How to Use Breakout Rooms in Teams? The Complete Guide

So, Microsoft Teams has a pretty cool feature they call Breakout Rooms. Imagine this. You’ve got a huge meeting with lots of people. Too many voices, right?

Breakout rooms make it easier to handle! We will discuss more in this blog post.

What Are Breakout Rooms in Teams?

A breakout room on Teams is like a small side-chat in your main meeting. The host can divide everyone into these mini meeting rooms, which is perfect for focused chats, brainstorming, or team work. It helps keep large meetings engaging and filled with deep thoughts.

Now, to create a breakout room in Teams, you need a desktop version of Teams. That’s a fancy way of saying, you need to be on a computer running Windows, Mac, or VDI.

Who Can Create Breakout Rooms in Teams?

If you’re the meeting organizer on the desktop version of Teams (this is for folks on Windows, Mac, and VDI), you’re in charge of making and managing breakout rooms. This indeed, does not mean that everyone gets to be an organizer. Only the one who created the meeting or a presenter can do it.

One tiny thing to remember: breakout room management is currently only available in the desktop versions of Teams for Windows or Mac, and Teams for Education desktop app for Windows or Mac in schools.

Other participants can join a breakout room from whatever device they feel comfortable in: a Windows or Mac computer, a mobile device, or even a web browser.

But they can’t create or manage breakout rooms. This power can only be bestowed on them if they are made a co-organizer.

How to Make Breakout Rooms in Teams Before Meeting?

Ever wondered if you can put up Breakout Rooms before the meeting in Teams?

Let’s go on a quick tour:

Turn on your device and launch Microsoft Teams.
Open your calendar and pick the meeting that needs a breakout room.

Click the “New Meeting” button to access meeting settings.
In meeting options, go to the bottom until you spot the “Breakout rooms”.

There will be a “Create rooms” button; click it and a panel would pop up for creating breakout rooms.
Specify how many breakout rooms you want in the “Create Breakout Rooms” panel. You can have up to 50 rooms.

Decide if you want to handpick attendees for each room or let Teams randomly sort them. If you choose the automatic method, Teams will do the assigning. However, if you prefer manual, you’ll have to individually assign participants later.

Assign participantes to breakout rooms in teams

Once you’ve decided on the number of rooms and the assignment method, click “Create Rooms”. Voila, your rooms are ready.
If you manually wanted to pick and assign the attendees, click “Assign Participants”. Don’t forget to tick the names of people going inside each room before you hit “Assign”. Continue this process till you have everyone sorted.

Select people to assign the attendees in breakout rooms

Feel like a name doesn’t match a room? You can click on the room names to edit them.
Now, once you’re happy with your setup, save all the changes and move on to plan the main event. You’re officially a breakout room pro.

Got it all? Now you can engage with your team more effectively! Don’t forget, breakout rooms are a great way to be heard and facilitate meaningful talks. Enjoy your meetings in Teams with the new-found knowledge!

How to Create Breakout Rooms in Teams During Meetings?

Say you’re in the middle of a Teams meeting and you decide you need some breakout rooms. No problem! Just follow these steps:

First, hop on a video call or join a meeting in Teams.
Look at the top of your screen for a toolbar once you’re in the meeting.
You’ll spot a button called “Breakout Rooms” in this toolbar. Give it a click to pop open the breakout rooms panel.

Create breakout rooms during Teams meeting

Now decide how many breakout rooms you need in the “Create Breakout Rooms” panel. Remember, you can have up to 50 of them.
Next, decide if you want Teams to randomly assign attendees to breakout rooms or if you wish to pick and choose. If you want manual assignment, get ready to assign each participant to a room later.

Once you’ve made your choices, click on “Create Rooms”. Your breakout rooms are now ready.
If you chose manual assignment, you’ll see a panel to your right. Click on “Assign Participants” in this panel.
Here you’ll see a list of participants and checkboxes next to their names. Tick the ones you want in a breakout room and then hit “Assign”. Repeat until everyone’s in a team.
If you want, you can change the names of the rooms by clicking on them in the panel.
That’s it! You’ve created your breakout rooms. Now, participants can hop into their rooms.
Attendees will get a prompt to join their breakout room. All they have to do is click “Join room”. Inside the room, they can have a chat with their teammates.
As the meeting organizer, you can send announcements to all breakout rooms and can recall everyone back to the main meeting at your discretion.

How to Leave Breakout Room in Teams?

If you need to leave from a breakout room, follow these simple steps:

Take a look at the controls provided in the breakout room. The options you’re offered might change depending on your specific Teams version and your meeting’s settings.
Look for an option that lets you leave the breakout room. It might be called something like “Leave Room”.

Hit that option and you’re back in the main meeting, ready to take part in the broader group discussion.

How to End Breakout Room in Teams?

Here’s how you wrap up and close the breakout rooms:

Go to the breakout room controls. The controls’ location may be different based on your Teams version and meeting settings.
You’ll find a specific button that lets you end breakout rooms. It might say something like “End rooms” or “Close rooms”.

Give that button a click.
Confirm your action if it asks for it.
And you’re done! Everyone will be returned to the main meeting where the larger discussion can continue.

FAQ

Who Can Assign Breakout Rooms in Teams?

In Microsoft Teams, the meeting organizer has the power to assign breakout rooms. After the rooms are set, the organizer can manually assign participants to specific rooms or automatically distribute participants evenly across rooms.

How to Assign Breakout Rooms in Teams?

Here’s how you can assign breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams:

Navigate to your Teams calendar and open the meeting invite.
Click on the “Breakout rooms” option.
Select “Create rooms”.
Choose the number of rooms you want to create (You can create up to 50 rooms) and select “Add rooms”.
At this point, you’ve created your rooms but have yet to assign any participants to them.
Click on “Assign participants” to assign individuals to the breakout rooms.
Decide if you want Teams to automatically assign participants or if you’d prefer to do it manually.

Who Can Manage Breakout Rooms in Teams?

In Microsoft Teams, only the meeting organizer is granted the authority to manage breakout rooms. This includes creating breakout rooms, managing them, and assigning participants all during a meeting. Participants who aren’t meeting organizers do not have the permissions required to manage breakout rooms.

Can Participants Choose Breakout Rooms in Teams?

Participants in Microsoft Teams meetings can indeed choose their breakout rooms. To enable this feature, the meeting organizer must create breakout rooms during the meeting. Then, when the breakout rooms are open, participants can join the room that they like.

Can Participants Move Between Breakout Rooms in Teams?

Current Teams features do not allow participants to freely move between breakout rooms during meetings. The sole privilege of moving between rooms is reserved for organizers and managers. This means that generally, participants are assigned a specific breakout room and are unable to move to a different room of their own accord.

What Are the Limitations of Breakout Rooms in Microsoft Teams?

A few limitations exist with breakout rooms in Teams. One such restriction is that you can only create a maximum of 50 breakout rooms. Furthermore, this feature is only accessible in scheduled (not instant) meetings. Breakout rooms are also limited to a maximum of 50 participants per room.

There are other specific participant number limitations to be aware of. For instance, you cannot create breakout rooms in meetings with more than 300 participants. If breakout rooms are created prior to the meeting, the total number of invited attendees cannot surpass 300.

Why Can’t I See Breakout Rooms in Microsoft Teams?

There could be a few reasons why you’re unable to see breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams:

1. Teams App Version

Breakout rooms are only available on the desktop and web versions of Microsoft Teams. Consequently, if you’re accessing Teams via the mobile app, you won’t be able to view or use breakout rooms.

2. Outdated Teams App

The breakout rooms feature was introduced to Microsoft Teams in December 2020 and was rolled out gradually. Ensure you’ve installed the latest version of Teams to gain access to breakout rooms.

3. Disabled by Your Organization

It’s possible your organization may have disabled the breakout rooms feature or restricted your access to it. If this is the case, you won’t be able to see the breakout room option in your Teams meeting settings.

Final Thoughts

I hope this clears up any confusion regarding participant movement in breakout rooms on Microsoft Teams. Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions!