Option to "Disable Waiting Room" is now missing | Community
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Charley Sumner
Newcomer
January 26, 2026
Solved

Option to "Disable Waiting Room" is now missing

  • January 26, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 120 views

I have “Enable Waiting Room” active in the Zoom web settings, but normally use the option on the in-meeting Participants window to “Disable Waiting Room” after the meeting starts so I don’t have to keep manually admitting the latecomers.  But with the new update, that option to “Disable Waiting Room” seems to have been removed.  Is this correct?  Is there a way to turn that back on?  Is that controlled by a local admin setting? 

Note that I’m not seeing “Disable Waiting Room” as a greyed out option, it’s not visible at all on any setting screens or drop downs.  Also, I do also have a passcode set, so the waiting room wasn’t my only security setting in case there was a “must have one security option active” rule.

    Best answer by Charley Sumner

    UPDATE: I was wrong, the “Disable Waiting Room” feature isn’t missing, it was just moved and is no longer available in the Participants window.  It’s now in the “Host Tools” submenu, but "Host Tools" won't appear on your toolbar until after you’ve used it for the first time.  Otherwise you have to click on More>Host Tools to find it.  Once you open the Host Tools menu, there's a switch to toggle the Waiting Room on or off.

    2 replies

    C
    Newcomer
    Charley SumnerAuthorAnswer
    Newcomer
    January 26, 2026

    UPDATE: I was wrong, the “Disable Waiting Room” feature isn’t missing, it was just moved and is no longer available in the Participants window.  It’s now in the “Host Tools” submenu, but "Host Tools" won't appear on your toolbar until after you’ve used it for the first time.  Otherwise you have to click on More>Host Tools to find it.  Once you open the Host Tools menu, there's a switch to toggle the Waiting Room on or off.

    J
    New Member
    Jonathan Simon
    New Member
    February 4, 2026

    Wow.  Change something that works to something that’s a pain in the behind, all for no apparent reason.  Good job, Zoom devs.

    J
    New Member
    Jackiv
    New Member
    February 4, 2026

    "Thanks for raising this, Charley. I’ve noticed the same behavior after the latest Zoom update — the ‘Disable Waiting Room’ option seems completely removed from the in-meeting Participants menu. From what I’ve gathered, this is now controlled more strictly by account-level or admin settings rather than being toggled during the meeting. Even with a passcode set, Zoom seems to require the waiting room to remain active if certain security settings are enabled. It’s a bit frustrating for hosts who want more flexibility, but checking the Zoom web portal for admin-level options or reaching out to your IT/admin might be the only way to regain that control."

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