Zoom / 4 min read
How to hide Zoom's floating toolbar on a Mac
On a Mac, press Control + Option + Command + H to hide or show Zoom’s floating meeting controls. You can also drag the toolbar out of the way. If the shortcut fails, check Zoom’s Keyboard shortcuts settings. Hiding local controls does not prove they are absent from the received share or recording.
Hide or show Zoom’s floating toolbar on Mac with Control + Option + Command + H. Check shortcut settings and what appears in the received share.
By ScreenVeilUpdated
Move the Zoom toolbarClear your workspace without losing the stop button
Zoom's floating bar always seems to land on the tab or menu you need next. You can move it without changing what you share. First work out which problem you have: is the toolbar only in your way, or does it also show up in the share?
Those are different problems. A meeting app may handle its own controls in a special way when it shares your screen, and a separate recorder may not. So look at the share itself instead of assuming it matches your screen.
Quick fixes in Zoom
- 1
Move the controls
According to Zoom's help docs, you can drag the floating sharing toolbar somewhere else. Move it away from the part of your presentation you need to click.
- 2
Use the show/hide shortcut
On a Mac, Control + Option + Command + H shows or hides Zoom's floating meeting controls. Open Zoom → Settings → Keyboard shortcuts to check or change the binding. If another app has focus, review whether this shortcut offers a global option; a shortcut only works outside Zoom when its global option is enabled.
- 3
Practice bringing it back
Before a real call, hide the toolbar and bring it back once so you know how to stop sharing. You don't want to be hunting for the stop button in the middle of a presentation.
Three things that are easy to mix up
Scroll sideways to compare →
| What you notice | What it is | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A floating meeting toolbar | Zoom's controls, on your Mac | Move or hide it in Zoom. |
| A border around the shared window | A sign from the app or macOS that the window is being shared | See whether that app has a setting for it. |
| Controls show up on the second device | Whatever you picked to share includes them | Stop sharing, then check what you picked and your Zoom settings. |
Check what people on the call see
From your Mac to the call
- 01
Your screen
Where you click the controls
- 02
The shared window
The window you picked in Zoom
- 03
The second device
What people on the call see
If you use ScreenVeil
Start Privacy Screen, then pick that window in Zoom. Turn on the "Share selected app window only" setting under Settings → Share screen → Advanced, and try it with a test document first. ScreenVeil can't change the border a meeting app draws around a shared window, and we can't promise that every recorder leaves out every floating control.
Keep Privacy Screen visible until you select it. If its local window stays in the way afterward, press Escape while it is active and check the received picture. Use Show Privacy Screen before selecting it again. Zoom’s toolbar and Privacy Screen have separate controls.
What about Google Meet's controls?
Meet's controls are in your browser. Google recommends a separate tab or window for presenting rather than sharing the meeting itself. Marking the whole browser private in ScreenVeil can hide both the meeting and your presentation; a separate excluded meeting window keeps that choice explicit.
For a presentation that moves between apps, pick the Privacy Screen window in Meet and sort out the browser's public and private tabs yourself. Your Zoom settings don't carry over to Meet.
Before you hide the controls
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