Authenticated Institutional Users Being Redirected to Zoom Web App Instead of Desktop Client

Hello,

We are experiencing a strange issue during large university courses delivered through Zoom.

We have approximately 600 students distributed across 10 separate Zoom meetings. Until recently, clicking a meeting link would normally launch the Zoom Workplace desktop application.

Now, approximately 50% of participants are being redirected to the Zoom Web App instead of the desktop client, even though they have the desktop application installed.

The meetings are restricted to authenticated institutional users.

What is particularly confusing is that the affected students do not appear to receive the option to launch the desktop client, and once they join through the browser, some of them do not even see the “Start Video” button. It is not merely disabled, it is completely absent.

However, if the same users access the Zoom Web App directly outside of the meeting join flow, camera permissions appear to work normally and video controls are available.

This makes us suspect that the issue may be related to the meeting join flow, authenticated institutional accounts, or a recent change in how Zoom handles redirection between the desktop client and the Web App.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue recently, particularly with meetings restricted to institutional users?

Thank you.