Zoom Lagging Windows on Lenovo ThinkPad - causes, fixes, and prevention
Overview - what this guide covers
We’ll show you quick steps plus PC-Care.ai automation to keep video calls smooth.
Symptoms you might see
- Video freezes during screen share
- Audio lags behind
- CPU spikes to 90% during calls
- Battery drains quickly
Freezing and lag signal CPU saturation or GPU encoder issues. Audio lag shows buffer underflow. High CPU spikes from background apps plus Zoom encode load.
Manual fixes - step by step
- Update graphics and audio drivers
- Close unused browser tabs and heavy apps
- Enable hardware acceleration in Zoom
- Disable background updaters
- Use High Performance plan during calls
- Run PC-Care.ai to trim startups
Driver updates reduce DPC latency. Fewer tabs free CPU cycles. Hardware acceleration shifts encode load to GPU. Disabling updaters prevents random spikes. Performance plan ensures CPU headroom.
Prevention - keep the issue from coming back
Before important calls, reboot and open only essential apps
Keep Zoom updated to benefit from performance improvements
How PC-Care.ai helps
PC-Care.ai identifies heavy startups and scheduled tasks reducing Zoom lag.
The scan also flags outdated drivers that increase latency.
Run Free AI ScanFAQ
- Why does Zoom lag even with fast internet?
- Local CPU and driver issues often matter more than bandwidth.
- Should I use gallery view or speaker view?
- Speaker view uses fewer resources.
- Does PC-Care.ai help automatically?
- Yes - it trims background tasks so Zoom encoders get dedicated CPU time.
- What about Zoom web vs desktop app?
- Desktop app often has better hardware acceleration.
- Can antivirus cause lag?
- Yes if scanning during calls. Schedule off hours.
- Does power plan affect Zoom?
- Yes - High Performance keeps CPU at higher clocks during encode.
References - further reading
- Zoom performance settings
- support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115002292983
- Update graphics drivers
- support.microsoft.com/help/4028443