Hello Zoho Assist Community!
Imagine a scenario where you are providing remote support to a customer at a busy front desk. The issue involves their billing software, and fixing it means navigating through sensitive customer records, payment details, and confidential account data. The catch? Their monitor faces an open lobby, and several people walk past it every minute. You can access the machine, but every move you make is visible to anyone nearby.
That is exactly the kind of situation the Blacken Screen feature in Zoho Assist was built for. With a single click from the Technician Console, you can black out the display on the customer's end while keeping full control of the session on your side. The screen goes dark for anyone near the remote machine, but your view and access remain completely uninterrupted.
This feature is especially useful for IT teams, managed service providers (MSPs), and helpdesk technicians supporting users in environments where privacy is critical, from healthcare and finance to shared office spaces and public-facing workstations.
What is the Blacken Screen feature?
The Blacken Screen option in Zoho Assist allows technicians to blacken the display on the customer's remote machine during an active support session. It is accessible directly from the Technician Console (as shown in the screenshot). When enabled, the customer's monitor goes completely dark, preventing anyone in the physical environment from viewing the session activity. The technician, however, continues to see and interact with the remote desktop as normal.
Once the sensitive task is complete, you can disable Blacken Screen just as easily, restoring the display on the customer's end.
How to enable Blacken Screen during a session
Start a remote support session and navigate to the Technician Console. Click on Sessions in the left sidebar and select Blacken Screen from the dropdown menu. The customer's display will go dark immediately, giving you a private workspace for the remainder of your task.
Note: The remote device user can revoke this feature at any time by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del on their keyboard.

Why is this feature useful?
Blacken Screen adds a critical layer of visual privacy to remote sessions, ensuring that sensitive work stays between the technician and the system, not anyone who happens to walk by. Here is why it matters:
Visual privacy on demand: Prevent bystanders, colleagues, or customers in shared spaces from viewing confidential data during a session.
Compliance-friendly support: Handle regulated data such as medical records, financial information, or personal credentials without exposing it on screen.
Confidence for both sides: Customers feel reassured knowing their data is protected, even when their device is being accessed remotely.
Seamless control: Blacken the screen with one click and restore it just as quickly once the sensitive task is done.
Versatile across industries: Equally valuable in healthcare, banking, education, retail, and any environment where screens are visible to multiple people.
If you have used the Blacken Screen feature during a remote session, whether to protect sensitive data, maintain compliance, or simply add a layer of professionalism to your support workflow, we would love to hear how it fits into your process!
Drop your experience, tips, or questions in the comments below. And if you ever need help or have questions about the feature, feel free to reach out to us at support@zohoassist.com. We are always here to help!
Recent Topics
Exclude Email or Domain From New Ticket Notification
Hi, we utilize the new ticket notification feature in Zoho Desk. However, it would be great if there was a way to exclude certain email addresses or domains from receiving the automatic notification. This would be particularly helpful for automated alerts
Anyone have a working connection with CRM and shipstation via Flow
Just wondering if anyone has successfully integrated shipstation and Zoho CRM. I know there’s code to do it but am hoping to find out all the pitfalls before I jump on!! Scenario: SalesOrder gets created in CRM with multiple line items. I want this pushed to shipstation. On shipping via shipstation I want to push the tracking # back to CRM. Many thanks in advance
ShipStation and Zoho Inventory
Hello, I am looking to sync zoho inventory with shipstation ZOHO INVENTORY SHIP STATION Sales Order ==> create ORDERS INVOICE <== Shipments What exactly does BETA mean on the Shipstation connector? This is required for me to sign-on in the next month. Thanks in advance for your efforts
Connect to Shipstation's API
Shipstation is a very big service, with lots of users, tons of order data.....and poor un-customizable reporting. This is perfect for Zoho analytics. The Shipstation API is modern and efficient. Today I think many people pay Zapier to get Shipstation data into Reports/CRM/Books - why not have a direct connection? -can pull in shipments via webhook or polling. -also nice to pull in order data along with shipment data
What’s the Correct Integration Flow Between Zoho Inventory, ShipStation, and Multi-Channel Sales Platforms?
Hi Zoho Community, I’m currently implementing Zoho One to manage all of my business processes, and I’d appreciate some guidance on the correct integration flow for the tools I’m using. Here’s my current setup: Zoho Inventory is my central system for managing
Remove Zoho Header from Portals
I have a portal page with custom domain. But when I print directly from a webpage, the Zoho CRM header shows. It kind of kills the branding aspect. Is there a way to get rid of this?
Setting defaults for "Find and Merge Duplicate for..."
To remove some of the extreme tedium from Zoho's poorly implemented merge function, I would like to set defaults. Currently I am defaulted to match "ANY" when I would never do that, so I always have to click "ALL". Then it makes me click on several totally irrelevant drop boxes to turn off phone, mobile and other useless match criteria. Is there a way I can set: Match to default as "ALL" Firstname to default to "IS" Lastname to default to "IS" every other match field default to "-NONE-" This will
Clone a Module??
I am giong to repurpose the Vendors module but would like to have a separate but very similar module for another group of contacts called Buyers. I have already repurposed Contacts to Sellers. Is it possible to clone (make a duplicate) module of Vendors
Let's bring Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Material Requirement Planning (MRP), and Production Planning/Management module / feature in Zohobooks
Let's bring Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Material Requirement Planning (MRP), and Production Planning/Management module / feature in Zohobooks
CLIENT PORTAL (If clients can place orders directly on the portal)
Zoho client portal is excellent. Everything is there except one thing. Client should be able to place orders directly on the portal. This would enhance the portal and end users will be extremely happy. This suggestion infact came from one of our client.
Zoho → ShipStation Integration – Sales Order–Driven Fulfilment Workflow
Hello All, I’m reaching out to explore the best way to integrate a shipping tool into our inventory which will speed our process up. We are looking to integrate ShipStation into our existing order-to-fulfilment workflow, as we’re keen to standardise on
Zoho Inventory Feature Roadmap Visible To All
Hello, please consider making your feature roadmap visible to us users so that we know what to expect in future. This may appease current users who are seeking clarification on feature implementation dates, so that they can make an informed decision whether
アナリティクスで商談中のパイプライン(ステージ)の件数比較
アナリティクスで商談中のパイプライン(ステージ)の件数を前週と前々週で比較したい。前々週の件数が更新することで変動してしまう。対象方法をご教授ください。
How do I remove a data source from Zoho Analytics?
I am unable to find a delte option on a datasource that i put in the system as an error. On teh web it refers to a setup icon but I do not see that on my interface?
Identify and clean hard bounce lists in Automation 2.0
Hello. 1. I want to know how I can identify hard bounces in the lists I created to clean them before sending an email, given that the bounce rate has increased and it is necessary to clean the lists. 2. How can I exclude hard bounces and invalid emails
Trigger workflows from SLA escalations in Zoho Desk?
Hey everyone, I’m currently working with SLA escalation rules in Zoho Desk and ran into a limitation that I’m hoping someone here has solved more elegantly. As far as I can tell, SLA escalations only support fairly limited actions (like changing the ticket
Delete a department or category
How do I delete a Department? Also, how do I delete a Category? This is pretty basic stuff here and it's impossible to find.
Zoho Webinar - Sharing System Audio (NOT AVAILABLE)
Hi, We are having a serious problem with Zoho Webinar. In the webinars we run, we very often share the audio from a video we are streaming directly from YouTube or other applications. Until recently we were using Zoom, but as we use other Zoho applications
Lost the ability to sort by ticket owner
Hi all, in the last week or so, we have lost the ability to sort tickets by Ticket Owner. Unlike the other columns which we can hover over and click on to sort, Ticket Owner is no longer clickable. Is it just us, or are other customers seeing this too?
Cancellation Fees
Hi, It really would be good if Billing could take subscription management further with cancellations & being able to apply or set a cancellation fee for a plan that is either fixed or prorated. It is not uncommon in subscriptions for cancellation fees
Custom Field for Subscription
Hi, I can't find a way to add a custom field (to contain a license key generated from our software) against a subscription? Is the only place to add this information in the Invoice module (as custom field for invoice)? When a customer views his subscription
Zoho CRM Meetings Module Issues
We have a use-case that is very common in today's world, but won't work in Zoho CRM. We have an SDR (Sales Development Rep) who makes many calls per day to Leads and Contacts, and schedules meetings for our primary Sales Reps. He does this by logging
Notes - Reaction Buttons
Using the native notes option within CRM is fine, it works and the RTF features are great, however, would it be possible - if there isnt already something in place, where we can add a reactions button, similar to teams/whatsapp to show that its been read
How to get the campaingns key?
Reading the documentations of the API, I see that is necessary have the campaign key, but I don't see how can I get it. For example to get the campaign details we need to do the request: https://campaigns.zoho.com/api/getcampaigndetails?authtoken=[API Authentication Token]&scope=CampaignsAPI&campaignkey=[campaignkey] I have the API Authentication Token but I don`t see how to generate the campaignkey
Unable to switch existing AWS RDS connection to DataBridge after moving RDS behind VPN
Unable to switch existing AWS RDS connection to DataBridge after moving RDS behind VPN Hi everyone, I’m facing a problem with an existing Zoho Analytics setup and would like to know the best migration path. Originally, my Zoho Analytics connection to
[Bug] WebAuthn passkey registration blocked on rpIds with TLDs longer than 6 characters (.accountant, .technology, etc.) — isValidDomain regex too strict
Hi, Filing on behalf of an enterprise customer where Zoho Vault is deployed across the company. The Chrome extension blocks WebAuthn passkey registration on legitimate sites whose Relying Party ID (rpId) has a TLD longer than 6 letters. This affects every
Native QuickBooks integration for Zoho CRM: Connecting sales and finance
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce Zoho CRM's integration with QuickBooks Web, which is designed to synchronize your CRM data with your QuickBooks accounting records and bridge the gap between sales and finance. This
Syncing zoho books into zoho crm
I was wondering how I can use zoho books in crm as I have been using them separately and would like to sync the two. Is this possible and if so, how? Thanks
ZohoBooks_add_expense_attachment Fails
I'm working MCP in Claude to automate bookkeeping. Claude cannot seem to attach and reciept to an expense. The 'add expense attachment' tool is added to the server and enabled in Claude. I asked Claude to give me the calls he performed and this is what
ZohoBooks_create_chart_of_account
I'm setting up Claude to do my bookkeeping workflows using a Zoho MPC server I setup. He does not seem to be able to create a chart of account. The 'create chart of account' tool is added to the server and enabled in Claude. I asked Claude to give me
Zoho Books Product Road Map
I am planning to look into Zoho Books to maintain my Company's Account Books. Is the roadmap of Zoho Books Development available online? What happens if you product dies, without an export feature to other popular Accounting softwares like Tally or Quickbook. Are we going to be left in lurch? Do you have a product road map? Regards, Vishal.
I want to delete the email but I can't.
I want to delete emails but I can't, please help me. Thanks!
Error while creating new user
Zoho Mail is blacklisted on magicspam.com and spamauditor.org
As of today, the same problem with the IP addresses 136.143.188.51 and 136.143.188.52 How long does it take them to clear their IP addresses? I've read on this forum that these IP addresses have been blacklisted for years. //////////////////////// This
Unable to send emails from the delegated mailbox
currently it's not possible to send emails from our delegated mailbox (just in our own name, our own mail-accounts) The permissions granted include "Send as," and we are also unable to delete delegated employees or add new ones. We can only add employees
Change Password
How can I reset OR Change the Passwords for the Whole Organization at Once as Administrator using Admin Console?
Zoho Books bill pay option not available with zoho one
Why isn't Zoho Books bill pay add-on not available for Zoho one customers not even as a purchasable option. I think this is very inconvenient for companies wanting to use this feature all in one system
Support - what am I doing wrong?
Hi Everyone - I'm a new user and looking particularly for a replacement mail service. I'm just a home user not a professional but I do look after half a dozen domains. Zoho looks lovely and I'd like to switch but just want to get answers to a few 'easy'
Zoho Forms - Form Availability Redirect Option
Hi Forms Team, It would be great if there was a redirect URL option on the Form Availability settings. For example, I would like to create a support form which is only available outside business hours and if the current data and time is not Mon-Fri 9-5
Consider Making Printing Easier (UI)
I'm using Zoho Analytics in much the way that it was intended when it was "Zoho Reports" - as a way to pull together information across several apps in the ecosystem. I have a dashboard that I need to run each week for every employee (change the filter
Next Page