Zoom: Session Duration and Timeouts

Covers settings and defaults in Zoom for timeouts and meeting durations

Showing Meeting Duration

It is possible to include a clock on the meeting display to show everyone how long the meeting has been taking place. Using Zoom in a browser does not support this setting.

On Mac

  1. Open your Zoom app.

  2. In the upper-left corner of your screen, click zoom.us.

    Screenshot of the upper-left corner of Mac screen with "zoom.us" option highlighted

  3. Click Settings on the drop-down menu that appears.

    Screenshot of zoom.us drop-down menu highlighting the 2nd listed item, titled Settings

  4. In the new Settings window that pops up, ensure you are on the General tab or select General - the first option in the left-side menu. Then ensure the "Show meeting timers" option is checked.

    Screenshot of pop-up window to update settings with the "General" tab selected and the "Show meeting timers" option checked

  5. Now you will see a clock in the top right corner of your Zoom meeting screen.

    Screenshot of a close up of top right corner in a Zoom meeting with meeting duration highlighted

On Windows

  1. Click the ^ next to the Mute/Unmute button on the bottom right side of the screen and select Audio Settings… from the menu that pops up.

    Image shows in meeting with the audio carrot clicked and audio settings circled.
  2. You will see a list of settings. Click General on the menu on the left side panel.


  3. Select the Show My Connected Time setting so that a blue checkmark appears.

    Image shows general meeting settings with show my connected time check box circled.

  4. Now you will see a clock in the top right corner of the Zoom meeting screen.

Read more about Zoom meeting duration on Zoom's website.

Zoom Session Timeout

Zoom sessions that are inactive or idle have timeout implications. Read below for more details:

  • Meeting ends after 30 hours (active or idle)
    • 1 host, no participant
    • 1 host, any number of participants
    • 0 host, any number of participants (join before host)
  • Meeting ends after 40 minutes (active or idle)
    • 1 host and 1 or more participants joined. Only one person remains in the meeting. The meeting will end 40 minutes later if no one else joins. 

Read More about Zoom's timeout feature on their Time Limit page.



KeywordsZoom, sessions, timeout, duration, meetings   Doc ID126933
OwnerSpring O.GroupSchool of Information Sciences
Created2023-03-28 13:33:58Updated2024-04-04 11:23:26
SitesUniversity of Illinois School of Information Sciences
CleanURLhttps://answers.uillinois.edu/ischool/zoom-session-timeout-and-duration
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