Prevent Zoom app from taking over computer's focus

Feature Requests
86

Allegedly you can prevent focus stealing with KDE - (search reddit, can’t add links here)
Will try and report back (I usually use XFCE)

Meanwhile, Google video calls stay nicely contained in tabs :slight_smile:

87

I’m ditching Zoom’s Linux app and start attending Zoom sessions in Firefox.

My hope is Firefox will keep this nightmare sandboxed and prevent it from escaping its straitjacket.

88

For those using i3wm on a daily basis, this is a small hack to avoid Zoom popups getting full screen or at least half of the screen on a tiling window manager(for_window config) and the second one is to avoid mouse+keyboard being grabbed when a chat pops in even if zoom is on the secondary monitor(no_focus option)

# Specific fixes for Zoom, which sucks on notifications taking the area of an entire window...
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)"] floating enable
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom - Licensed Account"] floating disable
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom - Free Account"] floating disable
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Meeting"] floating disable
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Webinar"] floating disable
# Prevent Zoom from grabbing  mouse+keyboard attention 
# on the second monitor when a chat pops-in during meetings
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom - Licensed Account"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom - Free Account"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Meeting"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Webinar"]

But yeah, Zoom Workplace should definitively avoid doing that as a “feature”.

I also hate the “double unmute” on Zoom where unmuting zoom call would also enable the system muted default mic. That I’ve mitigated as well using pipewire because I like that double protection layer to avoid mic being enabled automatically system-wide.

cat /etc/wireplumber/main.lua.d/99-stop-microphone-auto-adjust.lua 
table.insert (default_access.rules,{    matches = {
        {
            { "application.process.binary", "=", "zoom" }
        }
    },
    default_permissions = "rx",
})

Lets hope Zoom implements something for MacOS and Windows users regarding this because as for Linux, I already lost any hopes and I’m mitigating at the WM side of things.

2 Likes
89

For those using i3wm on a daily basis, this is a small hack

My gosh you are a savior! :heart:

90

Thanks mate :slight_smile:

I’ve also updated the rules, here:

# Specific fixes for Zoom, which sucks on notifications taking the area of an entire window...
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)"] floating enable
#for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Workplace - Licensed account"] floating disable
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom - Licensed Account"] floating disable
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom - Free Account"] floating disable
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Webinar"] floating disable
for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Meeting"] floating disable
#for_window [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Meeting"] floating disable
# Prevent Zoom from grabbing mouse attention on the second monitor when 
# a chat pops-in
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Workplace - Licensed account"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom - Licensed Account"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom - Free Account"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Meeting"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Zoom Webinar"]
no_focus [class="(.*join\?action\=join.*|.*zoom.*)" title="Meeting"]

Basically, the commented out lines at the for_window block are the ones referring to windows I want to be floating by default (the white default window of Zoom and the meeting one), and added more 2 titles to the list of windows I don’t want my mouse to be grabbed by window attention.

I’ve noticed using wmctrl -l that the Meeting window title is now just called Meeting, and that after the latest update my mouse was being grabbed again by Zoom…

1 Like
91

+1 this is infuriating

92

Yes, horrible thing. I hate zoom because of this.

93

what to do for this problem, last night faced the issue when i am on meeting with a digital marketer to do seo for my website.

94

I came here looking for a fix to the Zoom calls highjacking my typing. It seems Zoom is still ignoring this disrespectful “feature”.
ZOOM IT - please make this something that can be disabled in settings!!!

95

Zoom: this has been an open issue for nearly FIVE YEARS. Fix it. It is NOT hard. Add an option called “Allow Zoom to steal focus”, and default it to true (for whatever strange reason you have internally), then whenever you have in your code to take focus, look at the option. Simple.

96

Absolutely insane that this is still here as a request from October 2020. How many people have to request this issue be fixed before it actually is?