Participating in webinar breakout rooms

Webinar breakout rooms are sessions that are split off from the main Zoom Webinar. They allow the attendees to meet in smaller groups, and are completely isolated in terms of audio and video from the main session. Breakout rooms can be used for collaboration and discussion of the webinar.

Requirements for participating in webinar breakout rooms

Notes:

Table of Contents

How to join a breakout room

Windows | macOS | Linux
  1. Join a Zoom Webinar.
    The host will need to invite you to join the breakout room.
  2. Click Join.
  3. (Optional) Click Not Now to not immediately join a breakout room. You can join by clicking Breakout Rooms  in your webinar controls, then clicking Join a Breakout Room.
  4. Confirm joining the breakout room by clicking Join.

Upon joining the webinar breakout room, participants will have the same audio, video, and screen share capabilities as they would typically have in a Zoom Meeting.

Upon returning to the main webinar session, they will return to the standard view- and listen-only webinar attendee role.

Android | iOS
  1. Join a Zoom Webinar.
    The host will need to invite you to join the breakout room.
  2. Tap Join.
  3. (Optional) Tap Not Now to not immediately join a breakout room. You can join the breakout room by tapping Join Breakout Room in the top left corner.
  4. Confirm joining the breakout room by clicking Join.

Upon joining the webinar breakout room, participants will have the same audio, video, and screen share capabilities as they would typically have in a Zoom Meeting.

Upon returning to the main webinar session, they will return to the standard view- and listen-only webinar attendee role.

How to self-select a breakout room

Windows | macOS | Linux

If the host has allowed participants to self-select and join breakout rooms of their choosing, participants will be able to view and select from a list of breakout rooms the host has created. They will be able to enter and leave breakout rooms freely.

Note: Participants not joined with the desktop or mobile app will not be able to self-select a breakout room, and as such, the host will need to facilitate moving these participants manually.

  1. In the webinar controls, click Breakout Rooms .
  2. Click Choose Room to Join.
    This will display the list of open breakout rooms created by the host.
  3. Hover your cursor over the number to the right of the breakout room you wish to join, click Join, then confirm by clicking Join.
  4. Repeat as necessary to join other breakout rooms, or click Leave Room to return to the main session.
Android | iOS

If the host has allowed participants to self-select and join breakout rooms of their choosing, participants will be able to view and select from a list of breakout rooms the host has created. They will be able to enter and leave breakout rooms freely.

Note: Participants not joined with the desktop or mobile app will not be able to self-select a breakout room, and as such, the host will need to facilitate moving these participants manually.

  1. In the top-left corner of the webinar window, tap Join Breakout Room .
  2. You may be prompted to confirm joining breakout rooms. If so, tap Choose Room.
    This will display the list of open breakout rooms created by the host.
  3. Tap the Breakout Room you wish to participant in and then tap Join.
  4. Repeat as necessary to join other breakout rooms, or click Leave Room to return to the main session.

How to leave the breakout room

Windows | macOS | Linux

If allowed by the host, you can leave the breakout room and return to the main webinar session, or you can leave the webinar entirely from the breakout room.

  1. Click Leave.
  2. Choose if you want to leave the breakout room or the entire webinar.
  3. Alternatively, when the host ends the breakout rooms, you will be notified and given the option to return to the main room immediately, or after a brief period set by the host.
Android | iOS

If allowed by the host, you can leave the breakout room and return to the main webinar session, or you can leave the webinar entirely from the breakout room.

  1. Tap Leave.
  2. Choose Leave Breakout Room.
  3. Alternatively, when the host ends the breakout rooms, you will be notified and given the option to return to the main room immediately, or after a brief period set by the host.

How to participate by telephone

When joining a webinar by telephone audio only, you do not need to do anything to join. Once the host assigns you to a breakout room and starts the breakout rooms, you will hear an audio notification that you have been added to a breakout room.

Note: Currently, this audio prompt for dial-in attendees only supports English.

Participate in the breakout room

You will be able to mute and unmute like you can in the main session. Use *6 to mute or unmute.

Return to the main room

When the host has ended the breakout rooms, you will hear an audio notification that you will be returning to the main room in 60 seconds. Press # to join the main room immediately.