'For 5-8 minutes [I was] singing sea shanties... with about 350 people listening': 20 Video calls where people accidentally unmuted themselves in front of everyone

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 24, 2025 3:00 PM EST

It happens to the best of us… we slip up and say something we shouldn't while on a video call. For a lot of people, it's the temptation of the "mute" button. You can mute yourself on the call and rant and rave at the boss who ruined your presentation, or the coworker who paraded your work as their own. However, you've got to be incredibly careful to make sure that you're still silenced. Otherwise, everyone is going to know exactly how you feel, in vivid detail, and they won't forget any time soon. 

It's a good idea to just never say anything on a video call that you wouldn't say if you were in the room with that person, whether it's your mom on the call or your boss. Do you even really trust the mute button? Even if it is signifying that you won't be heard, the lingering "what if" always stops me from saying something silly. Just don't risk it, folks! And you can take a lesson from the people below who did, in fact, ruin their own days by yapping on the video call at inopportune times. 

Up next, read about some employees who were thrilled to cause a "'domino effect" by quitting all at the same time. 

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  • 01
    In 60 Firal Effect Control CORE Overhead Turning Sky Pu 4 sets of 15 reps COCCODROBNO DE
    via Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    Guilty as charged

    gh... Attorney here - when I literally said "sh "while getting off a court call. ETA: to be clear, this was audible to the judge and all other virtual hearing participants.
    via u/ghostdogtheconquerer
  • 03
    Edexcel GCSE Was playing online Chess, since my teacher was idle. The opposite side in the Chess game was taking too long to move so I yelled "Make a move you b Ird." My mic wasn't muted.
    via u/Edexcel_GCSE
  • 04

    Try a pillow instead

    Zealousideal-Des... I was bored and i started slamming my keyboard and i was unmuted. Everyone heard me.
    via u/Zealousideal-Desk506
  • 05
    madcats323 I'm a public defender and for the past year I've been doing court over zoom from the jail. It's pretty chaotic because we have my guys, the people who are out of custody at court, people appearing by zoom from home, private attorneys, you name it. Makes for a long day.
    via u/madcats323
  • 06
    I was in front of a judge who is very slow and deliberate and it became apparent that several of my cases wouldn't be called until after lunch. I turned from the screen and HOLLERED across the module, "sorry guys, you'll have to come back after lunch. This guy is slower than death!" I was not muted.
    via u/madcats323
  • 07
    After lunch, I made a sincere and abject apology on the record "your Honor, prior - to the break I made a comment that was inappropriate and I'd like to apologize to the Court..." The judge was lovely and assured me he hadn't heard a thing. Everyone heard it. Mortifying.
    via u/madcats323
  • 08

    Idea: We should start every video call with 5-8 minutes of sea shanties

    Martinio69ehehe I was in the beginning of a zoom exam, and i didnt realize the mic turns of on immediately... So i was for about 5-8 mins singing sea shanties while i prepared all my setup, with about 350 people listening to me
    via u/Martinio69ehehe

    Sea shanties did have a comeback in the early 2020s. They're unmistakable! They have a soothing nature that makes them nice to listen to, I think. If someone wanted to start exams with them, that'd be hilariously appropriate. 

  • 09
    TheRealGongoozler It wasn't a zoom meeting but I used to take inbound calls for a bank. I worked in a credit card department and a guy called wanting to set up autopay on his line. I said I'd need a routing and account number from that and told him he could find it on a check. He told me he didn't want to get up and would make a one time payment with his card and
    via u/TheRealGongoozler
  • 10
    then spent about 1-2 minutes shuffling nearby things to find it. I THOUGHT I hit mute and very snarky like said "just go get a check..." I thought I was about to get my a absolutely handed to me but luckily tho the dude was super chill and laughed about it and said "yeah I need to get my lazy a up"
    via u/TheRealGongoozler
  • 11
    BlueberryWaffleB... Loaded up Mario Kart on my TV and my professor asked if she could play with me
    via u/BlueberryWaffleBacon
  • 12
    A_Hale My wife and I have been taking a technical writing course at our university together. One day she was making comments on the Zoom call before class started and one guy started making comments along the line of "Dannnggg that girl is cute! Man, [first name] [last name] I'll have to remember her. Oh, wait a second, was
    via u/A_Hale
  • 13
    she married? I can't remember." Our instructor cut him off by saying "Hey um, [name] we can hear you. Yes she's very nice. Yes she is married, but don't worry, [my name] is a kind person." He was horrified when he realized his mic was on.
    via u/A_Hale
  • 14
    To make matters worse, I was having problems getting my Bluetooth headphones to connect. They failed a bunch of times so I couldn't hear a thing but I was ticked at them. My video was on and I was staring at my computer with an angry expression trying to mess with the settings.
    via u/A_Hale
  • 15
    Administration Bor... Was playing 8 Ball Pool and was in final round of a tournament during Calc, screamed "holy f I blow" after missing a shot. Got about eight texts from classmates and a nice laugh from the teacher.
    via u/AdministrationBorn69
  • 16
    [deleted] Had my mic on but camera off. Dozed off and started snoring
    via u/[deleted]
  • 17
    Cheezburger Image 10458400512
    via Surface on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 18
    [deleted] Got stressed about something and to cool myself off I said "(insert exhale here while looking up) I'm gonna fail this test.." Didn't get yelled at, but got a "don't do it again".
    via u/[deleted]
  • 19
    Saesama I had juuuust unmuted my mic to answer a question in class, and my sweet flufferb stepped right in the middle of my keyboard and yelled for me to pet her. I later got a text from a class buddy that she has the most perfect meow. I agree, even if she uses it for chaos.
    via u/Saesama
  • 20

    This must've had the other video callers in stitches, while this person was totally oblivious to the noise

    ordinary_gurll I was arguing with my mom, got scolded by my brother's teacher for being too loud, all while forgetting to mute my mic
    via u/ordinary_gurll
  • 21
    djac 13 Teaching a class and I felt a burp coming on. Thought I could swallow it away or take a quick break and mute myself. Nope. Had to joke about it after while being embarrassed.
    via u/djac 13
  • 22
    jucomsdn I was playing random notes on my trombone and my entire band class had to hear me awfully attempt to play her name is by treepalm I only noticed I wasn't muted until my teacher muted me
    via u/jucomsdn
  • 23
    FrightenedOfSpo... An older colleague of mine never mutes. One time he took a phone call during a meeting and we all got to hear him complain about how boring the meeting was. He then took a second call during the same meeting, again without muting, but the host muted him that time.
    via u/FrightenedOfSpoons
  • 24
    Cranzeeman wasnt a zoom meeting but i forgot to mute my mic during a game of TF2 and everyone in the lobby heard me singing to myself... on the bright side, one guy said i had a nice voice lol
    via u/Cranzeeman
  • 25

    Let's hope there were more people on the call than just the teacher!

    [deleted] Went off on a tirade to no one in particular about how my music teacher was a idiot. Might have forgotten to mute myself before I did.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 26
    [deleted] Faculty meeting, and I thought my mic was muted. Principal asks if anyone has anything to say before we all sign off. I said, "Yeah, I wish you'd go to another school."
    via u/[deleted]
  • 27
    b mike1 I was attending a Zoom meeting with my roommate also attending the meeting on his own laptop. We kept the mics muted so we could talk sh on the side. The meeting was a Hazwoper training class. This was a new job and we were required to complete the class before we were allowed to go out into the field. The host was long
    via u/b***mike1
  • 28
    winded and monotone. I made sure the mic was muted and the camera was off before I put my head down on the laptop track pad to rest and listen. The problem was that I accidentally pressed the space bar which, unbeknownst to me, turns the camera/mic on. Host droned on and on and on. I lifted my head and said to the roommate "Someone
    via u/b***mike1
  • 29
    needs to tell him to shut the f." Mid sentence the host says, "I'm sorry. What?" and there was a gasp from others in the meeting. I turn red with embarrassment immediately and to my horror my roommate starts laughing on his open mic. The host can fail me and screw my world up but fortunately he didn't hear it clearly because he
    via u/b***mike1
  • 30
    was talking. However, my new boss knew it was me. Later in the day he messaged me laughing "I was thinking the same thing!". Lesson learned.
    via u/b***mike1

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