Patchby tonal.fm
Get Patch

Guide · Teaching · Zoom · Teams · Meet

How to play a video in an online class

A listening exercise, a clip to discuss, a video for a workshop: the class has to hear it clearly, and you have to be able to talk over it. Here’s the sound switch in each class app, and how to send just the clip’s sound from a Mac while your slides stay up.

The short version

  • Zoom, Teams and Meet each have a switch that sends sound with a screen share. Miss it and the class sees the video in silence.
  • Or send only the clip’s tab into your microphone with Patch for Chrome, and keep your slides on screen while the class listens.
  • Rehearse the level once, so the clip sits just under your voice and you can talk over it.

Share with sound, app by app

  • Zoom: Share Screen, then tick “Share sound”, and “Optimize for video clip” for video. See play YouTube on Zoom.
  • Microsoft Teams: Share, then turn on “Include sound”. On a Mac, Teams offers to install its audio driver the first time. See share sound in Teams.
  • Google Meet: present a Chrome tab with “Also share tab audio” on. See share audio in Google Meet.

In each, the sound goes with a share, so the class sees the clip, not your slides, while it plays. More in share tab audio.

Send the clip’s tab, keep your slides on screen

Patch for Chrome puts the clip in your mic, so your slides can stay on screen. It’s a free extension for Chrome, Edge and Arc that sends one tab’s sound into Patch, which we make. Patch mixes it with your microphone into a microphone called Patch Mix, and runs on a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later.

  1. Add a Chrome tab in Patch. In Patch, choose Add a Chrome tab from the list of sources.
  2. Add Patch for Chrome and pin it. Add it from the Chrome Web Store. Chrome asks once about your microphone; that only lets it find the Patch speaker, and it never listens. Click the puzzle piece, then the pin.
  3. Send the clip’s tab. On the clip’s tab, click Patch in the toolbar, then Send this tab.
  4. Choose Patch Mix in the class app. In Zoom, Teams or Meet, choose Patch Mix as the microphone and your headphones as the speaker, never Patch Pass-Thru, or the call hears itself.
  5. Go live. Click Go live in Patch. The class hears your voice and the clip together, while you share your slides as usual. Leave Share sound (Zoom) or Include sound (Teams) off, so the clip is heard once.

Only that tab is sent, so no notification reaches the class. Click Stop in Patch for Chrome when the clip is done.

Rehearse the level, keep your voice over it

  • Try it with a colleague. Play the loudest part and ask where it should sit, then leave the clip’s fader in Patch there. A limiter keeps a loud moment from clipping.
  • Talk over it. Your mic is in the same mix, so you can explain as it plays. You hear the clip through Patch, just as the class does.
  • Stop the call app cutting it. In Zoom choose “Original sound for musicians”; in Teams set Noise suppression to Low; in Meet turn off Noise cancellation, if your account has it.

Questions

How do I play a video with sound in a Zoom class?

Click Share Screen, choose the video’s window, and tick Share sound, plus Optimize for video clip for smoother video. Or send the video’s tab into your microphone with Patch for Chrome, so the class hears it with no share.

Why can’t my students hear the video in Teams?

Include sound is off, or the Teams audio driver isn’t installed. In the Teams desktop app, turn on Include sound when you share. On a Mac, Teams offers to install its audio driver once, and you may need to restart Teams.

Can I play an audio clip without sharing my screen?

Yes. Patch for Chrome sends the clip’s tab into Patch Mix, so it reaches the class as part of your microphone. Zoom’s Computer Audio share also sends sound with no screen, but it is still a share and sends all of your Mac’s sound.

Does it work in Safari?

Patch for Chrome works in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Arc on a Mac, not Safari or Firefox. The class app can be any app that lets you choose a microphone.