Easy Ways to Organize Breakout Sessions in Microsoft Teams

Organizing breakout sessions in Microsoft Teams feels easy and quick. When you use breakout rooms, you give everyone a space to talk, share ideas, and work together. Many people find that these rooms boost student engagement, spark active participation, and let you run group projects or brainstorming sessions. You can help your team think deeply, share different views, and learn new things. No matter your skill level, you can set up breakout rooms with just a few clicks.

Key Takeaways

• Open the Microsoft Teams desktop app to set up breakout rooms before or during meetings.

• Pick automatic or manual participant assignment to make fair or special groups.

• You can add, delete, rename, open, or close breakout rooms anytime to keep things organized.

• Send announcements and use chat tools to talk clearly with all breakout rooms.

• Test your setup and update your Teams app to stop problems and have smooth sessions.

Start in Microsoft Teams

Access Breakout Rooms

You can start organizing breakout sessions right from your Microsoft Teams meeting. First, make sure you are the meeting organizer or a presenter. Only organizers or presenters can create and manage breakout rooms, and you must use the Teams desktop app on your computer. The web and mobile versions do not let you set up or control breakout rooms, but anyone can join a breakout room from any device.

Tip: Update your Teams app to the latest version for the best experience. If you use an older version, some features might not work.

Here’s how you find and use the breakout rooms feature:

1. Open Microsoft Teams on your desktop (Windows or Mac).

2. Join your scheduled meeting from the Teams calendar.

3. Once you are in the meeting, look at the meeting control bar at the top or bottom of your screen.

4. Find the Rooms or Breakout rooms icon. It looks like a small square with another square inside.

5. Click the icon to open the breakout rooms panel.

If you want to set up rooms before the meeting starts, you can do this too:

1. Go to your Teams calendar and double-click the meeting you want to edit.

2. Click on Breakout rooms in the meeting details.

3. Choose how many rooms you need (up to 50).

4. Click Add rooms to create them.

Note: You must join the meeting before you can create or manage breakout rooms. If you do not see the breakout rooms icon, check that you are using the desktop app and that you are the organizer.

Create Rooms

After you open the breakout rooms panel, you can start creating rooms for your group activities. Microsoft Teams lets you create up to 50 breakout rooms in one meeting. This is great for big classes or large teams, but most people find that fewer rooms work better for smaller groups.

To create rooms during a meeting:

1. Click the Rooms icon in the meeting controls.

2. Choose the number of breakout rooms you want (up to 50).

3. Decide if you want to assign participants automatically or manually. You can change this later if you need to.

4. Click Create rooms. The rooms will appear in the panel, ready for you to manage.

If you want to pre-assign people to rooms before the meeting:

1. In the Teams calendar, open your meeting.

2. Click Breakout rooms.

3. Select Assign participants.

4. Choose Manually and click Next.

5. Check the names of the people you want in each room and assign them.

6. Click Save when you finish.

Tip: Sometimes, guests or people joining from outside your organization might not show up in the pre-assignment list. If this happens, you can assign them to rooms once the meeting starts.

You can always add, delete, or rename rooms as your meeting goes on. If you run into problems, try leaving and rejoining the meeting, or make sure your Teams app is up to date.

Assign Participants

When you set up breakout rooms, you need to decide how to put people into each room. Microsoft Teams gives you a few ways to do this. You can let Teams do the work for you, or you can pick where everyone goes. You can even shuffle people around if you want to mix things up. Let’s look at your options.

Automatic Assignment

If you want to save time, you can let Microsoft Teams assign participants to breakout rooms automatically. This is the fastest way to get started.

1. Choose the number of breakout rooms you want.

2. Select the Automatically option when you create the rooms.

3. Teams will split everyone up as evenly as possible across the rooms.

Teams does not look at job titles, departments, or who knows who. It just spreads people out based on the number of rooms and the number of participants. If you have 20 people and 4 rooms, Teams will try to put 5 people in each room.

Tip: If you want to move someone to a different room after the automatic assignment, you can do that. Just open the breakout rooms panel and reassign them.

You can also use the shuffle feature. This mixes up the groups again, either for everyone or just for people who have not been assigned yet. This is great if you want random groups or want to give everyone a new team.

Manual Assignment

Sometimes, you want to choose exactly who goes into each room. Maybe you want to keep friends together, or you want to mix up skill levels. Manual assignment gives you full control.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Open the breakout rooms panel by clicking the Rooms icon.

2. Click Assign participants.

3. You will see a list of everyone in the meeting.

4. Check the box next to each person’s name.

5. Use the down arrow next to Assign to pick a breakout room for them.

6. Repeat until everyone has a room.

7. Click Confirm or Assign to save your choices.

If someone joins the meeting late, you can assign them to a room at any time. Just go back to Assign participants and add them in.

Note: Only organizers and co-organizers from your organization can assign or move people between rooms. Presenters can help manage rooms if you give them permission.

Reassigning Participants

You might need to move people around during the meeting. Maybe someone needs to join a different group, or you want to balance the numbers. You can reassign participants at any time.

• Open the breakout rooms panel.

• Click Assign participants.

• Select the person you want to move.

• Choose their new room from the list.

• Confirm the change.

Organizers and co-organizers can do this as often as needed. You can also add or remove rooms, or even recreate all the rooms if you want a fresh start.

Heads up: Only meetings with 300 or fewer people can use breakout rooms. There is no set limit for how many people can be in one room, as long as you stay under the total meeting size.

Assigning participants in Microsoft Teams is flexible. You can let Teams handle it, do it yourself, or mix things up with the shuffle tool. This helps you create the best groups for your meeting or class.

Manage Rooms

Managing breakout rooms gives you lots of control during your meeting. You can add, delete, rename, open, and close rooms as needed. This helps you keep everything organized and lets you adjust groups on the fly.

Add or Delete Rooms

You might need more rooms as your meeting goes on. Here’s how you can add or delete breakout rooms:

1. Open the breakout rooms panel by clicking the breakout rooms icon on your toolbar.

2. To add a new room, click the + sign in the panel. You can create up to 50 rooms.

3. To delete a room, find the room in the panel, click the three dots (More options), and select Delete. If you delete a room, the people in it return to the main meeting.

Tip: You can add or delete rooms at any time, even after the meeting has started. This makes it easy to adjust if your group size changes.

Rename Rooms

Default room names like "Room 1" can get confusing. Give each room a clear name so everyone knows where to go.

1. Hover over the room you want to rename.

2. Click the three dots next to the room name.

3. Select Rename room.

4. Type a new name, like "Team Blue" or "Discussion Group A".

5. Click Rename room to save it.

Note: Using team names or topics helps everyone find their group faster.

Open and Close Rooms

You control when breakout rooms start and end. Here’s what you do:

1. In the breakout rooms panel, click Start rooms to open all rooms at once. Participants move to their assigned rooms.

2. To close all rooms, click Close rooms. Everyone returns to the main meeting.

3. You can also open or close rooms one at a time using the menu next to each room.

You can join any room as the organizer to check in or help out. You can also move people between rooms if needed. This flexibility lets you manage your meeting smoothly in Microsoft Teams.

Communicate and Troubleshoot

Announcements

You can keep everyone on the same page by sending announcements to all breakout rooms at once. This is helpful if you want to share reminders, give time updates, or let everyone know when to return to the main meeting. Here’s how you do it:

1. Open the Breakout rooms pane during your meeting.

2. Click on More options at the top.

3. Select Make an announcement from the dropdown menu.

4. Type your message in the box.

5. Click Send. Everyone in every breakout room will see your message in their meeting chat.

Tip: Use announcements to share important updates or to wrap up group discussions. This helps everyone stay on track.

Chat Tools

Breakout rooms have their own chat spaces. You and your participants can type messages, ask questions, and use '@' mentions to get someone’s attention. Here are some ways to use chat tools:

• Use the breakout room chat to ask for help or share ideas.

• '@' mention the organizer or a specific person if you need a quick answer.

• Organizers can join any breakout room to talk directly with participants.

• Assign a breakout room manager to watch the chat and help with questions.

• If you cannot see the breakout room chat, try clearing your Teams cache or check your app version.

Note: The 'raise hand' feature does not alert organizers outside the breakout room. Use chat for help requests instead.

Common Issues

Sometimes, things do not go as planned. Here are some common problems and quick fixes:

• You might not see the breakout room option if you use a virtual desktop (VDI) as the organizer. Make sure you run the latest Citrix Workspace app and VDA, and use the optimized multi-window mode.

• Only organizers and presenters from your organization can manage breakout rooms. Others can join but not manage.

• You cannot assign participants who use free Teams accounts, join late, or use unsupported devices.

• Breakout rooms only work for meetings with up to 300 people.

• If a room does not open, check if it is empty or if participants left early.

• Phone users may have trouble moving between rooms. Reassign or ask them to rejoin if needed.

Best Practice: Test your setup before the meeting. Assign roles, share the agenda, and keep your app updated for fewer surprises.

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Here’s a quick recap to help you organize breakout sessions with confidence:

1. Pick the number of rooms you need. 2. Choose how you want to assign people—automatically or manually. 3. Open the rooms and let everyone start working. 4. Use chat and announcements to keep groups connected. 5. Move between rooms to check in and help out. 6. Practice ahead of time so you feel ready.

Breakout rooms make meetings and classes more lively. You’ll see more teamwork and better ideas when everyone gets a chance to join in. Try breakout rooms next time and watch your group’s energy grow!

FAQ

How do you join a breakout room in Teams?

You just click the invitation pop-up or select your assigned room from the meeting panel. Teams moves you automatically. If you get lost, ask the organizer for help.

Can you switch between breakout rooms during a meeting?

No, you cannot switch rooms on your own. Only the organizer can move you. If you need to change rooms, send a chat message to the organizer.

What happens if you leave a breakout room early?

You return to the main meeting. You can rejoin your breakout room if it is still open. Ask the organizer if you need help getting back.

Do breakout rooms work on mobile devices?

Yes, you can join breakout rooms from your phone or tablet. You cannot create or manage rooms on mobile. Use the desktop app for full control.

Can you record breakout room sessions?

No, Teams does not let you record inside breakout rooms. You can record the main meeting. If you need notes, ask someone to write a summary.