It is possible to start or join a Zoom meeting without the host present, as long as the host scheduled the meeting with specific settings configured. When scheduling a meeting, the host must disable the waiting room feature and enable the setting to allow participants to join before the host. These two settings together will allow participants to enter the meeting without the host.
Another option is to designate an alternative host when scheduling a meeting. This allows you to specify a person who can start the meeting and manage participants in the meeting, which is helpful if you don’t want to disable waiting room or allow participants to join before host.
Limitations of being in a meeting without the host
If the host does not join the meeting or is not logged in when joining, there are no host controls, such as recording, mute/unmute all, lock meeting, remove attendees, or end the meeting for everyone.
The meeting duration limit is based on the host’s license type. If the host is a Licensed user, the meeting will not end at the 40 minute limit, even if the host is not present. However, this may prevent the host from hosting any other meetings at the same time, depending on their license and account type. Learn more about hosting concurrent meetings.
If you still want someone in the meeting to have host controls, you can designate an alternative host when you schedule the meeting.
How to schedule a meeting that allows participants to join without the host
As the host, you can schedule a meeting that allows participants to join the meeting without you. When scheduling, you must disable the waiting room and allow participants to join anytime. It’s also recommended to use an auto-generated meeting ID, as opposed to scheduling with your Personal Meeting ID.
Note: Some of these settings might not be available when scheduling a meeting if they were disabled and locked to the off position by an account admin at the account or group level.