Send your Zoom link only to people you invited

The safest way to share a Zoom link is to send it directly to the people you want in the meeting — not to post it publicly where strangers can find it. A direct message, email, or text to specific people means only those people have the link. Public posts on social media, community boards, or open chat channels defeat the security work you did when you set up the meeting.

If you are hosting a meeting for a group you do not know well — a class, a community event, a support group — use Zoom's waiting room feature instead of sharing the link openly. The waiting room holds people in a separate space until you admit them one by one. This gives you a moment to see who is trying to join and stop anyone who should not be there.

Key Takeaways

  • Send your Zoom link directly to invited guests via email, text, or private message rather than posting it where strangers can see it.
  • Turn on the waiting room in your Zoom settings so you can review who is joining before they enter the meeting.
  • If you must share a link publicly, disable screen sharing and recording permissions beforehand so uninvited guests cannot disrupt the meeting.
  • Change your meeting ID and generate a new link if you suspect the old one has been shared with people who should not attend.
  • For recurring meetings, use a unique link each time or regenerate the link between sessions to prevent old links from working.

Where to send your Zoom link

Email is the most common and reliable way to share a Zoom link. You can copy the link from your Zoom account, paste it into an email, and send it to your guest list. Email creates a record of who received the link and when. If someone claims they never got the meeting details, you have proof in your sent folder.

Text message and private messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, or Facebook Messenger work well for smaller groups or one-on-one meetings. These methods are faster than email and feel more personal. They also stay in a private conversation thread rather than sitting in an inbox where someone else might see it.

For large groups, you might send the link in a calendar invitation. Outlook, Google Calendar, and Apple Calendar all let you paste the Zoom link into the event details. Anyone who accepts the invitation gets the link automatically, and they have a reminder before the meeting starts.

How to turn on the waiting room

The waiting room is a Zoom feature that holds new arrivals in a separate space until you let them in. To turn it on, sign into your Zoom account on the web, go to Settings, and look for "In Meeting (Basic)" or "In Meeting (Advanced)". Scroll down until you see "Waiting Room" and toggle it on. This setting applies to all future meetings you host.

When someone joins a meeting with the waiting room turned on, they see a message saying "Please wait, the meeting host will let you in soon." You see a notification that someone is waiting and can choose to admit them, deny them, or wait and decide later. You can admit people one at a time or in groups. If someone is disruptive or you do not recognize them, you can deny them without letting them into the meeting at all.

What to do if your link gets shared with the wrong people

If you find out your Zoom link has been shared publicly or with people who should not attend, you can change the meeting ID. Sign into your Zoom account, find the meeting, and look for an option to regenerate the meeting ID or create a new link. This makes the old link stop working when ready. Then send the new link only to the people you want to invite.

Changing the ID takes less than a minute and does not affect the meeting time or any other settings. If the meeting is happening soon and you do not have time to send a new link to everyone, turn on the waiting room instead. You can then admit only the people you recognize and keep out anyone who shows up with the old link.

Sharing a link for a public or open meeting

Some meetings are meant to be open to anyone — a town hall, a public class, a community forum. If you are hosting one of these, you still need to protect against disruption. Before you post the link publicly, go into your Zoom settings and turn off screen sharing for participants. This stops someone from taking over your screen or showing inappropriate content to everyone in the meeting.

You can also disable recording so no one can save the meeting without your permission. In your Zoom settings, find "Recording" and toggle off "Local Recording" and "Cloud Recording" for participants. You can still record the meeting yourself if you need to, but guests cannot. These changes prevent someone from hijacking the meeting or capturing it without consent.

Even with these protections in place, keep the waiting room turned on. You will still need to admit people one by one, but it gives you a chance to remove anyone who is being disruptive before they can cause real harm.

Recurring meetings and link security

If you host the same meeting every week or every month, Zoom gives you the option to use the same link each time or generate a new link for each session. Using the same link is convenient — you can send it once and people will know to use it every time. The downside is that anyone who ever had the link can try to join any future meeting, even if you did not invite them this week.

For recurring meetings with sensitive content or a closed group, regenerate the link between sessions. This means the link from last week stops working, and you send a new one before each meeting. It takes a few extra minutes but prevents old links from being reused by people who should not be there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I share a Zoom link on social media?

You can, but it means anyone who sees the post can join, including people you did not invite. If you must post publicly, turn on the waiting room and disable screen sharing and recording first. This lets you control who gets in and prevents disruption.

What happens if someone joins with a link I did not give them?

If the waiting room is on, they will wait for you to admit them and you can deny them. If the waiting room is off, they join when ready. You can remove them by clicking the three dots next to their name and selecting "Remove." After you remove someone, you can also lock the meeting so no one else can join.

Do I have to use the same link every time for a recurring meeting?

No. You can regenerate a new link before each session. Zoom lets you choose whether recurring meetings use the same link or a different one each time. Check your meeting settings to see which option is turned on.

Can I see who has the link to my meeting?

Not directly. Zoom does not tell you who you sent a link to or who has forwarded it to others. This is why the waiting room is useful — it shows you everyone trying to join, whether or not you invited them.

What if I need to cancel a meeting after I have shared the link?

Delete the meeting from your Zoom account. This disables the link so no one can join even if they try. Send a message to everyone you invited letting them know the meeting is cancelled, so they do not show up and wonder why the link does not work.