Audio Issues with Zoom Meetings

Mthay617

I have been participating in a lot of Zoom meetings and the Audio mutes itself several times a minute.  It's very distracting to have to keep turning the speakers back on, and unmuting my microphone.  I've looked all over for a fix for this, but haven't been able to find anything.  Any suggestions?   Thanks.

TSNickW

Hello Mthay617!  Welcome to the forum.  That is a strange issue indeed.  When the problem occurs does the audio actually have the x over the speaker likes its muted?  Is it muted in only Zoom or is muted for the entire system?  Also can you give some details on the system in question.  Is it a Windows PC, MAC, mobile device, etc?

Mthay617

It is an HP Probook.  I purchased it new in February from Microcenter.  I've only had the issue when using Zoom.  I've listened to podcasts, online music, etc. and haven't had the issue.  However, with those situations, I'm not using the microphone.  During the Zoom meetings, conversation is going on, and suddenly the speaker icon has an x, and the microphone gets muted.   It happens so frequently that it's difficult to carry on a conversation.

Ian

I would make sure it is not a keyboard shortcut causing this as Zoom would have certain keys and keys that can be changed to mute audio/speakers. I would look over this guide from Zoom to make sure it is not that causing the issue: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205683899-hot-keys-and-keyboard-for-zoom

Mthay617

Thanks for the information.  I don't think it's related to the keyboard shortcuts, as I'm not using the keyboard during Zoom calls.

Ian

Do you get any sort of pop up messages or error messages when this occurs? 

Mthay617

No.  The audio just goes off and the x appears by the speaker icon at the bottom right of the screen.  The microphone also mutes, so I have to turn it back on too.

Ian

Are you just using the built-in microphone/speakers or are you using one plugged in via 3.5mm jack/USB?

Mthay617

just the built-in microphone/speakers

AlexS

Is there any particular events occurring when these Zoom meetings are happening?  Like other participants joining or leaving the session? 

Mthay617

No.  The meetings have been with 2 - 6 participants, and no one was joining or leaving.  It happens regardless if I'm a Host or Participant.  I have tried adjusting various settings in Windows and Zoom.   No change.

AlexS

I'm personally not seeing too many results regarding this sort of issue occurring as well.  Have you tried doing a clean boot in case there are other background services running that could be interfering with Zoom?  
You can utilize this article to try: https://www.microcenter.com/tech_center/article/9067/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-10

Note that if Zoom is listed on the background services, be sure not to click the checkbox.

Mthay617

I did the clean boot, then held a meeting in Zoom.   The meeting lasted about 8 minutes and the issue did NOT happen.  Hoping that fixed it.  Am curious to see if it happens with a larger, longer meeting.
Also interesting.......my daughter has the same computer (HP Probook) and has had same issue with Zoom.  

AlexS

Could be some background services that came with the HP!  It's tedious work, but you could slowly re-enable one background service at a time until you rule out which one could be causing the problem.  

Mthay617

So is everything disabled now?  Do I need to turn anything back on?  I wasn't sure what was being done in the clean boot process.

AlexS

The clean boot process closes any background services that are non-essential for Microsoft Windows to operate.  But depending on what other programs that you use, some programs such as Google Chrome or Firefox have a background service that is used to automatically update the software in the background.  

Mthay617

Thanks for your help!

AlexS

You're welcome  

Mthay617

I've attended several hour-long Zoom meetings since I performed the clean boot and have not had the muting issue again.  The clean boot worked!   Thanks for your help with this.

Ian

That's great to hear. Please let us know if you have any other questions. 

grumpy

Joined a zoom session successfully.  Last two sessions attended my video fails.  Have checked settings everything looks right.

TSTonyV

grumpy said:

Joined a zoom session successfully.  Last two sessions attended my video fails.  Have checked settings everything looks right.

When you say the video fails, do you mean it start with video, and then it cuts out partway through, or that you never get video when you join a meeting?