How to Fix Zoom Crashing or Freezing During Meetings

What Causes This?

Zoom usually crashes or freezes during meetings when Windows is under heavy load, graphics drivers are unstable, or another app is interfering with Zoom’s video, audio, or screen sharing features. Corrupted Zoom files, outdated Windows components, and aggressive background processes can also cause sudden lockups. In some cases, hardware acceleration or webcam/microphone conflicts are the trigger.

Common Symptoms

• Zoom stops responding in the middle of a meeting
• Video freezes while audio cuts in and out or drops completely
• Zoom closes suddenly without warning
• Screen sharing causes the app to lag or crash
• Windows becomes slow or spikes to high CPU or memory usage when Zoom is open

How to Fix It Manually

1. Close Zoom and end stuck background processes

   • Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
   • Under the Processes tab, find Zoom Meetings or Zoom.exe.
   • Select it and click End task.
   • Also close other heavy apps you do not need during the meeting, such as browsers with many tabs, game launchers, or video editors.

2. Restart your PC

   • Click Start > Power > Restart.
   • A restart clears temporary memory issues and background conflicts that can cause Zoom to freeze.
   • After rebooting, open Zoom and test it again before launching other apps.

3. Update Zoom

   • Open Zoom.
   • Click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
   • Select Check for Updates.
   • Install any available update, then restart Zoom.
   • If Zoom will not open, download the latest installer from Zoom’s official site and reinstall it.

4. Turn off hardware acceleration in Zoom

   • Open Zoom and click the gear icon for Settings.
   • Go to Video and then click Advanced.
   • Turn off available hardware acceleration options, especially for:
     • video processing
     • sending video
     • receiving video
   • If Zoom freezes during screen sharing, go to Settings > Share Screen > Advanced and disable hardware acceleration there too.
   • Restart Zoom after making changes.

5. Update your graphics and audio drivers

   • Right-click Start and choose Device Manager.
   • Expand Display adapters, right-click your graphics device, and select Update driver.
   • Choose Search automatically for drivers.
   • Do the same under Sound, video and game controllers for your audio device.
   • If Windows finds nothing, install the latest driver from your PC maker or GPU maker directly.

6. Check for Windows updates

   • Press Windows + I to open Settings.
   • Go to Windows Update.
   • Click Check for updates and install everything available.
   • Restart your PC after updates finish.

7. Repair or reinstall Zoom

   • Press Windows + I and go to Apps > Installed apps.
   • Find Zoom Workplace or Zoom, click the three dots, and choose Uninstall.
   • Restart your PC.
   • Download and install a fresh copy of Zoom.
   • Sign back in and test a meeting.

8. Reduce system strain during meetings

   • Disconnect unused USB devices if your webcam or microphone keeps dropping.
   • Pause cloud sync tools, overlays, RGB software, and browser tabs streaming media.
   • If you are using virtual camera software, close it and test Zoom with your normal camera.

Fix It Automatically with Kudu

If Zoom keeps crashing because of hidden system conflicts, overloaded startup apps, bad background processes, or outdated performance settings, Kudu can scan for those issues and fix them automatically. It helps stabilize Windows so apps like Zoom have the memory, resources, and clean environment they need to run properly.

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