Zoom has recently become one of the “go-to” options for video meetings. Zoom was designed to be easy to use and not require too many settings to work. However, some of the default settings can cause issue for your meetings!

Edit 3/31/2020: Since these complaints are getting some traction, Zoom may change the defaults. In fact, some things have already changed for Education accounts.

• Make sure your meeting is Private:
  
1. As the meeting host, sign into the Zoom web portal and navigate to Settings.
2. Enable Only authenticated users can join meetings.

3. If the setting is disabled, click the Status toggle to enable it. If a
verification dialog displays, choose Turn On to verify the change.
Note: If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at either the Group or
Account level, and you will need to contact your Zoom administrator. The Account
administrator can log in and make this change for the whole account.


• Check your default screen sharing mode:
  
1. When the meeting is running, click the Host controls, click the arrow next to
Share Screen and click Advanced Sharing Options.

2. Under Who can share? choose Only Host.
3. Close the window.


• If you don’t want meeting members to hang out before the host starts the meeting, check “join before host” option.
  
1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator with the privilege to edit
account settings.
2. Click Account Management > Account Settings.

3. Navigate to the Meeting tab check to see if Join Before Host setting is
enabled as shown above. Disable it by clicking the toggle button.

4. If you want to make this setting mandatory for all users in your account, click the
lock icon, and then click Lock to confirm the setting. The above image shows that Join
Before Host is set to allow and locked for all users of the account.
Make sure it is toggled off if you don't want members to be able to
congregate without the host present.


• Other Helpful settings to check:
  
1. It is a good idea to make sure you turn on "Allow host to put attendee on hold"
found in the In Meeting (Basic) settings. This allows you to kick people out if someone
does manage to "zoom bomb" you.
2. Check the "In Meeting (Advanced)" setting for "Far end camera control". When turned on,
Zoom lets you remotely adjust other people's cameras. While off, no one can mess
with each other’s video feeds.
3. You can also set up a "Waiting room" from In Meeting (Advanced) settings.
While on, each user has to be individually approved by the host to be allowed
into the meeting.
4. It’s probably a good idea to disable "Whiteboard" from In Meeting (Basic) settings too,
because of the potential for naughty drawings.