Disabling the Waiting Room stopped working

Hello Neil, 

Why the Waiting Room keeps coming back

When you use PMI (Personal Meeting ID) for instant meetings, the Waiting Room behavior is controlled by account- and user-level security policies, not the in-meeting toggle.

Even if you click “Disable Waiting Room” during the meeting, Zoom will:

• Temporarily remove it for that session

• Then re-enable it automatically if a higher-level rule requires it

1. Waiting Room is locked ON at the account or group level

As an admin, check this first:

Web Portal → Account Settings → Security

• Waiting Room = ON

• 🔒 Lock icon enabled → users cannot disable it

If it’s locked:

• You will never be able to turn it off for PMI meetings

• The in-meeting “Disable Waiting Room” button will appear to do nothing

Solution:
Unlock it (if policy allows), then turn it off at the user level.

2. “Require Waiting Room for Personal Meeting ID” is enabled

This one is very specific to your setup.

Go to:
Account Settings → Security
or
User Settings → Security

Look for:

• Require Waiting Room for Personal Meeting ID meetings

If this is ON:

• PMI meetings always use a Waiting Room

• Instant meetings using PMI are affected

• You cannot override this per meeting

Solution:
Disable this setting (or unlock it if locked).

3. Authentication / Passcode security auto-forces Waiting Room

Zoom security rules can auto-enable Waiting Room when:

• Passcodes are disabled

• Authentication exceptions are used

• Certain compliance profiles are active

Check:
Account Settings → Security

• Meeting passcode requirements

• Authentication profiles

Please let us know if this helps the issue. Alternatively, you can also contact support for assistance.