1---
 2title: Collaboration
 3description: "Real-time collaboration in Zed: share projects, edit code together, and communicate with voice chat."
 4---
 5
 6# Collaboration {#collaboration}
 7
 8Zed supports real-time multiplayer editing. Multiple people can work in the same project simultaneously, seeing each other's cursors and edits as they happen.
 9
10Open the Collaboration Panel with {#kb collab_panel::ToggleFocus}. You'll need to [sign in](../authentication.md#signing-in) to access collaboration features.
11
12## Collaboration Panel {#collaboration-panel}
13
14The Collaboration Panel has two sections:
15
161. [Channels](./channels.md): Persistent project rooms for team collaboration, with shared projects and voice chat.
172. [Contacts and Private Calls](./contacts-and-private-calls.md): Your contacts list for ad-hoc private sessions.
18
19> **Warning:** Sharing a project gives collaborators access to your local file system within that project. Only collaborate with people you trust.
20
21See the [Data and Privacy FAQs](https://zed.dev/faq#data-and-privacy) for more details.
22
23## Audio Settings {#audio-settings}
24
25### Selecting Audio Devices
26
27You can select specific input and output audio devices instead of using system defaults. To configure audio devices:
28
291. Open {#kb zed::OpenSettings}
302. Navigate to **Collaboration** > **Experimental**
313. Use the **Output Audio Device** and **Input Audio Device** dropdowns to select your preferred devices
32
33Changes take effect immediately. If you select a device that becomes unavailable, Zed falls back to system defaults.
34
35To test your audio configuration, click **Test Audio** in the same section. This opens a window where you can verify your microphone and speaker work correctly with the selected devices.
36
37**JSON configuration:**
38
39```json [settings]
40{
41  "audio": {
42    "experimental.output_audio_device": "Device Name (device-id)",
43    "experimental.input_audio_device": "Device Name (device-id)"
44  }
45}
46```
47
48Set either value to `null` to use system defaults.