55 of the Most Useful Zoom Keyboard Shortcuts

Updated: Feb. 15, 2023

Master the art of Zoom with these keyboard tricks. Trust us: You won’t know how you ever lived without them.

We’re all spending a lot more time on Zoom these days, and chances are, that’s not going to change anytime soon. In fact, some things might stay virtual forever. But now that you know the basics of how to use this video-conferencing platform, it’s time to up your game. You can make your life a whole lot easier by using Zoom shortcuts on your keyboard. With a few strategic taps, you can quickly mute or unmute yourself, invite people to a meeting, start and stop screen hosting, and more, instead of taking the time to find and navigate to the right spot on your screen.

You can view all of Zoom’s keyboard shortcuts on Zoom’s official list or go to the Zoom dashboard on your desktop and click on Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts. You can even customize these shortcuts in this spot, editing them to use whatever keys you want; simply click on the shortcut and type in the keys you would like for the shortcut listed.

While there are dozens of Zoom shortcuts, we’ve compiled the most useful ones for whatever device you’re using. Once you’re up to speed, you’ll also want to learn these Excel shortcuts to get through work projects a lot faster.

The #1 favorite Zoom shortcut

After consulting with people who use Zoom on a regular basis, one shortcut stands out as a favorite: Zoom’s push-to-talk feature. “The most useful Zoom keyboard shortcut is simply the space bar,” says Shaun Price, head of customer acquisition at MitoQ. “When muted, you can use the space bar to briefly activate your mic to speak. Then, once you’ve said your piece, you can remove your finger from the space bar and mute yourself. It’s a small tool that saves a lot of unnecessary hassle of unmuting and re-muting yourself multiple times during a meeting or presentation. Once you start using it, you’ll wonder how you ever functioned without it.”

To use the push-to-talk feature, go into Settings > Audio, and make sure the option “Press and hold SPACE key to temporarily unmute yourself” is selected. Knowing when to mute and unmute yourself, by the way, is one of the most important Zoom etiquette rules.

Zoom keyboard shortcuts for Mac

The first thing you need to know: These keyboard commands will be different depending on what type of device you have. Here are the best Zoom shortcuts if you have a Mac.

General

COMMAND ACTION
Command(⌘) + L Switch to portrait or landscape view
Command + W Close the current window
Ctrl + T Switch from tab to tab
Option + Y Raise/lower hand

Meeting

COMMAND ACTION
Command + Shift + A How to mute on a Zoom meeting
Command + Shift + A again How to unmute on Zoom
Command + Control + M How to mute Zoom audio except for the host
Space bar Zoom push to talk
Command + Shift + W Shortcut gallery view or speaker view
Command + Shift + S Start/stop share screen when hosting
Command + Shift + T Pause or resume screen share
Command + J Join meeting
Command + W End or leave meeting
Command + Control + V Start meeting
Command + J Schedule meeting

Chat

COMMAND ACTION
Command + T Screenshot
Command + K Jump to chat

Phone calls

COMMAND ACTION
Ctrl + Shift + A Accept inbound call
Ctrl + Shift + D Decline inbound call
Ctrl + Shift + C Call a number you have highlighted
Ctrl + Shift + M Mute/unmute mic
Ctrl + Shift + H Hold/unhold call
Ctrl + Shift + E End current call

There are also plenty of tricks you can use when you’re not using Zoom. Check out these Mac keyboard shortcuts you won’t know how you ever lived without.

iOs Zoom shortcuts

These shortcuts are available only when you are using an iPad or iPhone with a keyboard.

COMMAND ACTION
Command + Shift + H Display/hide chat
Command + Shift + M Minimize meeting
Command + Shift + A Mute/unmute my audio
Command + Shift + V Start/stop my video
Command + U Display/hide participants
Command + W Close window

Zoom keyboard shortcuts for Windows

If you are a Microsoft Windows user, your Zoom shortcuts are a little different from Mac because there is no Command key. Here are the most useful Zoom shortcuts for Windows users.

General

COMMAND ACTION
F6 Navigate among Zoom pop-up windows
Ctrl + Alt + Shift Move focus to Zoom’s meeting controls
Alt + Y Raise/lower hand

Meeting

COMMAND ACTION
Alt + A How to mute on Zoom
Alt + A again How to unmute on Zoom
Alt + M How to mute Zoom audio for everyone except the host
Space bar Zoom push to talk
Alt + F2 Shortcut gallery
Alt + F1 Switch to speaker view
Alt + Shift + S Start/stop share screen when hosting
Alt + T Pause or resume screen share
Alt + F4 Close current window
Alt + I Invite

Chat

COMMAND ACTION
Ctrl + W Close current chat
Ctrl + T Jump to chat
Alt + Shift + T Screenshot
Alt + L Switch to portrait/landscape view
Ctrl + Up Go to the previous chat
Ctrl + Down Go to the next chat
Ctrl + F Search

Phone calls

COMMAND ACTION
Ctrl + Shift + P Call phone number you’ve highlighted
Ctrl + Shift + H Hold/unhold call
Ctrl + Shift + A Accept inbound call
Ctrl + Shift Decline inbound call
Ctrl + Shift + E End current call
Ctrl + Shift + M Mute/unmute mic

Don’t miss these 23 shortcuts for Windows, no matter what program you’re using.

Sources:

  • Zoom Help Center: “Hot keys and keyboard shortcuts”
  • Shaun Price, head of customer acquisition at MitoQ