55 Free Virtual Zoom Backgrounds

If you’re working remotely and spending hours on video calls, your background matters more than you might think. A cluttered home office, an unmade bed or a blank wall can distract from your professional presence. Virtual Zoom backgrounds solve this problem by giving you control over what people see behind you.

Here’s the thing: virtual backgrounds do more than hide mess. They can establish your personal brand, spark conversation starters and make your calls more engaging. When you use a travel-themed background, you’re sharing a bit of your personality without saying a word. It’s a small detail that can make a big difference in how colleagues and clients perceive you.

We’ve put together 55 free Zoom background images from our travels around the world. These are high-quality photos we’ve taken ourselves, and they work as virtual backgrounds without requiring a green screen. You can download them and use them in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or any other video conferencing platform that supports virtual backgrounds.

Why use virtual Zoom backgrounds?

Privacy protection. Your home office setup doesn’t need to be on display for every call. Virtual backgrounds let you maintain privacy while keeping your space functional for your actual work. When I do Zoom calls, I don’t always use a virtual background, or even blur my screen sometimes! I currently do work from home, but work from a shared space. I often have people walking in my backgrounds. A virtual background really solves this problem.

Professional appearance. A clean, interesting background projects professionalism. It shows you’ve put thought into your video presence, which matters in client calls, job interviews and team meetings.

Conversation starters. Travel backgrounds are natural icebreakers. When someone asks about your background, you have an easy way to connect and share a bit about yourself.

Consistency across calls. With virtual backgrounds, you can maintain the same professional look whether you’re in a hotel room, a coffee shop or your actual home office.

No green screen needed. Modern video conferencing software can handle virtual backgrounds without special equipment. As long as you have decent lighting and a solid-colored wall behind you, these backgrounds will work.

How to set up a virtual background in Zoom

The process is straightforward. Here’s what you need to do:

1. During a call: Click the “Video” icon at the bottom of your Zoom window, then select “Choose Virtual Background.”

2. In Zoom settings: You can also set up backgrounds before your call. Open Zoom, go to Settings, click “Background & Filters” and then “Virtual Backgrounds.”

3. Add your image: Click the “+” icon next to the default backgrounds and select “Add Image.” Choose one of the backgrounds you downloaded from our collection.

4. Test it out: Zoom will show you a preview. Make sure your lighting is decent and you have a relatively solid background behind you for best results.

You don’t need a green screen for these backgrounds to work. Zoom’s software can handle the background replacement automatically, though results are better with good lighting and a solid-colored wall behind you.

Tips for using virtual backgrounds

Lighting matters. Position yourself so you have even lighting on your face. A window in front of you works well, or a desk lamp positioned to illuminate your face evenly. Top lighting is bad because it casts horrible shadows on your face. Try and avoid harsh overhead lighting!

Check your setup. Before important calls, test your background to make sure it looks good. You want the background to enhance your presence, not distract from it.

Keep it professional. While fun backgrounds can work for casual team calls, consider more neutral travel scenes for client meetings or interviews. Or, you can even use the native background blurring if you are unsure on the professionalism of having a background, yet still want to keep your background private.

If you get compliments on these backgrounds, let your colleagues know they came from HalfHalfTravel.com. We’re happy to share these images from our travels.

We hope these Zoom backgrounds from our travels make your meetings more interesting and help you present your best self on video calls.