Join a Zoom meeting as a participant

Join a Zoom meeting as a participant using the meeting link someone has provided you or the Zoom application installed on your device. For Mac users, find the app in your Applications folder. Windows users can type Zoom in the search bar and open it from there.

Participants, guests, and hosts

Anyone can participate in a Zoom meeting. Participants who join the meeting without StarID credentials are considered guests and will have "(Guest)" appended to their display name. All Winona State University students and employees should sign in with SSO to Zoom using their StarID credentials and should never be tagged as guests. As a participant, the host will provide you with instructions and Zoom will prompt if a meeting password is required. To host meetings, you must have a StarID to claim your Minnesota State Zoom Pro license. A host account is not necessary to participate in meetings.

Your meeting link

The host will send you a meeting link to your session. You might use the entire link or just the last part of it, the Meeting ID or personal link name (Fig 1), to join the meeting.

Fig 1. Find the Meeting ID or personal link name

Before your first meeting

Please do the following before you participate in your first Zoom meeting:

Connect to the meeting

How to connect to a Zoom meeting

Using the meeting link

Select the link in the email message, calendar appointment, or Brightspace page the host shared with you. You can also copy and paste it into your favorite web browser.
If prompted by your browser, select the Open Zoom or Open Zoom Meeting button.

Using the Zoom application

On your computer

Open the Zoom application. Mac users: Find it in your Applications folder. PC users: Select Start and type "Zoom" to launch the app. You can then pin the app to your taskbar.
If prompted to Sign In, follow the instructions for signing in with your StarID credentials.
Select Join.
Enter the Meeting ID or personal link name (Fig 2.1). This can be found in the meeting link (Fig 1).
Check audio and video preferences if desired (Fig 2.2)
Select Join (Fig 2.3)

Fig 2. Enter ID or link name

On your phone

Open the Zoom Cloud Meetings app.
If prompted to Sign In, follow the instructions for signing in with your StarID credentials.
Select Join
Enter the Meeting ID or the personal link name (Fig 1)
Select Join.

Set your video and audio

In the Video Preview window, select the Join with Video or Join without Video button (Fig 3 for computer, Fig 4 for phone).
Choose Use Computer Audio (Fig 5 for phone)

Fig 3. Choose to video option
Fig 4. Choose video option
Fig 5. Choose audio option

External links