Managing webinar breakout rooms

Breakout rooms allow you to split your Zoom Webinar in up to 200 separate breakout sessions. The webinar host or co-host can choose to split the attendees of the webinar into these separate sessions automatically or manually, or they can allow attendees to select and enter breakout sessions as they please. The host or co-host can switch between sessions at any time.

While webinar attendees are in a breakout room, they 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.

Requirements for managing webinar breakout rooms

Limitations of webinar breakout rooms

Table of Contents

How to create and start webinar breakout rooms

Windows | macOS | Linux
  1. Start a scheduled webinar.
  2. In the webinar controls, click Breakout Rooms .
  3. Select the number of rooms you would like to create, and how you would like to assign your participants to those rooms:
    • Create ( ) breakout room(s): Enter a number for how many breakout rooms to initially create. Additional breakout rooms can be added later.
    • Who’s included? Choose if Panelists and attendees are included in breakout room assignments, or Panelists only.
    • Panelist assignment: Choose if you want panelists assigned automatically, manually, or let them choose the room.
    • Attendee assignment: Choose if you want attendees assigned automatically or let them choose the room.
  4. Click Create.
    Your rooms will be created, but will not start automatically. You will have the ability to make adjustments to the breakout rooms as needed in the breakout room management pop-up window.
  5. Do any of the following:
    • Click Open All Rooms to open the breakout rooms now. All assigned participants will be moved to their respective rooms after confirming the prompt to join the breakout room. If allowing participants to choose their own room, they can open the list of rooms and choose which to join. The host or co-host that launched the breakouts and the original host will be left in the main webinar until manually joining one of the rooms.
    • Click Add a Room to add more rooms as needed.
    • Click Recreate to start over by deleting existing breakout rooms and creating new ones.
    • Click the gear icon  to manage other breakout room options.
    • Assign participants.
    • Rearrange and edit the rooms.
Android | iOS
  1. Start a scheduled webinar.
  2. Swipe the webinar controls to find and tap Breakout Rooms .
  3. Select the number of rooms you would like to create, and how you would like to assign your panelists and attendees to those rooms:
    • Number of breakout room(s): Enter a number for how many breakout rooms to initially create. Additional breakout rooms can be added.
    • Who’s included? Choose if Panelists and attendees are included in breakout room assignments, or just Panelists only.
    • Panelist assignment: Choose how panelists will be assigned: Assign automatically, Assign Manually, or Let panelists choose room.
    • Attendee assignment: Choose how attendees will be assigned: Assign automatically, Assign Manually, or Let attendees choose room.
  4. Tap Create.
    Your rooms will be created, but will not start automatically. You can manage the rooms prior to starting them.

Customize webinar breakout room options

Windows | macOS | Linux
  1. After creating the breakout rooms, in the lower-left corner, click the gear icon to view additional breakout rooms options.
  2. Select the check box for any option that you would like to use for your breakout rooms:
    • Allow panelists to choose a room: Panelists can select and enter rooms on their own once rooms are launched.
    • Allow attendees to choose a room: Attendees can select and enter rooms on their own once rooms are launched.
    • Auto move assigned panelists into rooms: Selecting this option will move all panelists and attendees into the breakout rooms automatically. If this option is unchecked, they must click Join to enter the breakout room.
    • Allow participants to return to the main session at any time: If this option is selected, the panelists and attendees can move back to the main session from their webinar controls. If this is disabled, they need to wait for the host/co-host to end the breakout rooms.
    • Set room capacity per room: Allows the host or co-host to set a maximum number of users allowed to join each breakout room.
    • Breakout rooms close automatically after after ( ) minutes: If this option is selected, the breakout rooms will automatically end after the specified number of minutes.
      • Notify me when the time is up: Warn the host when the breakout rooms are beginning to close.
    • Countdown after closing breakout rooms: If this option is selected, the breakout room participants will be given a countdown of how much time they have left before being returned to the main room.
  3. Assign participants to rooms or click Open All Rooms to start the breakout rooms.
Android | iOS
  1. After creating the breakout rooms, tap the ellipsis icon  to view additional breakout rooms options.
  2. Tap Options.
  3. Check any options that you would like to use for your breakout rooms.
    • Panelists can choose room: Panelists can select and enter rooms on their own once rooms are launched.
    • Attendees can choose room: Attendees can select and enter rooms on their own once rooms are launched.
    • Auto-move assigned participants into rooms: Checking this option will move all panelists and attendees into the breakout rooms automatically. If this option is unchecked, they will need to click Join to be added to the breakout room.
    • Can return to the main session at any time: If this option is checked, the panelists and attendees can move back to the main session from their webinar controls. If this is disabled, they need to wait for the host/co-host to end the breakout rooms.
    • Set room capacity per room: Allows the host or co-host to set a maximum number of participants allowed to join each breakout room.
    • Close breakout rooms after a certain time: If this option is checked, the breakout rooms will automatically end after the specified number of minutes.
    • Countdown after closing breakout rooms: If this option is checked, the participants will be given a countdown of how much time they have left before being returned to the main room.
  4. Tap Done.

Assign participants to rooms

Windows | macOS | Linux

To assign participants to your rooms, select Assign next to the room you wish to assign participants to and select the participants you want to assign to that room. Repeat this process for each room.

Once a participant is assigned (manually or automatically), the number of participants will show in place of the Assign button.

Android | iOS

To assign participants to your rooms, select Assign next to the room you wish to assign participants to and select participants you want to assign to that room. Repeat this for each room.

Once a participant has been assigned (manually or automatically), the number of participants will show next to the Assign button.

Rearrange and edit breakout rooms

Windows | macOS | Linux

After manually or automatically assigning participants to rooms, you can rearrange the participants. Participants who are not assigned to breakout sessions will remain in the main webinar (Unassigned) when the rooms are started.

Hover over the participant or room for these options:

  • Move To or Assign To (participant): Select a room to move the participant to.
  • Exchange (participant): Select a participant in another room to swap the selected participant with.
  • Pencil icon (room): Rename the room, then click Yes to confirm changes.
  • Trash icon (room): Delete the selected room, then click Yes to confirm changes.
Android | iOS

After manually or automatically assigning participants to rooms, you can rearrange the participants. Participants who are not assigned to breakout sessions will remain in the main webinar when the rooms are started.

Next to each room and participant or room, the following options are provided:

  • Breakout rooms
    • Rename : Tap this to edit the name of the breakout room.
    • Delete : Tap to delete the breakout room.
  • Users
    • Move to  : Tap to move the given participant to another selected room.
    • Exchange: Tap to exchange the selected participant for a participant assigned to another room.

The host and co-host can also create additional rooms and recreate breakout rooms.

  1. After creating the breakout rooms, tap the ellipsis icon  to view additional breakout rooms options.
  2. Tap Options.
  3. Choose from the following options:
    • Recreate: Deletes existing breakout rooms and allows the host/co-host to create new ones.
    • Add a Room: Add another breakout room.

How to manage breakout rooms in progress

Windows | macOS | Linux

Once the breakout rooms are started, the assigned participants will be asked to join the Breakout Session. The host, or co-host that launched the breakouts and the original host, will stay in the main webinar until joining a room manually.

The Breakout Rooms window will split into two tabs, one listing the open breakout rooms and their participants and the other listing all total participants. If there are 7 or more participants, a search tool will appear. If an assigned participant has not joined a breakout room yet, it will be noted by (not joined) next to their name. Unassigned participants will be listed under the Unassigned category.

The following options can appear in the breakout rooms window after breakout rooms are opened:

  • Pencil icon : Rename the room, then click Yes to confirm changes.
  • Trash icon : Delete the selected room, then click Yes to confirm changes.
    Note: If you delete a room with participants in it, those participants will be removed, brought into the main webinar, and be listed in the Unassigned category.
  • Join: Join the breakout room.
  • Leave Room: Leave the room and return to the main webinar (only shows when in a breakout room).
  • Broadcast Message to All: Allows the host to send a message or broadcast mic audio to all breakout rooms.
    Note: This must be enabled in your Breakout Room settings.
  • 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 webinar.

Upon hover, each participant will have the following options available:

  • Assign To: Only available for unassigned participants, allows the host or co-host to assign the participant to a room.
  • Move To: Click to move a participant to another available breakout room. All breakouts will be listed, each with their current number of participants.

Note: If a participant is listed as assigned to a room, but they are grayed out, then they have not yet joined the breakout session.

Android | iOS

Once the breakout rooms have been started, the assigned participants will be asked to join the Breakout Session. The host, or co-host that launched the breakouts and the original host, will stay in the main webinar until joining a room manually.

The Breakout Rooms window will split into two tabs, one listing the open breakout rooms and their participants and the other listing all total participants. If there are 7 or more participants, a search tool will appear. If an assigned participant has not joined a breakout room yet, it will be noted by (not joined) next to their name. Unassigned participants will be listed under the Unassigned category.

The following options can shown in the breakout rooms window:

  • Join: Join the breakout room.
  • Leave: Leave the room and return to the main webinar (only shows when in a breakout room).
  • Broadcast: (Host and co-hosts) Abilities to send a message or broadcast mic audio to all breakout rooms.
    Note: This must be enabled in your Breakout Room settings.
  • 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 webinar.

Upon hover, each participant will have the following options available:

  • Assign To : Only available for unassigned participants, this allows the host or co-host to assign the participant to a room.
  • Exchange: Tap to exchange the selected participant for a participant assigned to another room.