Why Does Zoom Keep Crashing or Freezing? Here‘s How to Fix It

Hello fellow Zoom users! Adam here, your friendly neighborhood MacOS and software expert. If you‘re reading this, chances are you‘ve encountered the dreaded Zoom crash or freeze mid-meeting. Don‘t worry, you‘re not alone.

According to a survey by Virtira Consulting, 49% of remote workers have experienced technical issues during video meetings. Zoom themselves reported a 354% increase in daily meeting participants in 2020, putting a strain on their infrastructure and leading to more glitches for users.

As someone who spends hours each day on Zoom for work and personal calls, I‘ve run into my fair share of crashes and freezes. It‘s incredibly frustrating to have your productivity derailed by technical problems!

But fear not, I‘m here to share my battle-tested troubleshooting tips to help you get Zoom running smoothly again. I‘ll dive deep into the most common causes of Zoom instability and provide step-by-step fixes, along with some preventative best practices. Let‘s get into it!

Understanding Zoom Crashes vs. Freezes

First things first, let‘s clarify the difference between a Zoom "crash" and "freeze", as they often have different underlying causes.

A crash is when the Zoom application abruptly closes itself in the middle of a meeting. You might see a brief error message flash on-screen before Zoom disappears completely. Crashes are usually caused by a serious software issue like a bug, incompatibility, or lack of system resources.

On the other hand, a freeze is when Zoom stops responding to any input but remains open and running. Your video feed might get stuck, or the meeting controls become unresponsive. Audio might cut out as well. Freezes are often due to temporary glitches that can resolve on their own, but sometimes you‘ll need to intervene.

In my experience, crashes tend to be more disruptive and harder to recover from than freezes. But both can derail an important meeting or presentation!

The 6 Most Common Reasons for Zoom Crashes & Freezes (and How to Fix Them)

Over the years of using Zoom on a daily basis and helping coworkers troubleshoot, I‘ve identified these six issues as the usual suspects behind unstable Zoom meetings. Here‘s how to fix each one:

1. Poor Internet Connectivity or Speeds

I‘d wager that 8 out of 10 Zoom issues I‘ve encountered have been internet-related. Zoom is a bandwidth-hungry beast, especially in group meetings with HD video. So any hiccups in your internet connection will have an outsized impact on performance.

How to troubleshoot:

• First, make sure your device is actually connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. I‘ve been guilty of forgetting to rejoin the network after waking my MacBook from sleep mode!
• Check your Wi-Fi signal strength. If you see only one or two bars, try moving closer to the router or connecting to a different network entirely.
• Run a speed test (I like fast.com or speedtest.net) to check your upload and download speeds. Zoom recommends a minimum of 1.5 Mbps up/down for high quality video calls. Anything less than 20 Mbps down may cause issues in group meetings.
• If you‘re on a shared Wi-Fi network, ask others to minimize their internet usage during your meeting, or use QoS settings in the router to prioritize your device.
• Wired Ethernet will always be more stable than Wi-Fi, so connect directly to your router if possible.
• As a last resort, try turning off your video or switching to audio-only. It‘s not ideal but can help in a pinch with limited bandwidth.

2. Other Apps Draining Your Computer‘s Resources

Zoom is pretty demanding in terms of CPU and memory usage, especially if you‘re using advanced features like virtual backgrounds. If you have too many other programs running in the background and competing for resources, Zoom is more likely to crash or freeze.

How to troubleshoot:

• Close any non-essential programs and browser tabs before the meeting. On a Mac, I use the CMD+Tab shortcut to quickly see what apps are open.
• Open Activity Monitor (Mac) or Task Manager (Windows) to check which processes are hogging CPU or RAM. Look for apps using over 20% CPU or memory and consider force quitting them.
• Disable CPU-heavy Zoom features like HD video, gallery view, and virtual backgrounds if your computer is struggling.
• Avoid multitasking during Zoom meetings on older or lower-spec machines. Stick to just the Zoom window if possible.

3. Outdated Zoom Software or Drivers

One of the easiest ways to encounter bugs and glitches is by running outdated software. Zoom frequently releases updates with performance improvements, security patches, and new features. And having mismatched versions can cause all sorts of odd behavior.

How to troubleshoot:

• Open the Zoom app, click on your profile picture, and select "Check for Updates". If an update is available, install it right away.
• To enable automatic updates on a Mac, open Zoom settings/preferences, go to the "General" tab, and check "Automatically keep Zoom desktop client up to date".
• Make sure your computer‘s operating system is up to date as well, since Zoom relies on many OS-level libraries and drivers. On a Mac, you can check for updates in System Preferences.
• If you‘re on Windows, consider updating your graphics card drivers as well. Go to the manufacturer‘s website to download the latest versions.

4. Hardware Limitations or Incompatibilities

Not all computers are created equal when it comes to video conferencing. Older or underpowered machines may struggle with Zoom, especially in larger meetings with lots of video feeds. Incompatible or buggy hardware like webcams and headsets can also cause problems.

First, check if your computer meets Zoom‘s minimum system requirements:

Other tips:

• If you suspect your headset or webcam is causing issues, try using the built-in ones instead and see if that fixes it. Unplug/replug the accessory or try it on a different computer to isolate the problem.
• Avoid using external webcams or mics that don‘t explicitly advertise Zoom compatibility. Cheap, no-name devices are more likely to have driver issues.
• Upgrade your computer if it‘s more than 5 years old or was a budget model to begin with. Zoom runs best on newer machines with fast processors and SSDs.

5. Corrupt Application Files or Settings

Sometimes the Zoom installation itself can become corrupted, either due to an interrupted update, disk errors, or damaged preferences. In that case, no amount of troubleshooting will fix it, and you‘ll need to reinstall.

How to uninstall & reinstall Zoom:

• On a Mac:

  • Quit the Zoom app completely
  • Open the Finder, go to Applications
  • Find Zoom, drag the icon to the Trash, then empty it
  • Download the latest installer from Zoom‘s site

• On Windows:

  • Open the Start menu, click on Settings
  • Go to System > Apps & features
  • Find Zoom, click it and select Uninstall
  • Download the latest installer EXE from Zoom

• When reinstalling, I recommend downloading a fresh copy of Zoom rather than using an old installer file. This ensures you‘re getting the most up-to-date version.

6. Upstream Problems With Zoom‘s Service

On rare occasions, the problem doesn‘t lie with your setup at all but rather on Zoom‘s end. Like any cloud service, Zoom can experience outages and degraded performance due to network issues, server failures, denial-of-service attacks, or unexpected spikes in usage.

In April 2020, Zoom suffered several hours-long partial outages due to infrastructure strains from the sudden influx of millions of users during the pandemic. Crashes and freezes were widespread during those incidents.

How to check Zoom‘s status and report issues:

• Visit status.zoom.us to see the current operational status across Zoom‘s services. A green check mark means all systems normal, while yellow/red indicate issues.
• If you suspect a problem on Zoom‘s end, search Twitter for #zoomdown or similar hashtags to see if others are reporting the same.
• To report your own issues, visit Zoom‘s Submit a Request page and file a ticket with Support. Include your meeting ID, type of device, error messages, and steps to reproduce.

Unfortunately there‘s not much we as end users can do about platform-wide Zoom issues except wait for their engineering team to resolve it. Consider rescheduling your meeting or using an alternative like Skype, Google Meet, or FaceTime in the meantime!

Best Practices to Avoid Zoom Instability

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. While not all Zoom crashes and freezes are avoidable, you can dramatically reduce the chances of encountering them by following these suggestions:

1. Always have a stable internet connection of at least 25 Mbps download speeds for group HD video calls. Connect via Ethernet if your Wi-Fi is unreliable or weak.

2. Limit multitasking on your device during calls. Turn off unnecessary notifications, close unneeded apps & browser tabs, and avoid downloading files.

3. Keep your Zoom app up to date and set it to auto-update. Same with your operating system and driver software.

4. Invest in an external 1080p webcam, noise-canceling headset, and USB mic for the best audio/video quality and fewer hardware issues.

5. If you‘re experiencing frequent crashes, try hosting the meeting from a different device like a tablet or smartphone. The mobile apps are often more stable than desktop.

6. Have a backup communication method like a phone conference line or chat program in case Zoom goes down completely.

Handy Zoom Keyboard Shortcuts & Tricks

Finally, here are a few of my favorite hotkeys and lesser-known features that can enhance your Zoom experience:

• ALT+V (Cmd+Shift+V on Mac): Turn video on/off
• ALT+A (Cmd+Shift+A on Mac): Mute/unmute audio
• ALT+F (Cmd+Shift+F on Mac): Enter or exit full screen
• ALT+R (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac): Raise or lower your hand to get the host‘s attention
• Spacebar: Push-to-talk or push-to-mute (in Settings)
• /chat: Send a chat to everyone (type in meeting window)
• /zoom: Host a meeting with your Personal Meeting ID
• /record: Start or stop cloud recording

Conclusion & Takeaways

Whew, that was a lot of information! I know it can feel overwhelming to troubleshoot Zoom issues, especially in the middle of an important meeting. But just remember to stay calm and work through these fixes one by one.

In my experience, the vast majority of crashes and freezes can be resolved by addressing internet or computer resource problems. When in doubt, a full system restart and Zoom reinstall often does the trick!

And while not all disruptions are under our control, practicing good Zoom hygiene like keeping your app updated and hardware properly configured can prevent many headaches down the road.

I hope these tips have empowered you to tackle Zoom instability head on! If you found this guide helpful, please let me know on Twitter @AdamTheZoomWizard. Happy Zooming!