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Use MS Teams Breakout Rooms

Last updated on October 19, 2021

Tools: Microsoft Teams

Breakout Rooms is a Microsoft Teams feature that allows the meeting organizer to divide participants into multiple smaller groups. Breakout Rooms can be used in recurring meetings and meetings created using the “meet now” button in the calendar.

Best practices

  • Use Breakout Rooms to create small groups for discussions, synchronous group work, peer editing, and more! 
  • Consider using Breakout Rooms to privately provide feedback to students.
  • Set up recurring meetings if you would like Rooms to carry over from meeting to meeting.
  • Provide clear instructions to students about how to navigate Breakout Rooms (for example, let students know when and how they should return to the main room).

Let’s walk through it together

Update Teams Application

  1. Open the Microsoft Teams app.
  2. Select your Teams icon/profile picture in the upper-right corner of the app.
  3. Select “check for updates.”

Create Breakout Rooms

Only the meeting organizer will have a breakout room icon. Breakout rooms are accessible in recurring meetings and meetings created using the “meet now” button in the calendar. You cannot access breakout rooms if you make a call in the “Calls” menu in the Teams app.

  1. Select Breakout rooms.
  2. Select the number of rooms you wish to create under Room Settings.
  3. Choose whether to assign participants to breakout rooms Automatically or Manually.
    • Automatically: Teams assigns your participants to rooms. You will be able to reassign participants if desired.
    • Manually: you control the how participants are assigned to different rooms.
  4. Click Create Rooms.

Manage Breakout Rooms Settings 

  1. Select the three-dot More Options icon in the Breakout rooms panel.
  2. Select Rooms settings in the drop-down menu.
  3. Choose from the following settings:
    • Automatically move people into opened rooms: after you open the rooms, participants will be automatically put into breakout rooms.
    • Let people go back into the main room: participants will have the option to move between the main meeting room and their assigned breakout room.
  4. Click the back arrow to return to the Breakout rooms panel.
  5. Select the three-dot More Options icon in the Breakout rooms panel.
  6. Select Recreate Rooms from the drop-down menu.
  7. Click Recreate.
  8. Follow Steps 2-4 in Create Breakout Rooms, above.

Assign Participants

  1. Select Assign Participants. A list of all meeting participants (even participants who are not in the meeting) will appear. Either:
    1. Select All participants.
    2. Select Individual or groups of participants.
  2. Select Assign.
  3. Select Room to assign to.

Manage Rooms

To add more rooms:

  1. Select Add room from the Breakout rooms panel.

To rename a room:

  1. Hover your cursor over the name of the Breakout Room in the Breakout rooms panel.
  2. Click the three-dot icon.
  3. Select Rename Room.
  4. Type in the new name.
  5. Click Rename Room.

Open/Close Breakout Rooms

  1. Hover your cursor over the name of the Breakout Room in the Breakout rooms panel.
  2. Click the three-dot icon.
  3. Select Open Room. The Open Button will appear.
    • Note: Participants will see a “join breakout room” pop-up window and will need to select the “join room” button to join the breakout room.
  4. Select Close Room.
    • Note: Close the room to bring participants back to main meeting room (this will take 10 to 30 seconds). Participants will see a “breakout room has closed” pop-up window appear, and they will need to select “join main room” to return. 

Join and Communicate with Breakout Rooms

  1. Select Join Room.
  2. Select Return or Leave to leave breakout room.
  3. Select Resume to join.
  4. Use Make an Announcement to communicate to all participants in rooms.
    • Note: Announcements will appear in the meeting chat.