Participating and Using Zoom Tools in a Breakout Room
In Zoom Meeting Breakout Rooms, breakout room participants have access to chat and screen share the same as they have in the main room. However, they can unmute and turn on video in breakout rooms, even if those are disabled in the main room.
This KB Article References:
Zoom
This Information is Intended for:
Instructors,
Staff,
Students
Created: 04/22/2020 Last Updated: 01/06/2022
When a host opens breakout out room and attendees join them, each breakout room functions like it's own zoom meeting with open permissions.
In Zoom Meeting breakout rooms, breakout room participants have access to screen share, chat, and audio at the same level they have in the main room. If you want to enable a feature in the breakout rooms only, right before sending everyone to the breakout rooms, enable that feature in the Security button in the main room, and then open the breakout rooms.
More Details on How Tools Work in Breakout Rooms
Chat
- Within each breakout room, participants can chat if participant chat is enabled in the main room, and at the same level it's enabled in the main room. If participants can only chat with the host/co-host in the main room, they will not be able to chat with other participants in breakout rooms.
- Messages sent in chat from a breakout room are only viewable to those in that breakout room.
- Main room chat sent while participants are in the breakout rooms does not show in breakout room chat.
- Anyone in a breakout room can click Ask For Help to request that the Host join the breakout room.
Share Screen
- Within each breakout room, participants can screen share if participants can screen share in the main room
- Only one person can share at a time in each breakout room (even if multiple people are allow to share simultaneously in the main room).
- If the host/co-host is sharing screen to breakout rooms from the main room, participants in the breakout room cannot share screen.
Audio
- All participants can unmute/mute their audio within the breakout room even if all participants were muted and not allowed to unmute in the main room.
- If participants unmute in a breakout room when a main room has everyone muted and not allowed to unmute, when they rejoin the main room, they will again be muted.
Video
- All participants can start/stop their video within the breakout room even if all participants were not allowed to start video in the main room. EXCEPTION: If the host turns a specific participant's video off, the participant cannot turn it back on, even in a breakout room.
Recording
- In cloud recording, only the main room is recorded (regardless of what room the meeting host is in).
- If the host records locally, the recording will include whatever room s/he is in: main room or breakout room.
- If participants are allowed to record locally (given permission by the host before opening the breakout room), their local recording will record whichever room they're in.
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