How to set up breakout rooms in Zoom meetings

Breakout rooms in Zoom meetings allow you to divide participants into smaller groups for focused discussions and collaboration. As a Zoom administrator, you can enable and configure breakout room settings to allow meeting hosts to utilize this feature. To set up breakout rooms, first enable the feature in your account settings, then configure pre-assignment options or manage rooms during a live meeting.

Prerequisites

• Account owner or admin privileges in Zoom.
• A Zoom Meetings Pro, Business, Education, or Enterprise account.
• Zoom desktop client for Windows or macOS, version 5.0 or higher.

Enabling Breakout Rooms for Your Account

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management, then Account Settings.
3. Click the Meeting tab.
4. Under the In Meeting (Advanced) section, find the Breakout Room setting.
5. Click the toggle to enable the Breakout Room setting.
6. (Optional) Check the Allow hosts to pre-assign participants to breakout rooms box if you want hosts to be able to assign participants to breakout rooms before the meeting starts.
7. (Optional) Check the Allow hosts to create breakout rooms from poll results box if you want hosts to be able to create breakout rooms based on the participants’ poll answers. Click Save.

Enabling Breakout Rooms for a Specific Group

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator.
2. In the navigation menu, click User Management, then Groups.
3. Click the name of the group you want to configure.
4. Click the Meeting tab.
5. Under the In Meeting (Advanced) section, find the Breakout Room setting.
6. Click the toggle to enable the Breakout Room setting.
   • If the setting is disabled, click the toggle to enable it. If a verification dialog displays, choose Turn On to verify the change.
   • If the setting is enabled at the account level, and you want to disable it for the group, click the lock icon to override the account-level setting, and then click the toggle to disable the Breakout Room setting.
7. (Optional) Check the Allow hosts to pre-assign participants to breakout rooms box if you want hosts to be able to assign participants to breakout rooms before the meeting starts.
8. (Optional) Check the Allow hosts to create breakout rooms from poll results box if you want hosts to be able to create breakout rooms based on the participants’ poll answers. Click Save.

Enabling Breakout Rooms for Your Own User Profile

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Settings.
3. Click the Meeting tab.
4. Under the In Meeting (Advanced) section, find the Breakout Room setting.
5. Click the toggle to enable the Breakout Room setting.
   • If the setting is disabled, click the toggle to enable it. If a verification dialog displays, choose Turn On to verify the change.
   • If the setting is enabled at the account level, and you want to disable it for your own user profile, click the lock icon to override the account-level setting, and then click the toggle to disable the Breakout Room setting.
6. (Optional) Check the Allow hosts to pre-assign participants to breakout rooms box if you want to be able to assign participants to breakout rooms before the meeting starts.
7. (Optional) Check the Allow hosts to create breakout rooms from poll results box if you want to be able to create breakout rooms based on the participants’ poll answers. Click Save.

Pre-Assigning Participants to Breakout Rooms (Web Portal)

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. Click Meetings, then Schedule a Meeting.
3. Fill out the meeting details (Topic, Description, When, Duration, etc.).
4. Under the Meeting Options section, check the box for Breakout Room pre-assign.
5. Click Create Rooms.
6. You have two options:
   • Create Rooms: Click the + icon to create breakout rooms, then rename them by clicking the pencil icon. Use the Assign dropdown to search for and add participants to each room.
   • Import from CSV: Click Import from CSV to upload a CSV file containing participant email addresses and their assigned breakout rooms. Download a sample CSV file for the correct format.
7. Click Save.

Pre-Assigning Participants to Breakout Rooms (Zoom Desktop Client)

1. Open the Zoom desktop client and sign in.
2. Click Schedule.
3. Fill out the meeting details (Topic, Description, When, Duration, etc.).
4. Click Advanced Options.
5. Check the box for Breakout Room pre-assign.
6. Click Create Rooms.
7. You have two options:
   • Create Rooms: Click the + icon to create breakout rooms, then rename them by clicking the pencil icon. Use the Assign dropdown to search for and add participants to each room.
   • Import from CSV: Click Import from CSV to upload a CSV file containing participant email addresses and their assigned breakout rooms. Download a sample CSV file for the correct format.
8. Click Save.

Managing Breakout Rooms During a Meeting (Host Controls)

1. Start your scheduled Zoom meeting as the host.
2. Click the Breakout Rooms icon in the meeting toolbar.
3. Choose how you want to assign participants:
   • Automatically: Zoom will automatically distribute participants evenly among the rooms.
   • Manually: You choose which participants go into each room.
   • Let participants choose room: Participants can select and enter breakout rooms as they please.
4. Select the number of breakout rooms you want to create.
5. Click Create.
6. The Breakout Rooms window will open. Here you can:
   • Rename Rooms: Hover over a room and click Rename.
   • Assign Participants: Click Assign next to a room to add participants.
   • Move Participants: Click a participant’s name and select Move to to move them to a different room.
   • Exchange Participants: Hover over a participant’s name and select Exchange to swap them with a participant in another room.
7. Click Open All Rooms to start the breakout sessions.
8. As the host, you can join any breakout room by clicking Join next to the room name.
9. To broadcast a message to all breakout rooms, click Broadcast a message to all. Type your message and click Broadcast.
10. To close the breakout rooms, click Close All Rooms. Participants will have 60 seconds (by default, configurable in settings) to finish their discussions before being returned to the main meeting.

Common Issues

• Breakout Room option is missing: Ensure that the Breakout Room setting is enabled at the account, group, or user level in the Zoom web portal.
• Cannot pre-assign participants: Verify that the “Allow hosts to pre-assign participants to breakout rooms” option is enabled in the account settings. Also, double-check the CSV file format if importing. The email addresses in the CSV must exactly match the email addresses associated with the Zoom accounts.
• Participants cannot join breakout rooms: Ensure that participants are using an updated version of the Zoom desktop client (version 5.0 or higher). Check their internet connection as well.
• Breakout room settings not saving: Try clearing your browser’s cache and cookies or using a different browser.
• Breakout rooms disappear after updating settings: Sometimes, settings changes require restarting the Zoom client for them to take effect. Completely close and re-open the Zoom client.