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Difficulty reestablishing audio

Forum|Forum|6 days ago
June 3, 2026
8 replies
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I’m teaching English in Japan and Zoom classes are generally one on one. I’m using Version: 7.0.5 (81138) on an iMac/MacOS 25.6. If I share audio from the textbook we are using via the Mac’s Music app I am often unable to hear student responses when it is their turn to speak They can hear me. I can see their lips moving but audio does not work. We pause. I ask them to count to five. I ask random questions and after a while the audio link is reestablished.

Yesterday, after a particularly long interruption when none of the Q&A hacks helped I asked the student to mute and unmute their mic and this did the trick. Are other users experiencing the same trouble? It seems to have been getting worse in recent weeks. Zoom’s updates are less frequent. If this is a widespread problem has anyone had advice from Zoom’s Support system? I have contacted them a number of times on various issues and not once have I received a response.

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Best answer by MGSR

Hello @wilpercy,

This sounds like your meeting audio output is getting disrupted when you share “computer audio” from your Mac (Music app). A few Zoom settings/behaviors on Mac can cause exactly what you described (you see them talking, they can hear you, but you can’t hear them until something “resets” like mute/unmute).

Try these in order:

Stop share, then re-check Zoom’s speaker/output device

In the meeting, click the arrow next to Audio (or Mute/Unmute) and make sure Speaker is set to the correct output (your iMac speakers or your headset).
Then click Audio Settings and use Test Speaker. Sometimes macOS switches the output route when system audio sharing is active.

Share audio the “music-friendly” way (best for textbook audio): Instead of standard “Share Screen + Share sound/computer audio," use Zoom’s music mode options:

Open Zoom Settings > Audio
Enable Original Sound for Musicians (and in-meeting, turn Original Sound on)
Turn on High fidelity music mode (if available). This reduces audio processing that can interfere with playback and voices.

Use “Advanced” sharing for audio-only. When you click Share Screen, look for the Advanced tab and choose Music or Computer Sound Only (if available on your version). This can be more stable than sharing an app/window plus sound.
The quick in-class workaround (what you discovered): Having the student mute/unmute can force a renegotiation of the audio stream. If it happens again, also try:

You: toggle Original Sound off/on (if you’re using it)
You: switch speaker output to another device and back (forces a reset)

Update the Zoom Workplace app. You’re on 7.0.5—if you can, update to the latest Zoom Workplace release for macOS, since audio/share fixes often ship in client updates.

MGSRAnswer

Community Manager

Hello @wilpercy,

This sounds like your meeting audio output is getting disrupted when you share “computer audio” from your Mac (Music app). A few Zoom settings/behaviors on Mac can cause exactly what you described (you see them talking, they can hear you, but you can’t hear them until something “resets” like mute/unmute).

Try these in order:

Stop share, then re-check Zoom’s speaker/output device

In the meeting, click the arrow next to Audio (or Mute/Unmute) and make sure Speaker is set to the correct output (your iMac speakers or your headset).
Then click Audio Settings and use Test Speaker. Sometimes macOS switches the output route when system audio sharing is active.

Share audio the “music-friendly” way (best for textbook audio): Instead of standard “Share Screen + Share sound/computer audio," use Zoom’s music mode options:

Open Zoom Settings > Audio
Enable Original Sound for Musicians (and in-meeting, turn Original Sound on)
Turn on High fidelity music mode (if available). This reduces audio processing that can interfere with playback and voices.

Use “Advanced” sharing for audio-only. When you click Share Screen, look for the Advanced tab and choose Music or Computer Sound Only (if available on your version). This can be more stable than sharing an app/window plus sound.
The quick in-class workaround (what you discovered): Having the student mute/unmute can force a renegotiation of the audio stream. If it happens again, also try:

You: toggle Original Sound off/on (if you’re using it)
You: switch speaker output to another device and back (forces a reset)

Update the Zoom Workplace app. You’re on 7.0.5—if you can, update to the latest Zoom Workplace release for macOS, since audio/share fixes often ship in client updates.

W

wilpercyAuthor

Explorer

Thank you very much for going into such detail. I’ve followed your recommendations and will report back on how it goes with a live class.

I’m not sure about the last point. Before quitting Zoom I always check the menu item to see if an update is available. Currently it says 7.0.5 is the latest. Where else should I look for even newer versions? Zoom’s website?

Annie warner

Newcomer

I’ve seen similar behavior in one-on-one Zoom lessons, especially when sharing computer audio. In some cases, Zoom seems to prioritize the shared audio stream and the student’s microphone audio can temporarily stop reaching the host, even though the student can still hear everything.

A few things you could try:

Make sure Zoom is updated to the latest version, as 7.0.5 is not the most recent release.
When sharing audio, try enabling/disabling options such as “Original Sound” or “High-fidelity music mode” to see if they affect the issue.
If possible, play the textbook audio from a different device rather than through Zoom screen sharing.
Ask students to mute and unmute their microphone when the problem occurs. As you discovered, this can sometimes force Zoom to re-establish the audio connection.
Check whether the issue occurs only with certain students, which could indicate a network or device-specific problem on their end.

I haven’t noticed widespread reports of this exact issue recently, but audio-routing bugs do occasionally appear after Zoom updates. If you continue experiencing it, it may be worth collecting meeting IDs, dates, and logs before contacting Zoom Support again, as they are more likely to investigate when specific examples are provided.

A

Ahmad Ali

Newcomer

Yes, a number of Zoom users have reported intermittent audio dropouts where one participant suddenly can't hear the other, even though video continues normally and the affected participant can still hear audio in the opposite direction. The fact that muting/unmuting the student's microphone immediately restored the connection suggests the issue may be related to Zoom's audio stream handling rather than the student's hardware.
Since you're sharing audio from the Music app, I'd check whether the problem occurs only after using Share Screen → Share Sound. Some users have found that stopping and restarting audio sharing, or briefly switching audio devices in Zoom's Audio settings, restores the missing audio channel more quickly than waiting for it to recover on its own.
A few troubleshooting steps worth trying:
Update Zoom to the latest release, as audio-routing bugs do get fixed between versions.

In Zoom Settings → Audio, disable any advanced noise suppression features temporarily to see if they are incorrectly filtering student speech.

Test with Original Sound enabled and disabled; either setting can sometimes affect one-on-one language lessons where students speak quietly.

If possible, compare behavior when playing textbook audio through a different application (e.g., QuickTime or VLC) rather than Music.

When the problem occurs, ask the student to mute/unmute immediately, since you've already found that this can force Zoom to re-establish the audio stream.
Given that the issue appears to have become more frequent recently, it may also be worth posting in Zoom's community forum to see whether other teachers are seeing the same behavior with recent Zoom versions and macOS updates. If multiple users report the same symptoms, it strengthens the case that it's a software issue rather than a problem with your setup.
One question: does the audio loss happen only after you've shared textbook audio, or does it also occur during lessons where no audio sharing is used? That detail could help narrow down whether the culprit is Zoom's audio-sharing feature or something more general.

W

wilpercyAuthor

Explorer

Thanks for additional replies from Annie and Ahmad. Zoom’s online download page says that 7.0.5 is the latest version so I’d appreciate a pointer to where newer versions can be found.

When I do classes from the classroom, rather than from home/iMac I start the Meeting with an iPhone and play audio from an iPad. I don’t think the problem is so frequent as when using this iMac. In fact it may not occur.

Ahmad: No, it also happens when there is a prolonged gap in the student being required to respond.

Annie warner

Newcomer

Hi,

I haven't experienced this exact issue myself, but based on your description it sounds less like a network problem and more like an audio-routing issue between Zoom and macOS when you're sharing audio from the Music app.

The clue for me is that the student's audio suddenly returns after they mute and unmute. That suggests the connection itself is still active, but Zoom may be failing to switch back correctly to the participant's microphone audio after the shared audio playback.

A few things I would try:

Test whether the problem occurs when sharing audio from a different application (such as QuickTime or a browser) instead of Music.
Disable any audio enhancement or noise suppression settings in Zoom and see if behavior changes.
Check whether "Original Sound" is enabled and experiment with turning it on or off.
Monitor Activity Monitor during lessons to see if Zoom is experiencing spikes in CPU usage when audio sharing is active.
If possible, try a few lessons using the Zoom web client or another Mac account to rule out a local configuration issue.

The fact that it seems to be getting worse recently is interesting. I've seen reports over the years where Zoom updates introduced audio quirks on macOS, especially when screen sharing with sound. It wouldn't surprise me if a recent update changed something in the way audio streams are handled.

For now, asking students to mute and unmute when the issue occurs sounds like a useful workaround since it appears to force Zoom to re-establish the audio channel.

I'd be interested to hear whether other teachers conducting one-on-one language lessons are seeing the same behavior, particularly on newer macOS versions.

W

wilpercyAuthor

Explorer

Lots of good suggestions, Annie. Thank you. I will try to test the options you and others suggest. Could you also respond to the point about latest versions of Zoom? I went ahead and downloaded the Silicon version of Zoom from the Download page and installed it. It still reads as Version: 7.0.5 (81138).

W

wilpercyAuthor

Explorer

Well the audio on the last class worked as expected, but part of what was different was that I selected ‘Share audio/stereo’ in the share menu. Previously I was sharing (from an iPad) an image of the textbook page we use and playing audio through the iMac speakers in the background via the iMac’s Music app. I’ll have to try that technique again to see if the original problem recurs.

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