Create Breakout Rooms (Before a Meeting)

Requirements

You must be the meeting organizer and use the Teams desktop app.
Click here if you need help scheduling a meeting.

Set Up Breakout Rooms

  1. Go to the Calendar in Teams and open the meeting (double-click or right-click > Edit).
  2. Select Breakout rooms > Create rooms.
    (Click [+] to view more options if Breakout rooms isn't visible.)
  3. Choose up to 50 rooms, then click Add rooms.

Manage Room Settings

Go to Breakout rooms > Room settings (gear icon) to adjust options like auto-join and time limits.

Assign Room Managers

  1. In Room settings, enable Assign presenters to manage rooms.
  2. Choose a presenter (only one manager at a time).
  3. Click Save.
    Managers have the same permissions as organizers.

Assign Participants

  1. Click Assign participants.
  2. Choose one of the following:
    • Automatically assign 1-2 people to each room
    • Manually assign people to rooms (you can use Shuffle to randomize)
    • Let people choose their rooms
  3. Click Next, then Save.

Unassign or Reassign Participants

  1. In the meeting details, select Breakout rooms.
  2. Click Assign participants > Manually > Next.
  3. In the Room column, select Unassigned or choose a new room.
  4. Click Save.

Set Time Limits

  • In Room settings, turn on Set a time limit and click Save.
  • Unless “Automatically move people to rooms” is turned off, participants will join rooms immediately and return to the main meeting when time runs out.

Rename Rooms

  1. Open Breakout rooms.
  2. Hover over a room > More options (...) > Rename.
  3. Enter a new name and confirm.

Open/Close Breakout Rooms

  • Start the meeting, then click Open rooms to launch all at once.
  • Rooms stay open until manually closed or time expires.
  • If self-selection is enabled, participants can choose their own room.

Make Announcements

Rooms must be open to send announcements.

  • Go to Rooms > Make an announcement, enter your message, and click Send.
  • Participants see it in their breakout chat; replies show in your main chat list.

Join a Room

  • In Rooms, hover over a room and click Join.
  • Camera and mic are off by default.
  • To switch rooms, return to Rooms.

Chat in Breakout Rooms

  • Each room has its own chat.
  • Select Chat in the meeting to send/view messages.
  • Organizers can view all breakout chats in their main Teams chat list.
  • Announcements appear as IMPORTANT.

Return to the Main Meeting

  • You’ll return automatically when time runs out or the organizer closes the room.
  • You can also select Leave Room anytime.

Sources:
Manage breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams
Join a breakout room in Microsoft Teams