The Best Free Zoom Backgrounds to Make Your Video Conferencing More Fun

If you’re a remote worker, you may have plenty of experience with video conferencing as a way to communicate with clients, team members, or other colleagues. But with millions of additional people working remotely right now, the use of video conferencing technology is at an all-time high. And aside from work and business-related communication, many people are using the same technology to stay connected to friends and family.

Zoom has emerged as the most popular tool for video conferencing and it has a fun feature for virtual backgrounds that you may want to try. Instead of showing your cluttered apartment or home office in the background, you can use a virtual background. Make it look like you’re at a tropical beach, at a famous landmark, or even on the set of your favorite TV show or movie. Zoom’s virtual background feature is supported on Windows, Mac, Linux, and iOS devices, but it is not supported on Android at this time.

You can use one of the backgrounds provided by Zoom, use your own photo or video as a background, or make use of a growing collection of free backgrounds that are available. If you’ve never used a virtual background before, you can find some helpful tips and resources at the end of this page. But for now, let’s take a look at some of your options.

Free Zoom Backgrounds from Movies and TV Shows

Seinfeld

This showcase has to start with backgrounds from Seinfeld. Jerry’s apartment is my Zoom background of choice.

The Office

Take your conference calls from the Dunder Mifflin office.

Tiger King

A little outdated already. But I just can't get enough of tiger king.

Top Gun

If the office or apartment setting is a little too boring, this option from Top Gun: Maverick could be a great choice.

Star Trek

For Star Trek lovers, what would make a better background than the Starship Enterprise? Any video conferences would be a lot more fun from outer space.

Criminal Minds

This background from CBS will make you feel like part of the BAU.

Tips for Using Zoom Backgrounds

To get the best results with your virtual background, please follow these tips:

• Make sure that your work area is bright and evenly lit. The backgrounds do not work very well if you’re in a dark area with lots of shadows.
• If possible, use a green screen or backdrop with a solid color. This is not 100% necessary, but a busy background is more likely to create issues with the virtual backgrounds. Green screens typically produce the best results.
• If you’re using a solid backdrop, your clothes should not be the same color as the backdrop.
• External HD cameras will typically produce better results than a built-in webcam.

How to Use Virtual Backgrounds with Zoom

Zoom has provided instructions that clarify the technical requirements, as well as the settings that you will use to get your virtual background set up. Please see this page