Customize the Zoom button bar during meetings

[vzanini]

Hello, when I host a meeting, the Zoom toolbar has all the buttons visible for all the possible options (audio, video, security, participants, chat, share.... etc.)

However, I only us a few of these.

I don't need Summary, AI Companion, Polls, Whiteboards, Notes. I never use them, and they take real estate on the bar. How can I disable these buttons?

Having too many buttons just makes the UI busy and difficult to use

For example, when the window is small, the Breakout Rooms button is removed and goes into the More menu, requiring one extra click. But if I can remove the buttons I never use, then everything remains visible and immediately accessible.

I have not found any information on customizing the button bar. I just would like to select what to show in the button bar, and what to leave optional (maybe in the More menu).

Can anyone share any tips?

Or is this a new feature request for Zoom?

[MtgswithZoom]

Need to do the same. Will never, ever, use the features vzanini mentioned in our meetings twice a week for those who cannot attend our in-person meetings. Not sure who is asking for these features, but if so, should be easily added or removed from the main menu. Now, with AI added pushing others away, I have 3+ features I use regularly that I need to find in the more menu each time. What a drag. Since we have many operators hosting the meeting, I need a conferencing tool anyone can step up to and operate. What was once simple is now overly complicated. The simplicity is what drew us to it in the first place. 

[vzanini]

I fully agree. Zoom is great because it's simple and straightforward. That's what makes it different.

Now it's becoming cumbersome for the sake of features. Thanks for sharing.

[108harekrishna]

I'm also looking for info on how to edit the configuration of buttons in the zoom meeting menu bar. With the AI thing which I don't intend to use the reactions are lost in menu. I would love to be able to personalize it so the features I use the most are not relegated to the menu. 😅

[DPZ]

I'm also looking for a way to either remove the items I don't use, or rearrange them so it's the stuff I don't use hidden in the "more" section.  The toolbar is now visually busy, and I'm finding it awkward to get to the tools I actually need, both when I'm a host and when I'm a participant.  It's particularly annoying that an accessibility tool like the captions is part of what gets hidden under "more"!

[David44357]

Count me in as yet another person looking for a way to customize which buttons are displayed on the toolbar. My clients are often confused when I ask them to open the chat, because there are so many buttons and the most important ones are often not displayed on smaller screens.

[jenroth]

Yes, please make this customizable. I hate having to go to the More menu for something as basic as chat, and meanwhile all these features I have no use for are taking up all the real estate.

[RichardB]

I'm another one who would like the Zoom button bar to be fully customisable. With each update, it's getting more and more cluttered with things that we don't want to access for our meetings and it's pushing the ones we do off the bar onto the ancillary three dots menu. I'm sure some simple on/off selection buttons in the account settings can't be beyond your tech guys! Clear and uncluttered is the way to go.

[onlyplantshere]

I completely agree. I use the Chat feature in every meeting and now I have to click the "More" button to see it (and take up space at the side of my screen)? My audience is generally not of the tech-savvy demographic and now I will have an even more difficult time engaging them. Sigh. I don't ever use any of those other features that have now taken the place of Chat on the menu bar. This is most unfortunate that Zoom cannot create a means by which end users can customize this tool bar so that frequently used icons are most accessible to both speaker and participants. 

[vzanini]

Can we get anyone from Zoom inc. to comment on this or provide some insights on when this functionality will be implemented?

@Anonymous ?

[BeZe]

Many of my clients want to use Teams instead of Zoom, but I have insisted so far to use Zoom because of the simplicity, superior reliability and the breakout sessions that offer options Teams does not. Now the button is the last on the menu, hidden in the "more" option. How silly. If Zoom is further progressing down this road, it will lose its edge and I will have to change my mind. Sorry.

[jeffyjc]

PLEASE SOMEONE AT ZOOM   Many of us just use the basics, why cant we select the 5 or 6 that we really use on the zoom menu bar at the bottom of the screen.  Just a small church glass and we have an all volunteer tech committee and this is getting way to complicated.  Let us chose what we need Please.

[kenatsun]

Me too!

But it looks like Zoom isn't listening.

[OhZoom]

I strong agree with this being a huge annoyance. The useless menu clutter with items that I will never use is a huge regression on the part of Zoom.

If anyone from Zoom is reads and cares about their community forums: Please don't make your product worse for so many users!

[gilbertstudios]

YES!! I agree. PLEASE let us choose which to show and which to hide OR at least reorder them.

[raincity]

I agree, accessing the meeting controls I use is difficult when they're hidden under "more", esp. break out rooms or chat.  I have no need for AI, Apps, Whiteboard, Summary, Notes, at this time.  Would be nice to be able to prioritize the controls for individual needs.   It's hard to believe that Zoom has zero customer service, not even responding to Zoom Community posts.  Hope they see this and upgrade the meeting controls bar. 

[allenfuller]

This was bothering me as well, so this was our solution:

In the Zoom Web Portal, if you go to Account Management > Account Settings, you can then go to each tab for these services (AI Companion, Whiteboard, Notes, Clips, etc) and disable the "In-Meeting" setting. This will then remove the buttons from your in-meeting control bar, cleaning it up substantially.

Hope that helps!

[108harekrishna]

So I followed your instructions and disabled everything but the buttons still show in my bottom bar. Here's a screenshot. You can see that annoying AI companion button is there, summary, Apps, whiteboards, all things I don't need to see. Thank you though. It was good to disable some of these things for my users. 

[allenfuller]

Did you end the meeting and start a new one? I did not see the difference until I started a new meeting. AI companion was tricky! A Zoom employee posted a solution in another thread here:

https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-AI-Companion/How-to-completely-disable-all-AI-features-in-Zoom-me...

[108harekrishna]

Yep I did all the changes before opening a meeting then opened a new one to check. I just tried it again after closing that other meeting. Everything still shows up. I'll take a look at the link. thanks!

[108harekrishna]

UPDATE: Big Success! Thank you @allenfuller ! With the link you provided to remove from view the AI companion, my menu bar now looks like this:

Many blessings be upon you! So grateful! 😊🙏

[allenfuller]

That's great news!! Wish we didn't have to work so hard to keep Zoom the way it used to be, ha!

Blessings to you as well!

[BeZe]

Thank you so much for your input! Greatly appreciated.

[RichardB]

Thank you so much for this! I'd gone through the normal settings, assuming that any on/off controls would be there. I didn't even realise that there was a second set of account settings hidden away elsewhere on the menu. Thanks to your instructions and the link to disabling the AI companion (and the sneaky extra step of having to disable the button on the toolbar even when you've turned it off), my buttons are all back to how I want them to be.

Hurrah for the community! 😀

[onlyplantshere]

Thank you so very much @allenfuller for this solution - it worked! 

[DalongChen]

Thanks for your feedback.
We already have a plan to support customizing menus in the meeting control bar in future release.

[Love-for-God]

Really great to hear !!!

[kharrisma]

I am SO very glad to hear that, Dalong.  Zoom was starting to smell a lot like Microsoft in the way they load up your front end with their shiny new ideas at the expense of the things you ACTUALLY USE, and not give you any way to reverse or alter the change.  Guess we'll just have to wait and see.