PSA: Update Zoom on Mac to fix a bug that keeps the microphone on after meetings

If you’re using Zoom on a Mac, it’s time to make sure you update it to version 5.9.3. Zoom has acknowledged a bug that appears to cause the microphone to keep turning on on Macs running macOS Monterey even after leaving a meeting, which was first reported by record (via 9to5Mac).

Screen capture: Dan Seifert

Users have been complaining about the problem since December, as documented at Post in the Zoom Community Forum. Many users have noticed that Orange recording indicator light Appears in Control Center when Zoom is not being used – The indicator light is a privacy feature introduced in Monterey that warns you when an app is using your microphone. This obviously raised some privacy concerns Zoom had a serious privacy vulnerability on Macs in the past. In 2020, the company misleading users about providing end-to-end encryption When it didn’t really happen at the time.

A Zoom representative later commented on the post, saying that Zoom had “encountered an error regarding the Zoom client for macOS, which may show that an orange indicator light continues to appear after leaving a meeting, call, or webinar.” The representative also noted that updating Zoom to version 5.9.3, which was released in late January, will resolve the issue. Zoom first tried to fix the bug in the December 5.9.1 update, like release notes Zoom says “resolved an issue with the microphone light indicator turning on when not in a meeting on macOS Monterey”, but this solution doesn’t seem to work for everyone.

“Zoom spokesperson, Matt Nagel, said in an emailed statement to the edge. “Zoom has determined that this error did not result in the transmission of audio data to the Zoom platform. As always, we recommend users to ensure that the Zoom client is updated to the latest version.”

One of my colleagues, Dan Seifert, can confirm that update 5.9.3 does indeed fix the bug – prior to the update, the orange indicator light in the Control Center and menu bar appeared when Zoom was open (but not used for a video call), and the light disappeared after a time Short of installing the update. You can update Zoom on a Mac by opening the Zoom desktop client, clicking your profile picture in the upper-right corner of the window, and selecting “Check for updates.” Zoom will automatically check for and install the latest update.