Many holiday celebrations will take place over video conference again this year, which means plenty of people will be on the hunt for an excellent Christmas Zoom background.
Whether you're attending a virtual office party, present exchange or Christmas dinner, a festive background will only add to proceedings.
To help make your virtual festivities feel a little more like the real deal, we’ve compiled a selection of Christmas Zoom backgrounds that are bound to get you in the holiday spirit.
How to use Zoom backgrounds
Before picking out a Christmas Zoom background, you’ll need to know how to configure custom backgrounds on the platform. Thankfully, the process is really simple.
First, ensure the Zoom backgrounds feature is enabled in your account settings. You can do this by accessing your account page via your web browser, navigating to Settings in the left-hand bar, clicking on In Meeting (Advanced) and toggling Virtual Backgrounds to on (the slider will turn blue once the feature has been activated).
To configure your Zoom background, log into the desktop application and click on the settings icon in the top right corner. Under the Virtual Background tab, you can choose from stock options, or upload an image or video via the + icon below the video feed.
Whichever background you select in the settings panel will automatically be applied when you next log into a video conference.
For the best results, it’s important to ensure the video is bright and evenly lit. Your Christmas Zoom backgrounds won’t perform quite as well in partial darkness or glaring light, which can both result in unwelcome distortion.
Using a green screen backdrop is ideal, but impractical for many, and a plain background of any colour works perfectly well so long as your clothing isn’t the same color.
Christmas Zoom backgrounds
Thanks to a few generous elves, you're not short of options when it comes to selecting a Christmas Zoom background for your next video call.
Here’s a rundown of a few different selections you could choose from.
Zoom
On the Zoom website, you can find a curated list of virtual backgrounds of all varieties. Under the Seasonal section, you’ll find a range of suitably festive options.
Hallmark
You’d bet your house on greetings card company Hallmark producing a fine selection of holiday-themed Zoom backgrounds - and the company has duly delivered.
Unsplash
Image library Unsplash has a wide selection of wintery Zoom background options for you to choose from. You’re bound to find an option that suits you.
Cookie Monster
Everyone’s favorite Sesame Street resident is also getting in on the act. This snap of Cookie Monster doing what he does best makes for an excellent Zoom background.
Christmas HQ
We can safely assume that the experts at Christmas HQ know plenty about cultivating holiday spirit. This classy selection of backgrounds is attractive, but not obnoxious.
Frozen - The Musical
The Broadway rendition of hit movie Frozen has offered up a selection of icy Zoom backgrounds for “those of use working from our kingdoms of isolation”. That might not sound very Christmassy, but the backgrounds are rather striking all the same.
Walt Disney World
Disney World has to be up there with one of the most festive places on earth, as demonstrated by this selection of Christmas Zoom backgrounds from WDW Magazine.
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