Is it actually possible to manage multiple Zoom accounts?

April 12, 2021 4:06 PM

This has been a problem for me since Covid hit, but maybe it can be solved? I basically have two Zoom accounts: home and work. Every single time I have a Zoom meeting (i.e. multiple times a day), I need to diligently sign into Zoom in my browser AND in the Zoom app. And half the time it goes wrong anyway and signs me into the wrong one. I am a confident computer user and still I cannot get to grips with the logic of Zoom. Can it be tamed?

I have two profiles in Chrome, home and work. I am usually logged into both in separate browser windows. Likewise, I have two Zoom accounts. I also switch betwen a Mac and a PC during the day, both with the same Chrome/Zoom duality, and both prone to failure.

95% of my Zoom meetings are work meetings. A lot of my troubles could be solved if Zoom stopped signing me out of my account. It seems like I need to sign in every single time. If there is a way to sign in permamently, that would be perfect. I realize that Zoom is a pain in the ass about security at this point, but in my situation I want to be 100% signed in permanently unless I explicitly switch accounts. Is this possible?

If it is not possible to be signed in permanently, what is the most efficient way to sign in on the many occasions every day when it asks you to? All of the meetings I attend I access via a Google calendar link in my browser. Invariably, I click on a link in my Google calendar only to have Zoom ask me to sign in. I select sign in via Google, thinking it will understand I mean the Google account associated with the calendar, i.e. the Google profile I've just clicked from, and half the time I end up in the wrong account. In 12+ months I haven't worked out the logic of this. It's so maddening. A precaution I often take is to go to zoom in a browser tab and sign in there as well. But this is no good either, because the app decides you're signed into a different account. So the Zoom app ignores the account you've signed into in the Chrome window where you clicked the link, instead assuming you want to be signed into an account you haven't used in days.

Please tell me how it is possible to manage this very simple issue !

posted by cincinnatus c to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I’m sorry, I don’t know how how to solve your issue, but can you work around it by staying signed into your work Zoom on your computer and your personal Zoom on your phone? At least during work hours? That 95-5 split makes it sound like this wouldn’t be too onerous.
posted by ejs at 4:26 PM on April 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I don’t know how to make Zoom stay signed in so my solution is to just not sign in. For all Zoom meetings that I am joining from a link, I do not have to be signed in for. I can just put in my name (which stays typed in every time I open it) and join without being connected to an account. I only log in if I’m starting the meeting. Any possibility of this working for you?
posted by brook horse at 4:41 PM on April 12, 2021

I have multiple Zoom accounts for work and have been managing them by checking (or switching. If need be) which account I'm signed into in the Zoom app first, then clicking on Gcalendar links to meetings. That way, if I have to switch, I'll know quickly.

Nite: I find I have to click "Sign out" in the Zoom app, then log in instead of "Switch accounts" for this to work consistently.

Good luck!
posted by wiskunde at 5:40 PM on April 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

I use two accounts for work: a shared account used primarily for scheduling meetings (which I'm usually signed into in my browser) and my personal account I use for attending meetings (which I am always signed into on the app). After similar frustrations, I discovered that if I copy the meeting link into a private window in Chrome, Zoom can't tell which account I'm signed into on the browser and so opens in whatever account is active on the app.

So can you do this and just leave your work account signed in on the app during the work day?
posted by leeloo minai at 6:20 PM on April 12, 2021

I use zoom on safari +zoom app on my Mac and I never asked to sign in again unless I've rebooted my computer. So maybe try a different browser?
posted by metahawk at 9:52 PM on April 12, 2021

Use a different browser for the home account? If Chrome is for work Zoom, use Edge or Fireox for home zoom?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:22 AM on April 13, 2021

I use a work and personal zoom account.
I have 2 chrome browsers open all day, a work one, and a personal one... I've logged into chrome accounts and zoom accounts on both, again one for work and one for personal. If I click on a zoom link, and the work browser opens up (which is wholey dependent on if it was the last one I was browsing in), then zoom uses my work account.. if the last browser I logged into was my personal one, it logs me into my personal zoom. I don't have to log in to either account a second time.. perhaps you just need to browse in the correct window before clicking the link?
posted by niteHawk at 5:47 AM on April 13, 2021