Start a Zoom meeting from the command line

Question

I attend several recurring Zoom meetings every day and would like to streamline the process of joining them.

Is there a way to launch a Zoom meeting (with password) from the command line in Windows?

Solution 1

Piece of cake! Use a windows shortcut instead! It's easier and cleaner.

You can use this same method on Linux (or mac) but you will need to put it into a script or alias it instead.

I figured this out myself when I went down the same path.

1. Create a shortcut to your zoom exe. It should be in %APPDATA%\Zoom\bin\Zoom.exe
2. Open the shortcut properties and edit the "Target" field.
3. Go down after the EXE and add (with the quotes) "--url=zoommtg://zoom.us/join?action=join&confno=<your_conference_number>"

If you have a password, it is hashed so you will need to launch the meeting once in the browser and copy it out. Once you have your hashed password, add &pwd=<hashed_password> after your conference number (with no spaces).

Some other handy things to know

• I myself add .LNK to my PATHEXT environment variable. This allows me to launch a shortcut without clicking on it. Possible vulnerability but I am willing to risk it.
• After adding that, I can put shortcuts in my path and launch them using only the name via the run dialog or console.

An example

• I put a shortcut for my standup meeting in my path.
• [Win]+r (pulls up the run dialog)
• I type 'standup' and hit [ENTER] to open my standup meeting.

Solution 2

If you're on a Mac you can join a zoom meeting from the command line like so (e.g. for conference ID 1234):

open "zoommtg://zoom.us/join?confno=1234"

To make it handier you can add a shell function to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

function  zoom () { open "zoommtg://zoom.us/join?confno=$1" }

Then you can just join a call using:

zoom 1234

Solution 3

Go down after the EXE and add (with the quotes) "--url=zoommtg://zoom.us/join?action=join&confno=<your_conference_number>"

This isn't work any more. The correct is:

--url="zoommtg://zoom.us/join?action=join&confno=<your_conference_number>"

So "--url=" must be outside the quotes!

Solution 4

If you are Windows User you can write

start "url"

In the place of url you can put your zoom link and join it easily

For Mac-OS

open "url"

For Linux

xdg-open "url"

this is the easy and quick way But remember to that it will open the browser and browser will pop up and msg saying "Lunch Meeting In Zoom App" which leads to the opening of zoom app. So if you tick always open with app . You are ready to go.

Launch Meeting -Zoom

Solution 5

For linux users this method will not open a web browser it will directly open zoom app with meeting.

xdg-open "zoommtg://zoom.us/join?action=join&confno=<conference_number>"

this will require you to enter password

if you have an invite link for zoom meeting and it looks like the one below "https://us05web.zoom.us/j/9332773648?pwd=OUFPQlIreVpONGX4VURkWjVxNzFFZz09"

you can modify the command above to the one below and it wouldn't require you to enter a passcode

xdg-open "zoommtg://zoom.us/join?action=join&confno=9332773648&pwd=OUFPQlIreVpONGX4VURkWjVxNzFFZz09"

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Comments

[Jon Crowell]

Thank you so much for this.

[Señor CMasMas]

Wow! What a great idea! It wouldn't work for me as I dodge as many meetings as possible. I wouldn't want my 2:00pm PoC meeting popping up over pointless youtube cat videos. :^P

[tmalsburg]

This is great but on Ubuntu it doesn't work when Zoom is already running. In that case the command does nothing. Is there a fix for that?

[tmalsburg]

Answering my own question, the solution was to use /bin/xdg-open zoommtg://zoom.us/join?action=join&confno=MEETING_ID.

[Christoph]

Where are you getting the syntax and the command line options from?

[Señor CMasMas]

@Christoph .. to be honest, I can't remember where I got the first "bread crumb" that got me started. I do remember wasting half a day in a debugger figuring this out.. sorry I can't give you more.

[Jay]

The password does not have to be hashed tho. Might have changed since the answer but right now on linux I use the url with Zoom or xdg-open with '...confno=###########&pwd=#######' and this works. Being an URL, I should work on Windows as well.

[Toto]

How is this better than other answer?

[Community]

Please add further details to expand on your answer, such as working code or documentation citations.

[Thenujan Sandramohan]

@Toto methods in the other answer will open a web browser and this one wouldn't

[Community]

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.