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
27> **Preview:** This feature is available in Zed Preview. It will be included in the next Stable release.
28
29You can select specific input and output audio devices instead of using system defaults. To configure audio devices:
30
311. Open {#kb zed::OpenSettings}
322. Navigate to **Collaboration** > **Experimental**
333. Use the **Output Audio Device** and **Input Audio Device** dropdowns to select your preferred devices
34
35Changes take effect immediately. If you select a device that becomes unavailable, Zed falls back to system defaults.
36
37To 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.
38
39**JSON configuration:**
40
41```json [settings]
42{
43  "audio": {
44    "experimental.output_audio_device": "Device Name (device-id)",
45    "experimental.input_audio_device": "Device Name (device-id)"
46  }
47}
48```
49
50Set either value to `null` to use system defaults.