Full Screen?
Zoom is a videoconferencing application. Many individuals and organizations rely on it for remote activities, such as meetings, Zoom classes, interviews, etc. When you want to use Zoom, you can create a free account and enjoy its basic functionalities or get a paid subscription with more features.
Zoom has some default settings, but you can customize them. For instance, when you join or start a Zoom meeting, you will notice that Zoom opens in full screen. Moreover, even if you have minimized your Zoom window and someone suddenly starts sharing their screen, Zoom will switch to full screen. That’s the default setting.
The problem with Zoom going full screen is that it covers all your background activities. If you had opened another window to do something other than following the Zoom session, you would get annoyed when Zoom goes full screen.
So, you can avoid this scenario by knowing how to stop Zoom from going full screen. We will cover that in the section below.
How To Stop Zoom From Going Full Screen
We understand how annoying it can be to keep up with Zoom going full-screen when you don’t want it to. Luckily, you can disable these settings on your Windows and Mac. You can disable full screen when screen sharing and when you start or join a meeting.
On Windows
- Open the Zoom application from your installed apps.
- Once it opens, log in to your account.
- Click on the settings icon at the top corner.
- On the settings page, open the “General” tab.
- Find the “Enter full screen automatically when starting or joining a meeting” option and ensure it is unchecked. If not, uncheck it.
- Next, find the “Share Screen” tab and open it.
- Locate the “Window size when screen sharing” option and choose “Maintain current size.”
That’s how you prevent Zoom from going full screen when using a Windows computer.
On Mac
- Open your Zoom application.
- Click on the “zoom.us” section.
- Click “Preferences.”
- Under the “General” section, uncheck the “Enter full screen when starting or joining a meeting.”
- Navigate to the “Share Screen” section and uncheck the option for “Enter full screen when a participant shares screen.”
With that, you won’t be annoyed again with Zoom going full screen under different situations. You can press the escape keyboard key to exit the full-screen mode when you are already in full-screen.
Conclusion
Zoom has some default settings that make it go to full-screen mode, especially when someone starts to share their screen.
We’ve seen how you adjust your settings to change these default settings as a solution for preventing Zoom from going full screen.
