How do I pre-assign breakout rooms in Zoom?

Quick Links: | Prerequisites | Instructions | Troubleshooting | Next Steps |

Pre-assigning breakout rooms in Zoom allows you to organize participants into smaller groups before the meeting begins. This is especially useful for structured discussions, group projects, or workshops. Pre-assigned breakout rooms require participants to be signed into their Zoom account. This guide will walk you through how to enable and set up pre-assigned breakout rooms during the scheduling process.

Prerequisites

If this is your first time using pre-assigned breakout rooms, you will need to enable the feature.

1. Navigate to Settings in your Zoom account.
2. Under the Meetings tab, go to In Meeting (Advanced).
3. Find the Breakout room - Meetings option.
4. Enable the checkbox for Allow host to assign participants to breakout rooms when scheduling [1].
5. Select Save to apply the changes [2].
   

Step-by-Step Instructions

Pre-assign breakout rooms manually

To manually pre-assign breakout rooms in Zoom, do the following:

1. From the Zoom web portal, go the Meetings tab and choose Schedule a Meeting to create a new meeting.
2. In the Security section, enable the Only authenticated users can join option [1]. This ensures that participants will be correctly assigned to breakout rooms by requiring them to log into Zoom.
3. In the meeting options, check Breakout Room pre-assign [2].
4. Select + Create Rooms.
   
5. From the breakout rooms assignment dialog, create your breakout rooms [1].
6. In each breakout room, assign participants by typing their name into the text box [2]. If a participant doesn't appear, they may need to sign in to Zoom for their account to be recognized.
7. From the Breakout Rooms dialog, select Save to confirm your room assignments [3].
   
8. From the meeting page, select Save again to finalize your meeting setup.

Pre-assign breakout rooms using an Excel spreadsheet

To pre-assign breakout rooms in Zoom using a CSV file, follow these steps:

1. Download the breakout room spreadsheet template from the meeting sidebar.
2. Open the template and fill in the Pre-assign Room Name and Email Address columns. Ensure all participant email addresses are correct and match their Zoom accounts.
3. Save the file as a CSV (Comma Delimited) format.
4. From the Zoom web portal, go the Meetings tab and choose Schedule a Meeting to create a new meeting.
5. In the Security section, enable the Only authenticated users can join option [1]. This ensures that participants will be correctly assigned to breakout rooms by requiring them to log into Zoom.
6. Check the Breakout Room pre-assign option.
7. Select Import from CSV [2].
   
8. Drag the previously saved CSV file into the drop zone on the breakout room setup page.
9. Verify that the breakout rooms and participants have been correctly assigned.
10. Select Save to save your breakout room setup.
11. Finally, save your meeting settings.

Troubleshooting

• Participants not appearing for pre-assignment: If participants don’t appear when assigning rooms, ensure they have signed into Zoom at least once. Pre-assignment works only for users with active Zoom accounts.
• Authenticated users only: Pre-assigned breakout rooms require participants to join the meeting while logged into their Zoom accounts. Guests will not be automatically assigned to breakout rooms.

Next Steps

• Use pre-assigned breakout rooms during your Zoom meeting

Still need help? If you run into problems or still need help, reach out to the Technology & Learning Program.