Create and Manage Breakout Rooms in Zoom

Breakout Rooms allow meeting participants to be divided into smaller groups for discussions, collaborative activities, workshops, and peer review sessions. Hosts and co-hosts can create, manage, and monitor breakout rooms during a Zoom meeting. Zoom also allows breakout rooms to be pre-assigned before a meeting begins. [support.zoom.com], [technobezz.com]

Enable Breakout Rooms

Before creating breakout rooms, verify that the feature is enabled in your Zoom account.

Enable Through the LSUA Zoom Web Portal

  1. Sign in to your LSUA Zoom account:
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Select the Meeting tab.
  4. Scroll to In Meeting (Advanced).
  5. Locate Breakout Room.
  6. Verify the setting is enabled.
  7. (Optional) Enable:
    • Assign participants to breakout rooms when scheduling
    • Broadcast messages to participants
    • Broadcast voice to breakout rooms
    • Create, rename, and delete breakout rooms when rooms are open
    • Allow host to view activity statuses of participants in breakout rooms (e.g. share screen, reactions)
    • Set default breakout room behaviors

If the setting is locked or unavailable, contact IET for assistance. [technobezz.com]

Create Breakout Rooms During a Meeting

Zoom Desktop App

  1. Start your Zoom meeting.
  2. Select Breakout Rooms from the meeting controls.
  3. Choose:
    • Number of rooms
    • Assignment method:
      • Automatically
      • Manually
      • Let participants choose room
  4. Select Create. [itsupport.umd.edu], [technobezz.com]

Zoom Web Client

  1. Start the meeting from the Zoom Web Client.
  2. Select Breakout Rooms from the meeting toolbar.
  3. Choose:
    • Number of breakout rooms
    • Assignment method
  4. Select Create. [technobezz.com]

Assign Participants

Automatic Assignment

Zoom places participants into rooms automatically.

Best for:

  • Large classes
  • Quick discussions
  • Random group activities

Manual Assignment

Hosts select which participants are placed in each room.

Best for:

  • Group projects
  • Team activities
  • Student presentations

Self-Select

Participants choose which breakout room they would like to join.

Best for:

  • Topic-based discussions
  • Office hours
  • Open collaboration sessions

 [itsupport.umd.edu], [technobezz.com]

Open Breakout Rooms

  1. Review room assignments.
  2. Select Open All Rooms.
  3. Participants will receive an invitation to join their breakout room.
  4. Participants should select Join when prompted. [itsupport.umd.edu], [technobezz.com]

Manage Breakout Rooms During the Meeting

Move Participants

  1. Open the Breakout Rooms panel.
  2. Hover over the participant's name.
  3. Select Move To.
  4. Choose the destination room. [itsupport.umd.edu]

Rename a Room

  1. Open the Breakout Rooms panel.
  2. Select the room options menu.
  3. Choose Rename.
  4. Enter the new room name. [itsupport.umd.edu], [technobezz.com]

Add a Room

  1. Open the Breakout Rooms panel.
  2. Select Add Room.
  3. Assign participants. [technobezz.com]

Delete a Room

  1. Open the room options.
  2. Select Delete Room. [itsupport.umd.edu]

Join a Breakout Room

Hosts and co-hosts can enter any room.

  1. Open the Breakout Rooms panel.
  2. Locate the desired room.
  3. Select Join. [itsupport.umd.edu]

Broadcast a Message to All Rooms

  1. Open the Breakout Rooms panel.
  2. Select Broadcast Message to All Rooms.
  3. Enter your message.
  4. Select Broadcast.

Examples:

Set a Timer

Hosts can configure a countdown timer before rooms close.

  1. Open Breakout Room Options.
  2. Enable Countdown after closing breakout rooms.
  3. Select a countdown duration. [itsupport.umd.edu]

Close Breakout Rooms

  1. Select Close All Rooms.
  2. Participants will receive a countdown notification.
  3. Participants return to the main meeting automatically when the timer expires. [itsupport.umd.edu]

Pre-Assign Participants Before a Meeting

Using the LSUA Zoom Web Portal

  1. Sign in to LSUA Zoom Portal.
  2. Go to Meetings.
  3. Schedule a new meeting or edit an existing meeting.
  4. Under Meeting Options, select:
    • Breakout Room Pre-Assign
  5. Select Create Rooms.
  6. Add breakout rooms.
  7. Add participants by email.
  8. Select Save.
  9. Save the meeting. [support.zoom.com], [lsuhsc.edu]

Import Participants Using a CSV File

For large classes:

  1. Select Import from CSV.
  2. Download the sample CSV.
  3. Enter:
    • Breakout Room Name
    • Participant Email Address
  4. Save the CSV file.
  5. Import the file into Zoom.
  6. Save the meeting. [support.zoom.com], [lsuhsc.edu]

Helpful Tips

✅ Assign a co-host to help manage rooms.

✅ Use broadcast messages to keep groups on task.

✅ Visit breakout rooms periodically.

✅ Give participants a warning before closing rooms.

✅ Test breakout rooms before an important class session.

✅ For pre-assigned rooms, participants should sign into the Zoom account associated with the email address used in the pre-assignment. [support.zoom.com], [lsuhsc.edu]

Need Help?

If you experience issues creating or managing breakout rooms, please submit an IET Help Desk ticket and include screenshots of any error messages you receive.

LSUA Information & Educational Technology
? iethelp@lsua.edu