What to know

  • Zoom Docs is a new online document editor with several features that place it as a worthy alternative to Google Docs.
  • Zoom Docs has a clean and modern UI, most conventional features found on traditional word processors, and is tightly integrated with other Zoom products. 
  • Users with a basic Zoom account can access most Zoom Docs features for free. For advanced features, including AI assistance, you’ll need at least a Pro plan.
  • A few basic features are missing on Zoom Docs, such as word count viewer, document comparison, voice typing, and Headers and Footers. 

Zoom, the video conferencing app that took off during the pandemic, recently launched its own version of an online document creator, Zoom Docs. The name convention implies a direct competition with Google Docs. Although it’s not as packed with features as Google Docs, it does prove to be a better alternative, especially if you’re already using Zoom’s ecosystem. Here’s everything you know to get started

Navigating Zoom Docs features

Unlike Google Docs, Zoom Docs isn’t completely free. But you can sign up and get started with its basic features. 

You can start typing on a blank document right away. Typing / will let you insert different types of media, markdown formatting, table of contents, code and equations, layout options, links, and even summarize your earlier Zoom meetings.

You also have the ability to start or schedule a meeting from the document itself – a very handy feature for teams that use Zoom to meet virtually. You can also embed YouTube videos, X posts, and files from Google Docs. Access to all these with just a forward slash is an ingenious implementation. The options are available from a non-intrusive toolbar at the top which can be hidden for an even cleaner look. 

But there are several useful shortcuts that let you apply markdown formatting without having to access the ribbon. Some options will appear on the blank document when you hover over that part of the document. The formatting toolbar will come into view once you highlight text.

Having a built-in grammar and spell checker also helps. There are ready made templates for you to get started with as well as the ability to set up your own custom templates. 

Your existing documents on Microsoft Word can also be imported and converted. But it’s one-way traffic only. Zoom documents cannot be converted into .docx files. 

Free Zoom users can share up to 10 documents at once. For most individuals, this is more than enough. But if you’re using Zoom Docs for work, you’ll most likely need one of the paid Zoom accounts. 

Advanced Zoom Docs features

Many of the advanced Zoom Docs features are unlocked for a price. Zoom’s cheapest plan ($14.99 per month for up to 9 users) lets you share unlimited documents with others. 

Image: Zoom

Paid plans also open up access to the AI features on Zoom Docs that are not too dissimilar from what you get with Gemini on Google Docs. These include generating text with a prompt, summarizing text, rewriting in different tones, improving text, making it longer or shorter, explaining written content, and translating text in 7 different languages. The AI can also summarize a Zoom meeting you had and generate transcripts that can be used to create documents in the appropriate format. 

Image: Zoom

Collaboration is a breeze if you’re on a paid Zoom plan, allowing for up to hundred people to work concurrently on the same doc. Basic account users are limited to only 10 collaborative documents. 

Where does ‘Zoom Docs’ lack?

As far advanced as Zoom Docs looks, there are certain areas where it still needs to up its game if it wants to lure Google Docs users to switch. 

Firstly, Zoom Docs is completely online and doesn’t allow offline editing. So it may not be up your alley if you want to work offline. The ability to add Headers and Footers, which is a relatively basic feature found on most document editors, is also lacking. Document comparison and accessibility features like voice typing are also missing. Zoom Docs, unfortunately, also doesn’t let you view the word count, which is an issue. 

Having only recently entered the fray, Zoom Docs may be a little behind other traditional word processors like Google Docs and Microsoft Word. But it has one of the best, cleanest, and intuitive user interfaces of them all. Though there are a few creases to iron out, and a few features to add, we’re confident Zoom won’t find it a struggle.