How to change the background of Zoom on Mac and Windows

If you work from home and your office is located in your bedroom, kitchen, or a messy corner of your basement, you will be happy to know that Zoom allows you to hide your environment from your colleagues. One of the ways the software allows you to do this is by changing Zoom’s background, allowing other chat participants to see you as you replace your environment with something more professional.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to change Zoom’s background using both built-in images and user-uploaded custom images. We’ll also show you how to blur Zoom’s background and how to add filters to make your video calls even more fun.

Step 1: Access Zoom’s settings

To set your virtual wallpaper on Zoom, you must first access the Zoom app settings. Open the Zoom desktop app and click on the gear icon to access the settings menu. This icon is located in the upper right corner of the app’s main screen, just below your profile icon.

Step 2: Select Background and Filters from the settings menu.

Once in the settings menu, select the “Background and Filters” option from the left side menu on the screen. This will open a settings menu section on the right side of the screen. Here we will choose the background. You can also add video filters in this section, but we will discuss this later in this guide.

Step 3: Preview and choose the virtual background

To choose a virtual background, make sure the “Virtual Backgrounds” tab is selected. This way, you can browse Zoom’s limited collection of default video and image backgrounds. If you want to preview one of these wallpapers, just click on the corresponding icon and it should immediately appear in the preview screen at the top of the window. It is important to note that if you want to see what your virtual wallpaper will look like during a video call, you must turn on your webcam while you are viewing these previews. That way, the preview screen will show a livestream of your face in front of the background instead of just the background itself.

You are not limited to using only Zoom’s default virtual backgrounds. You can add your own images and videos by clicking on the “Plus Sign” icon next to “Video Filters.” A drop-down menu will appear giving you two options, “Add Image” or “Add Video.” Choosing either option will open your computer’s File Explorer so that you can select an image or video file. Once you have chosen a background, simply exit the settings menu. Zoom will automatically save your selection.

If you don’t want to add a virtual background but simply want to make your real background less noticeable or hide it a bit, you can also blur the background. To do this, simply go to the same “Virtual Backgrounds” tab in the “Background and Filters” section of Zoom’s settings and select the “Blur” preview option.

More options: How to add a filter to your video on Zoom

Virtual backgrounds are not the only way to personalize your video calls on Zoom. You can also decorate the background with a wide range of Zoom’s predefined filters. Here’s how to use them:

Step 1: Access the “Background and Filters” section of Zoom’s settings, as we did earlier.

Step 2: Select the “Video Filters” tab and a wide selection of Zoom’s predefined filters will appear on the screen. Select a filter thumbnail to preview how the filter will look on your screen. For some image filters, the software requires that your face be properly displayed on the screen, so they will not appear unless your webcam is turned on. For example, the pizza hat filter will not appear until you see a face to place the hat on.

Step 3: Once you have decided on a filter, close the settings menu. The filter you choose will automatically appear on the screen the next time you join a video call on Zoom.

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