TABLE OF CONTENTS

In Zoom, you can put participants into breakout rooms so that smaller group discussions can take place. You can set up the breakout rooms ahead of your meeting to save time or you can do it during the meeting. You can also create breakout rooms based on participants’ responses to a poll question. 

Enable Breakout Rooms in your Settings

Open your Zoom portal to access your settings. 

  • Check your Settings to make sure you’ve enabled polls. Go to “Settings” and "In Meeting (Advanced)”.

The Zoom portal menu with Settings and In Meeting (Advanced) highlighted.

  • Scroll down to Breakout Rooms and make sure the toggle is blue. Adjust the Breakout Room settings in the same section to your preference.

The settings options for Breakout rooms in the Zoom portal.

Creating Breakout Rooms

Pre-assigning Breakout Rooms

If you want to assign Breakout Rooms ahead of time, you will do so while creating your meeting. If you have already created your meeting and decide later that you would like to set up Breakout Rooms before the meeting, you can find the meeting in your Zoom Portal and choose to edit it to add Breakout Rooms.

  • When you are creating a Zoom meeting, once you have entered the meeting information, scroll to the bottom of the page to find a section titled “Options”. By default this section is closed so you’ll need to click on “Show” to see the options. 

  • Check the box for “Breakout Rooms pre-assign” which will add the option for “+ Create Rooms”. 

The checkbox in Meeting options to enable breakout room pre-assign.

  1. Click “+ Create Rooms” to bring up a dialog box where you can create Breakout Rooms.

The pop-box for pre-assigning breakout rooms with letter labels that match the text descriptions.

  1. In this box, click the plus (+) next to “Rooms” to add as many rooms as you want. 

  2. Once you’ve added a room, another box will appear for you to type in the name of participants that you want to assign to that room. 

  • Click Save. When you are in your meeting, Click “Breakout Rooms” to access your pre-assigned rooms. See the section on Managing Breakout Rooms for next steps.

Assigning Breakout Rooms during the meeting

If you didn’t create your Breakout Rooms before the meeting, you can also create them while the meeting is in progress. 

  • While in your Zoom meeting, click Breakout Rooms. 

  • In the box that opens, you can create Breakout Rooms and assign participants to them.

The in-meeting pop-up box for creating breakout rooms.

  • Choose how you want participants to be assigned to groups and click “Create”. This does not open the rooms, it only moves you to the next step.

Managing Breakout Rooms

Whether you created your Breakout Rooms ahead of time or waited to create them during the meeting, they will function the same way once they are created. 

  • From the Breakout Rooms dialog box you can…

    • Click on a room to see the participants in that room. 

    • Assign participants to rooms and make adjustments to room assignments. 

    • Add more rooms if needed.

    • Click “Options” in the bottom left to set a timer for the Breakout Rooms.

The in-meeting pop-up box for assigning participants to breakout rooms.

  • Once you are satisfied with the set-up, click “Open All Rooms” to begin the Breakout Rooms. 

  • Once rooms are open, you have tools to monitor and assist participants in Breakout Rooms.

    • Click “Join” to pop into a room to answer questions or help start discussions.

    • Click Broadcast (if you’ve enabled it in settings) to be able to send text or audio messages and instructions to participants. 

The in-meeting pop-up box for managing the breakout rooms.

  • You can end Breakout Rooms at any time by clicking “Close All Rooms”.

  • Your rooms will stay saved throughout the meeting so you can open them again, rearrange participants, and add or subtract rooms as needed.