What breakout rooms are and why you'd use them
Breakout rooms are smaller group spaces within a Teams meeting where participants split off from the main call to work on separate tasks. Instead of everyone staying in one large meeting, you can divide people into groups of two, three, or more — each group gets its own video and chat space. When the breakout time ends, everyone returns to the main meeting.
Breakout rooms work well when you need people to collaborate in smaller groups without leaving the meeting entirely. A teacher might use them to have students discuss a topic in groups of four. A manager running a workshop might split 20 people into five groups to work on different problems. A training session might use them so participants can practice skills with a partner before coming back to share what they learned.
The key difference from just asking people to "break into groups on your own call" is that Teams manages the separation for you — people don't have to figure out which Zoom link to join or manually leave and rejoin. You create the rooms, assign people, and Teams handles the rest.
Key Takeaways
- Breakout rooms only work in Teams meetings you schedule in advance or start through the Teams calendar — not in one-on-one chats or channel conversations.
- You create and assign breakout rooms before the meeting starts or after people have joined, and you control how many rooms exist and who goes into each one.
- Participants can see a countdown timer showing when their breakout room will close and they'll return to the main meeting.
- You can move people between rooms, close rooms early, or extend the time if the group needs more time to finish their work.
How to set up breakout rooms before the meeting starts
Open Teams and go to your calendar. Find the meeting where you want to use breakout rooms and click on it. Select Edit (the pencil icon). Scroll down until you see the Breakout rooms section and toggle it on.
Once you turn on breakout rooms, you'll see options to choose how many rooms you want (up to 50) and how many participants should go in each one. You can set Teams to divide people evenly across the rooms you create, or you can manually assign people later. If you choose manual assignment, you'll do that after the meeting starts and people have joined.
Save your changes and close the edit window. The breakout rooms setting is now ready — they won't actually create until the meeting begins.
How to create and assign rooms once the meeting has started
When your meeting is live and people have joined, look at the top of your meeting controls and find the Breakout rooms button. Click it. A panel will open on the right side of your screen showing options to create rooms.
Choose how many rooms you want to create (you can make up to 50). Then decide whether you want Teams to assign people automatically or whether you want to assign them yourself. If you choose automatic assignment, Teams will divide your participants evenly and randomly. If you choose manual assignment, you'll see a list of attendees and can drag each person into the room where you want them.
Once everyone is assigned, click Start rooms. Participants will see a notification that they're being moved to a breakout room, and they'll be taken there automatically. You'll stay in the main meeting and can see all the rooms listed in your breakout rooms panel.
Managing rooms while they're active
While breakout rooms are running, you can see which participants are in which room by looking at the breakout rooms panel on the right side of your screen. Each room shows the names of the people in it.
You can move someone from one room to another by clicking on their name and selecting a different room. You can also join a breakout room temporarily to check on the group's progress — click on the room name and select Join. When you leave that room, you return to the main meeting.
If a group finishes early or needs more time, you can extend the countdown timer by clicking the timer icon in the breakout rooms panel. You can also close individual rooms or close all rooms at once, which brings everyone back to the main meeting.
What participants see and experience
When you start breakout rooms, each participant sees a notification that they're being moved to their assigned room. Their screen shows only the people in their breakout room — they can see video, hear audio, and use the chat just like in the main meeting, but only with their group.
At the top of their screen, they'll see a countdown timer showing how much time is left before the rooms close. They can also see a button to request help from you (the meeting organizer). If you join their room, they'll see you appear on their screen.
When the timer runs out or you close the rooms early, participants are automatically returned to the main meeting. They can see the chat messages they sent in the breakout room, but those messages don't appear in the main meeting chat — each room has its own separate chat history.
Limitations and what doesn't work
Breakout rooms only work in meetings you've scheduled through the Teams calendar or meetings you start through Teams. You cannot create breakout rooms in a one-on-one chat, a group chat, or a channel conversation — only in formal meetings.
If you're using Teams on a mobile phone or tablet, you can join a breakout room that someone else created, but you cannot create or manage breakout rooms from a mobile device. You need to use the Teams desktop app or web version to set them up.
Breakout rooms also don't work with live event meetings (the kind where you have hundreds of attendees and most people are just watching). They work only with standard meetings where everyone is a participant.
Common reasons to use breakout rooms in different settings
In a classroom, a teacher might create four breakout rooms for a class of 20 students and have each group discuss a reading or solve a math problem together. The teacher can visit each room to listen and answer questions, then bring everyone back to share their answers with the whole class.
In a training session, a trainer might use breakout rooms to have participants practice a skill in pairs — for example, role-playing a customer service conversation. Each pair works in their own room for 10 minutes, then everyone comes back to discuss what they learned.
In a work meeting, a manager might split a large team into smaller groups to brainstorm solutions to different parts of a problem. Each group works in their room for 15 minutes, then presents their ideas to the whole team when they return to the main meeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I record what happens in breakout rooms?
No. When you record a Teams meeting, the recording captures only the main meeting, not what happens in the breakout rooms. If you want a record of what a group discussed or created, you'll need to ask them to share their notes or findings when they return to the main meeting.
What happens if someone leaves their breakout room early?
If a participant closes their breakout room window or clicks to leave, they return to the main meeting when ready. You'll see in the breakout rooms panel that they've left their assigned room. You can move them back into a room if needed, or they can rejoin on their own.
Can I create breakout rooms in a Teams meeting that's already in progress?
Yes. Even if you didn't set up breakout rooms when you scheduled the meeting, you can create them after the meeting starts and people have joined. Click the Breakout rooms button in your meeting controls and set them up the same way you would have before the meeting began.
Do people need any special permission to be in a breakout room?
No. Anyone who is a participant in the main meeting can be assigned to a breakout room. Only the meeting organizer can create, manage, and close breakout rooms — regular participants cannot create their own rooms.
Can I use breakout rooms if I'm sharing my screen?
Yes, but the screen share will stop when you create the breakout rooms. If you're sharing your screen and then start breakout rooms, your screen share ends and participants see only their breakout room. You can share your screen again in the main meeting after the rooms close.