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How to blur your background on Zoom

Blur your room on Zoom in a few clicks: the desktop app has a Blur button, and in the browser a camera with blur built in does it.

By Facecam team · Updated

Short answer

In the Zoom desktop app, click your profile picture, then Settings, Video & effects, Virtual backgrounds, and click Blur. In a meeting, click the arrow next to Video, choose Video & effect settings, and click Blur. If you join from the browser, Zoom's steps for the Web App list background pictures and no Blur option; pick Facecam Virtual Camera there instead and set its background to Light or Strong blur.

You need

  • The Zoom desktop app on Windows, macOS or Linux, with the Virtual background setting on (an admin can turn it off)
  • For a meeting in the browser: Chrome on a computer and the free Facecam extension

Step by step

  1. Before a meeting, in the desktop app

    Click your profile picture in the top-right corner, then Settings. Open Video & effects, then the Virtual backgrounds tab, and click Blur. The preview shows the blur straight away, and it stays on for your next meetings.

  2. During a meeting, in the desktop app

    Click the up arrow next to Video in the meeting controls, then Video & effect settings. In the side panel, open Virtual backgrounds and click Blur. To take it off, click None in the same list.

  3. In the Zoom Web App, set up the blur first

    Open Webcam Effects on facecam.ai, click Start camera and choose Light blur or Strong blur under Background. With the Facecam extension, the same choice is under Effects in the Facecam popup.

  4. Then pick the camera in Zoom

    Join from your browser, click the up arrow next to Start Video, and under Select a Camera choose “Facecam Virtual Camera”. Everyone in the meeting sees your blurred room, whatever app they use.

Webcam Effects demo
Blur or swap your backgroundWebcam Effects

From our test

  • Our test clip with no effect: a woman at her desk at night, bookshelves and lamps sharp behind her
    Before: our test clip with no effect.
  • The same clip with Light blur and the Bright look: the room softened, her face lifted
    Light blur plus the Bright colour look, the pair that helps most in a dim room.

If it doesn't work

ProblemFix
There's no Blur option in the desktop appYour account's Virtual background setting is off, or your computer doesn't meet Zoom's requirements for virtual backgrounds. Ask your Zoom admin, or use a camera that does the blur itself.
My hair and hands flicker at the edgeLight your face from the front and move away from a bright window. A plain wall behind you gives the cleanest edge.
The edge looks cut out twiceZoom's blur and Facecam's blur are both on. Use one: set Zoom's background to None, or Facecam's to Off.
The Web App doesn't list Facecam Virtual CameraThe tab opened before the extension was on. Reload the meeting tab, allow the camera, and open the camera list again.

Light blur or strong blur

Zoom's desktop app has one blur strength. Facecam has two, plus a slider: Light blur keeps the shapes of your room, so it still looks like you're at home, and Strong blur turns everything behind you into soft colour. In a gallery of small tiles, Strong blur reads as tidier; on a big screen share where your camera is a thumbnail, Light blur is enough.

Zoom desktop appZoom Web App with Facecam
Where the blur isVideo & effects → Virtual backgrounds → BlurThe camera itself: Facecam Virtual Camera
Blur strengthOne settingLight, strong, or the Blur strength slider
Also on the same cameraZoom's filters and studio effectsColour looks, face filters, auto-framing
Carries over to Meet and TeamsNo, Zoom onlyYes, any call in Chrome

Blur plus a better picture

A blurred room hides the mess but doesn't fix a dark face. Pair the blur with the Bright or Warm look in Webcam Effects, or move the Brightness and Warmth sliders a little: our before and after above is Light blur with Bright on a clip filmed by a desk lamp. Auto-framing keeps your face in the middle if you lean back.

In the Zoom desktop app

Zoom's own blur is the simplest choice in its desktop app. If you want Facecam's two blur strengths, colour looks or face filters there, Facecam for PC and Mac adds the same camera to desktop apps; in the browser, the extension does it today.

Official help

  • Zoom Support, changing your virtual background (Blur in the desktop app; Choose Background in the web app): support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0060387 (checked 2026-10-20)
  • Zoom Support, joining a meeting from the web browser: support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0059553 (checked 2026-10-20)

Questions

Can I blur my background on Zoom in the browser?

Zoom's steps for the Web App offer background pictures, not Blur. Pick Facecam Virtual Camera as your camera in the Web App and set its background to blur; Zoom treats it as an ordinary webcam.

Is the blur free?

Zoom's blur comes with Zoom. Facecam's webcam effects are free to try every day; a plan makes them unlimited.

Can others see what's behind the blur?

They see soft shapes and colours. For nothing at all, use a flat colour background like Studio grey instead of a blur.

Does blur slow down my computer?

It uses some graphics power in any app. Close other video tabs, and pick Light blur on an older laptop.

Used in this guide

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