Lenovo laptops crashing on Zoom meetings, please help!

[Runako]

Hello, 

I work for an MSP that supports both Windows and Mac devices. Over the last month, we've noticed that users of specifically LENOVO devices (laptops) are experiencing an issue where their devices crash whenever they enter meetings. The devices lock up and need to be hard shut down and rebooted to operate again. We've tried reinstalling zoom, turning off hardware acceleration, making sure the device is up to date etc. 

This seems to be something related to how Zoom and Lenovo are interacting at the software level, but we need a solution ASAP, as this behavior is spreading across all client using Lenovo devices!

[storyhub]

Which Lenovo devices are being used - there are literally 100s of configurations? i3 CPUs don't work with Zoom and i5s may have high CPU usage. i7s work best. Some people have tried to put windows 11 on configurations that have CPUs not designed for win 11 and were not built for that OS. Also, laptops can overheat if ventilation is restricted.

If this works please click accept as a solution.

[Runako]

Unfortunately, this doesn't work. Most of these devices are 2024 or 2025 X1 carbon models with 16gb of ram and i7 processors. Are you insinuating that Zoom needs top-tier specs to operate and not brick machines? These machines have to be shut down when Zoom is used. I plan on going to Zoom support about this anyway but thanks for the input. 

[LM_CMGT]

I found this post because my Lenovo is having the same issue! It's been happening for about the last 4 to 6 weeks. 

At least 3x per week while I am in a zoom meeting my screen will go black, I can still hear and be heard in the meeting, but I can't see anything or use my computer at all. I have tried clicking the mouse, pressing esc, spacebar, enter, etc., to see if I could "wake it up" and nothing has ever worked. I just have to wait until the meeting is over. Half the time once the meeting ends, my screen will come back on but my computer will be so glitchy and slow that I will have to restart it to get it back to normal. The other half of the time the screen never comes back on, or it blinks on/off, or comes on but I can't move the mouse or click anything. In those circumstances all I can do is hold down the power button to hard restart. 

My Lenovo is only 4 months old. It's an X1, i7 processor, 32g ram. I've updated zoom twice in the last month, I've done system updates and updated all my high-use software. 

[Runako · Accepted solution]

Hi there! 

We actually got a fix for this directly from Lenovo! It seems they knew about this for a while. Here is everything you need: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/HT518017 

Apparently, it's due to bad display drivers. 

The article will say it's for teams, but in reality, it's for all video conferencing apps. 

Once I did this with my clients, things returned to normal. 

Hope this helps you!

[1ceL]

What has been zooms official stance on this? Or have they stated anything?

[thwbecker]

Thanks for posting this. I have the same issue (Zoom freezes whole Thinkpad with Intel driver). Rolling back to 6733 did "fix" things for 2-3 Zoom calls, but now I am back to the same problems. I verified that the driver is still 32.0.101.6733.

Has anyone found the fix to work consistently, and/or any other comments? This has been a real pain.

Thank you!

[thwbecker]

Hi, 

Thanks for posting this. This worked for me for a while, but now the system (Lenovo Thinkpad with Intel graphics) is back to frfeezing when using Zoom. I verified that I am still using the rolled back v32.0.101.6733 driver. Does this work for anyone consistently, or are there other solutions? Thanks much in advance!

[Carmen2327]

It's not just Lenovo.  I got a new HP in June 2025 and Zoom has been increasingly getting worse with the freezing and dropped calls.  It has cost me client meetings and lost revenue.  It's serious and none of the suggested fixes by Zoom techs has worked.  

[Carmen2327]

Apparently this is a Zoom issue.  It conflicts with Intel processors.  Mine is on a brand new HP laptop.  The tech said it also occurs with ACER and "others".  They released an upgrade 6.6 and, for now, it seems to work but I am monitoring the situation.  This cost me HUNDREDS of dollars for an IT tech to try and figure out b/c it was costing me client visits and lost money.  I am not happy with Zoom.....

[Runako]

Have you confirmed this with Zoom support? 

It would be interesting to know their stance. Did they say exactly what 6.6 fixes? 

[Carmen2327]

The tech didn't get into specifics but he did say it was an interaction with the Intel Core processor.  Since I downloaded it the crazy freezing and dropped calls have stopped, although I'm still keeping track and continue to be in contact with tech support.  

[thwbecker]

6.6 seems to work, at least with v32.0.101.6733, fingers crossed

[1ceL]

Lenovo T14 of various generations crashing/locking up more recently with Zoom. What is the deal?

We have hundreds of T14 and T14s Lenovo models ranging from Gen 2 to Gen 5 modesl with Intel I7's and integrated Intel HD/Xirus graphics.  We've been seeing an uptick in more users experiencing locking up/freezing/rebooting on our deployed windows 11 24H2.

Earlier this year we had to have people switch to Direct 3D9 on there zoom settings and or disable hardware acceleration as we were having a variety of issues with our Generation 5 Intel T14s being very unstable with zoom. 

however, it looks like the more recent Zoom Workspace no longer allows users to change those settings and we are now having an uptick in more crashes/blue screens/random restarts on our Generation 5 Intels with i7 Pro cpus.  

I came across this post indicating that Lenovo is at fault due to drivers from Intel?  I would really like to know Zooms stance on this, not just pointing the finger at Lenovo

[Carmen2327]

Hi Lenovo user,

Zoom tried to make it my problem too....it's my AVG anti-virus, it's my low upload speed (happened at work too with WAY higher upload speed than the 3.0 necessary), it was this, it was that.   After I installed Zoom 6.6 there were no more incessant freezes.  I have Intel Core Ultra 5 on my HP.  No IT tech (that I paid big bucks for) would have known the interaction between Intel & Zoom....except for Zoom!  

[cdiamond]

I have the exact same issue where a Zoom Engineer is supposed to be looking into the issue. Updating my app to the newest, most up to date version did not help.

The computer has a crash log that states almost every time that it has to do with the Windows Camera Service. Coincidentally, the app only crashes when joining/ initiating a call or joining/ initiating a meeting (which are the worst times for the app to crash). I've opened numerous tickets and now am being told by level 2 TSAs to wait for the response from the Engineers.

No solution, but I thought I would share would we've encountered up to this point. #WeveBeenDealingWithThisSinceLastYear