Breakout rooms in webinars | Community
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New Member
Bari Laner
New Member
February 10, 2026
Question

Breakout rooms in webinars

  • February 10, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 12 views

As the host of a webinar with over 200 participants who are not users in my account, I should have the ability to assign them to a specific breakout room, without having to give them the option to select a room.  The only options available are assign automatically or allow participants to select a room.  I have to choose allow participants to select a room because I don’t want them assigned automatically and then I assign them to the room they are supposed to be in.  However, they have the option to select a room.  There needs to be an option to assign manually, just like the option available for panelists.  As a webinar or webinar plus user, I should have MORE control, not less.

      1 reply

      T
      Employee
      Tash_Balaguer
      Employee
      February 10, 2026

      HI ​@Bari Laner - 

      At present, Zoom Meetings (not Webinars) support breakout rooms, but with specific limitations depending on the meeting type and license tier.
      For webinars, breakout rooms are not yet a native feature — they are available only in meeting format sessions, including those hosted within Zoom Events or Webinars Plus hubs.

      Key points from current product behavior and roadmap discussions:

      • The maximum number of breakout rooms in a meeting is 100, even with a Large Meeting license.
      • Cloud recordings are not currently supported within breakout rooms.

      Workarounds and Best Practices

      If you are hosting a large interactive session (200+ participants) and need manual control over room assignments, consider these approaches:

      1. Use Zoom Meetings instead of Webinars

        • Breakout rooms are only available in meeting format.
        • You can manually assign participants to rooms before or during the meeting if they are authenticated users or have joined the session.

      2. Pre-assign Participants (for known attendees)

        • Upload a CSV file with participant emails to pre-assign them to specific breakout rooms.
        • This requires participants to join using the same email address used in the pre-assignment list.

      3. Manual Assignment During the Meeting

        • Once participants have joined, the host or co-host can manually move them into specific breakout rooms.
        • This provides full control without enabling the “allow participants to choose room” option.

      4. Use Zoom Events or Webinars Plus (Meeting Sessions)

        • Within Webinars Plus, you can create meeting-type sessions that support breakout rooms and detailed analytics.
        • This allows you to maintain the event structure of a webinar while using meeting functionality for interactive segments.

      5. Alternative Tools for Segmentation

        • If breakout rooms are not feasible, consider using multiple concurrent meeting sessions within a Zoom Event hub, each representing a “room.”
        • Attendees can be directed to specific sessions via registration or lobby instructions.

      Recommendations

      • For controlled breakout assignments, use Zoom Meetings or Webinars Plus meeting sessions rather than classic webinars.
      • If you need to manage hundreds of participants, plan for co-hosts or assistants to help with manual assignments.

      Hope this helps!

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