User guide

SpotOn for Zoom: add it, use it, remove it.

SpotOn runs in the Zoom client's side panel and helps hosts and co-hosts direct Zoom's spotlight: who is on stage, who is next, and keeping them there.

• Requirements
• Adding SpotOn
• Opening it
• Using SpotOn
• Webinars
• Removing SpotOn
• Troubleshooting

Requirements

• The Zoom desktop client for Windows or macOS. Keep it up to date; SpotOn is tested with Zoom 7.1.
• To direct the spotlight you must be the host or a co-host of the meeting, or the host or a co-host of the webinar. Anyone else who opens SpotOn gets the audience view (see below).
• Zoom's own spotlight rules apply: at least 3 participants with video on, the person you spotlight must have their camera on, at most 9 people at once, and no spotlight inside breakout rooms. SpotOn checks these and tells you in plain words when one is not met.
• No SpotOn account and no payment is needed.

Adding SpotOn

1. Sign in at the Zoom App Marketplace and search for SpotOn. You can also use Add to Zoom on our website.
2. Click Add. Zoom shows what SpotOn may access in meetings and webinars. Click Allow.
3. Zoom opens SpotOn in your Zoom client. If you are not in a meeting yet, SpotOn asks you to open it from a meeting.

SpotOn asks Zoom only for in-meeting and in-webinar access (zoomapp:inmeeting, zoomapp:inwebinar). It does not read your Zoom profile, calendar, recordings or contacts, and it does not create an account for you.

If your Zoom account is managed by an organization, your admin may need to allow SpotOn first.

Opening SpotOn in a meeting

1. Start or join a meeting as host or co-host.
2. Click Apps in the meeting toolbar (it may be under More in narrow windows) and choose SpotOn.
3. SpotOn opens in the side panel and shows your role (Host or Co-host) at the top.

Using SpotOn

The stage

The top of the panel shows who is on stage, for how long, and any running speaker timer.

• Spot puts someone on stage. In Replace mode they take the stage; in Add mode they join it, up to 9 people.
• Lock (the padlock on a stage card) keeps someone on stage through Replace, Clear, scenes and rejoins. Use it for hosts, interpreters and moderators.
• Clear (Esc) empties the stage but keeps locked people. Shift + Clear removes everyone.
• The ⏱ button on a stage card starts a countdown for that person.

People

An A–Z list of everyone in the meeting, with search (/), filters (Everyone, Hands, Talking, On stage) and a strip of recent speakers for one-click spotlighting. Keys 1–9 spotlight the matching row. The ⋯ menu on a row can add someone to the stage, lock them, pin them on your own screen, or ask them to start their video.

Queue and timers

Build a run of show: add speakers (they don't need to have joined yet), set minutes per speaker, and press Spotlight next or N. SpotOn skips people who aren't there and can advance automatically when time is up. Under Run-of-show options:

• Share the timer in SpotOn shows a countdown badge to participants who have SpotOn open. People without SpotOn open don't see it.
• Announce in meeting chat posts "Now speaking" and "Up next" in the chat, so everyone knows.
• Raised hands join the queue adds people when they raise their hand.

Scenes

Save the current stage as a scene, and bring the same people back with one click later, in this meeting or the next. Scenes match people by name, so they work even though Zoom gives people new IDs in each meeting.

Autopilot

• Stage Guard (on by default, G) puts locked people and the current speaker back on stage when they drop and rejoin, or when someone removes their spotlight outside SpotOn.
• Auto-director (off by default, D) spotlights whoever holds the floor, after a hold time you choose. Don't spotlight me keeps you out of it.

Log

A timeline of every spotlight change, including changes made outside SpotOn. Copy puts it on your clipboard, which is handy for support requests.

Audience view

Participants who aren't host or co-host can open SpotOn too. They see who is on stage and who is up next, the timer badge, and an Ask to speak button that shows up as a raised hand for the host.

Shortcuts and help

Press ? or the help button for all shortcuts. Shortcuts work while the SpotOn panel has focus. The help sheet also links to this guide, support, privacy and terms, and has Delete SpotOn data on this computer.

Webinars

SpotOn works the same way in webinars for the host and co-hosts, with Zoom's webinar rules: you can spotlight panelists with their video on, but not attendees. If you try to spotlight an attendee, SpotOn explains why Zoom refused. Webinar attendees who open SpotOn get the audience view.

Removing SpotOn

1. Optional: to erase what SpotOn saved on your computer (settings, scenes, queues and locks), open SpotOn, press ?, and choose Delete SpotOn data on this computer. Otherwise, queues and locks are deleted automatically after 30 days.
2. Sign in at the Zoom App Marketplace.
3. Go to Manage → Added Apps, find SpotOn – Spotlight Director, and click Remove.
4. Confirm. SpotOn disappears from the Apps menu in your Zoom client.

SpotOn stores no data about you on our servers, so there is nothing else to delete. See the privacy policy for details.

Troubleshooting

Still stuck? Contact support.