How to set up polling in Zoom meetings

The Zoom meetings polling feature allows you to engage your participants with interactive questions during meetings. To set up polling, first ensure polling is enabled in your account settings, then create your poll questions within the meeting settings or during the live meeting. Finally, launch the poll during your meeting and view the results afterward in meeting reports.

Prerequisites

• A Zoom account with administrator privileges.
• A Zoom Meetings license.
• Zoom desktop client or web client.

Enable Polling in Zoom

Before you can create and launch polls, verify that polling is enabled at the account, group, or user level.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
3. Navigate to the In Meeting (Basic) section.
4. Verify that the Polling setting is enabled.
   • If the setting is disabled, click the toggle to enable it. If a verification dialog displays, choose Turn On to verify the change.
   • Note: If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at the group or account level, and you will need to make those changes at that level. Follow steps 1-3, but navigating to Group Management or User Management.
5. (Optional) If you want to allow meeting hosts to save poll results for later use, check the Allow host to save poll results for later use box.
6. (Optional) You can also lock the setting for all users in your account by clicking the lock icon, and then clicking Lock to confirm the setting.

Creating a Poll Before a Meeting

Creating polls in advance allows you to seamlessly integrate them into your presentation.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. Click on Meetings.
3. Schedule a new meeting or select a previously scheduled meeting.
4. If scheduling a new meeting, configure all meeting settings as required, then click Save.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the meeting details page. You should see a Poll option. If the meeting is recurring, ensure the intended occurrence is selected from the “Show poll before occurrence” dropdown.
6. Click Create.
7. Give the poll a title.
8. Enter your first question in the Question 1 field.
9. Select the question type: Single choice or Multiple choice.
10. Enter the answer options for the question.
11. (Optional) Click Add a Question to create additional questions.
12. (Optional) Enable the Anonymous setting if you do not want to collect participant information with the poll results.
13. Click Save. You can create multiple polls for a single meeting by clicking Add Another Poll.

Creating a Poll During a Meeting

You can create polls on-the-fly during a meeting to address emerging topics or gauge immediate reactions.

1. Start a Zoom meeting as the host.
2. Click the Polling button in the meeting toolbar. If you do not see the polling button, ensure polling is enabled as described above.
3. In the Polling window, click Add a Question. This will open the Zoom web portal in your default browser, and redirect to the meeting details page, where you can create a poll for the specific meeting.
4. Give the poll a title.
5. Enter your first question in the Question 1 field.
6. Select the question type: Single choice or Multiple choice.
7. Enter the answer options for the question.
8. (Optional) Click Add a Question to create additional questions.
9. (Optional) Enable the Anonymous setting if you do not want to collect participant information with the poll results.
10. Click Save.

Launching a Poll During a Meeting

Launching a poll is straightforward and engaging for your attendees.

1. Start a Zoom meeting as the host.
2. Click the Polling button in the meeting toolbar.
3. Select the poll you want to launch from the dropdown menu.
4. Click Launch Polling. Participants will now see the poll on their screens.
5. Monitor the results in real-time as participants submit their answers.
6. When you want to end the poll, click End Polling.
7. (Optional) Click Share Results to display the poll results to the participants.
8. (Optional) You can relaunch the poll by clicking Relaunch Polling.
9. To save results for the poll, click Download results. This will generate a CSV file.

Generating Poll Reports

After the meeting, analyze the polling data to gain insights from your audience.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator.
2. Click Reports.
3. Click Meeting.
4. Specify a date range and search for the meeting.
5. Click Generate next to the meeting you want to generate a report for.
6. Select the Poll Report tab.
7. Configure the report options as desired.
8. Click Generate. You can download the report as a CSV file once generated.

Common Issues

• Polling button is missing in the meeting toolbar: Ensure that polling is enabled in your account settings as described in the “Enable Polling in Zoom” section. Also, verify that you are the host of the meeting.
• Cannot create a poll during a meeting: Make sure you have the polling feature enabled and you are the host. The browser window where you create the poll might be hidden behind other windows; check your taskbar or dock.
• Participants cannot see the poll: Confirm you have launched the poll by clicking the “Launch Polling” button. If participants still can’t see it, advise them to check their Zoom client is up to date.
• Unable to download poll results: Make sure the meeting has ended before attempting to generate a poll report. The download option only becomes available after the meeting concludes. If using the “Download Results” button during the meeting, ensure you ended the poll first.
• Poll results are not showing: After ending the poll, be sure to click “Share Results” to display them to the participants. This step is separate from the “Download Results” which is for the host’s records.