Breakout Rooms

Allow participants to collaborate in smaller groups in up to 100 separate sessions within the same meeting using the Breakout Room feature.  The host or co-host can place participants into rooms manually, automatically, or allow participants to place themselves into rooms.  

• Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android Zoom versions must be 5.10.3 or higher.
• The host must be signed into the Zoom desktop client to manage Breakout Rooms.
• Users on Zoom Mobile App or H.323/SIP devices can join a breakout room but cannot manage the room.
• If the meeting is being cloud recorded, it will only record the main meeting room and none of the breakout rooms.
• The host can allow multiple participants to record locally, those participants can only record the breakout room they are in.
• Participants have full audio, video, and share screen capability in a breakout room when host settings allow.

Breakout Room Settings 

Sign into your Zoom web portal.

1. 1. From the left navigation menu > Settings > Meeting tab
   2. Scroll to In Meeting (Advanced) > Breakout room > toggle to enable.
   3. Select the check boxes for the following breakout room options, then click Save
      
      • Allow meeting hosts to pre-assign participants to breakout rooms.
      • Allow host to broadcast message to participants: This allows the host to broadcast a text-based message to all participants in breakout rooms. 
      • Allow host to broadcast voice to breakout rooms: This allows the host to broadcast their microphone audio to all participants in breakout rooms. 
      • Allow host to view activity statuses of participants in breakout rooms (e.g. share screen, reactions). 

Pre-assign Participants to a Breakout Room

Participants must have a Zoom account, and the desktop client installed to be pre-assigned to a breakout room. To pre-assign participants that are external Zoom users, import a CSV file. Participants will automatically be placed into the assigned room when the host opens the Breakout Room.

1. Click Meetings > Schedule a meeting.
2. Scroll to Meeting Options > Breakout Room pre-assign > Create Rooms.
3. Click the + icon to add rooms; use the pencil icon to rename a room.
4. Enter the email to Add participants then Save. 

The Breakout Room can be edited before scheduling is complete or edited after the meeting is scheduled. There are several options when editing:

1. • Click and drag a participant's email address to change the order.
   • Hover over a participant's name to move them to another room or remove them.
   • To delete a Breakout Room, hover over the room name and click the trash icon. 
   • Click Save.

Create/Prepare Breakout Rooms in a Live Meeting

The Breakout Room icon appears on the meeting toolbar.

• Click Breakout Rooms icon. 
• Enter the number of rooms to create and how participants will join a room, then click Create. 

The Breakout Room window opens:

• Previously created rooms can be reopened using the Recreate button which includes the option to recover pre-assigned rooms.
• Open Options on the bottom left to choose participant actions to join or leave breakout rooms.
   

Open Breakout Rooms

Click the Breakout Room icon, then Open All Rooms.  Participants will be moved to their assigned rooms after confirming the prompt to join the breakout room.  If allowing participants to choose their own rooms, they can open the list of rooms and choose which one to join. 

The host and/or co-host will remain in the main room until they initiate joining one of the rooms. Participants not assigned will also remain in the main room and can be moved into a breakout room at any time.

The following options are available when you hover over the Room name or the Participant name:

Room: 

1. Rename the room to be more descriptive if needed.
2. Delete when the room has not been opened or there are no participants in the room.
3. Click on the number on the right (number of participants in a room) to add others to the room.

Participants:
1. Move to another room.
2. Exchange swap participants in room. 

Managing Breakout Rooms in Progress

The Breakout Rooms window will split into two tabs, one listing the open breakout rooms and their participants and the other listing all participants.

When there are more than 7 participants, a search tool appears. Assigned participants names who have not joined the breakout room will be noted by (not joined). Unassigned participants will be listed under the Unassigned category.

The following options can appear in the breakout rooms window:

• Rename: Rename the Breakout Room.
• Join: Join the Breakout Room.
• Leave: Leave the room and return to the main meeting.
• Broadcast: (Host and co-hosts) Abilities to send a message or broadcast mic audio to all breakout rooms.  
• Add Room: Create an additional Breakout Room.
• Close All Rooms: Stops all rooms after a 60 second countdown, which is shown to the host, co-hosts, and participants, and returns all participants back to the main meeting.

In Live Meeting: Saving Current Breakout Room Assignments for Future Use

You can save up to 10 Breakout Room assignments.

1. After breakout rooms have been assigned, but not currently open, click the button and  click Save Breakout Rooms. 
2. Provide a name for this assignment. 
3. Click Save.

In Live Meeting: Responding to Requests for Help

Participants in Breakout Rooms can choose to Ask for Help. The meeting host can enter their room, but co-hosts cannot. The host will get the message and select Join Breakout Room.

In Live Meeting: Broadcasting a Message to All Breakout Rooms

The host or co-hosts can broadcast a message to all Breakout Rooms. This can be done from the main session or from within a Breakout Room.

In Live Meeting: View Breakout Rooms activities from main session

Once Breakout Rooms are open, hosts and co-hosts can view the activity in each Breakout Room to get an idea of how active the participants are. In the Breakout Rooms panel, you can view which participants are in each room, along with icons that designate if their audio or video is on, if they're sharing their screen, and if they have any active reactions or nonverbal feedback.

In Live Meeting: Sharing Your Screen to All Breakout Rooms

Once breakout rooms are open, the host or co-host can share their screen from the main session directly into all open Breakout Rooms.

1. Click Share Screen in the meeting controls. 
2. Enable the Share to breakout rooms option along the bottom of the share window. 
3. Choose what you would like to share. 
4. Click the Share Sound option if audio is part of the shared content.  
5. Click Share. 
6. The selected content is shared with all Breakout Rooms. Any participants sharing in any Breakout Room will be interrupted for the host's/co-host's shared screen. Annotation or whiteboarding is saved before the host's shared content is viewed.

In Live Meeting: Recording Breakout Rooms

If the meeting is being cloud recorded, it will only record the main meeting and none of the Breakout Rooms will be captured, regardless of what room the meeting host is in. It is only possible to record in breakout rooms with local recording. The host must allow specific participants to record locally and it will only record the room the participant who is recording is in. Multiple participants can be  permitted to record locally.