How to Use Breakout Rooms in Teams: Set Up and Manage

Breakout rooms are what turn a long video call into something people can take part in. Split a workshop into small groups, give a training session some discussion time, let a team brainstorm in pairs and then bring everyone back. If you run client workshops or team sessions in Microsoft Teams, it's a feature worth knowing.

The rules about who can set them up, and on which device, catch people out, so I've stuck closely to Microsoft's own help page. Where a detail isn't in it, I've said so rather than guessing.

Who can set up breakout rooms in a Teams meeting

According to Microsoft's help, rooms can be created by the meeting organizer. A presenter from the organizer's own organization can do it too, as long as the organizer has appointed them a breakout rooms manager. If you're a guest on someone else's call, you can't simply start rooms yourself.

The page describes creating rooms in Teams for desktop and doesn't mention mobile, so plan to run the session from a laptop or desktop app. It also says you can create up to 50 rooms at a time, and that meetings can have up to 1,000 people.

Setting up Teams breakout rooms before the meeting starts

Preparing ahead is calmer than doing it live with everyone watching. Microsoft's steps:

1. Go to Calendar in Teams and select the meeting.
2. Select View event, then More options, then Breakout rooms. Microsoft says this option only appears after invites have been sent.
3. Select Create rooms, choose how many you want and select Add rooms.
4. Select Assign participants and choose an assignment method.
5. Select Next, then Save.

If the Breakout rooms option is missing, the first thing to check is whether the invitations have gone out.

Creating Teams breakout rooms during a live meeting

You can also build rooms on the spot, which suits a call where you only decide halfway through that groups would help:

1. In the meeting controls, select Rooms. Microsoft also lists More actions, then Rooms.
2. Choose the number of rooms and an assignment method.
3. Select Create rooms.
4. To add another room later, select Rooms, then Add room.

Here's the catch. Microsoft says people can't be automatically assigned to rooms that you create later in the meeting. If you want automatic assignment, build the rooms at the start, or plan to move people by hand.

Choosing how people land in each Teams breakout room

The help page mentions manual, random and self-selection as ways to fill rooms. I'd match the method to the session:

Situation	Assignment method to consider
Mixed-ability workshop where you want balanced groups	Manual, so you choose who sits with whom
Quick icebreaker with people who don't know each other	Random
Topic tables where people pick what interests them	Self-selection

That table is my own suggestion for matching the method to the room, not something Microsoft prescribes. The thing that matters is that you decide before you press the button.

Opening, closing and deleting Teams breakout rooms

Creating rooms doesn't start them. According to Microsoft, you open all rooms with Open rooms, or a single room with More options, then Open. Rooms stay open until you close them or a time limit runs out.

• Close all rooms with Close rooms, or one room with More options, then Close. A closed room's status changes to Closed.
• If you reopen rooms, participants go back to the rooms they were assigned to.
• To delete a room, close it first. Reassign anyone inside it, or close the room to bring them back to the main meeting.
• If you turn off the Automatically move people to rooms toggle, participants can choose whether to rejoin the main meeting or leave once the time limit ends.

What can't be done with Teams breakout rooms

A few limits from Microsoft's page are worth reading before a client session:

• Participants signed in with a Teams (free) account can't be added to or assigned to a room.
• You can't add people from the participants panel, or to the meeting chat, during the breakout sessions.
• You can't copy the Join meeting information while you're inside breakout rooms.
• Only meeting organizers can view attendance reports, and those reports leave out deleted rooms.

The first point matters if you invite guests. If a client joins with a Teams (free) account, test that they can be placed in a room before the day of your workshop, or have a plan for them.

Running a good Teams breakout session for clients or staff

The software is the easy bit. A few habits make the session work:

1. Say what each group is for, in a sentence, before you open the rooms.
2. Put the task in the chat or on a slide first, so people don't forget it when they move.
3. Set a time limit, and tell people what will happen when it ends.
4. Decide who reports back, so the main meeting doesn't go quiet.
5. Leave a few minutes at the end to pull the ideas together.

If you're choosing which tool your team should use for sessions like this, my piece on collaboration tools for teams is a good place to compare the options.

For teams who rarely meet in person, what makes a good collaboration tool for remote teams covers what to look for beyond the video call itself.

If you can't find breakout rooms in Teams

1. Check you're the organizer, or a presenter appointed as a breakout rooms manager.
2. Use Teams on a desktop or laptop, because the help page describes desktop.
3. If you're planning ahead, make sure the invitations have been sent, as Microsoft says the option only appears after that.
4. Look under Rooms in the meeting controls or under More actions during the call.
5. Still stuck? Contact Microsoft through its support pages, since your organisation's settings may affect what you see.

Frequently asked questions

How do I create breakout rooms in a Teams meeting?

Before the meeting, open it from your Calendar, select View event, then More options, then Breakout rooms and Create rooms. During the meeting, select Rooms in the meeting controls, choose the number of rooms and an assignment method, then select Create rooms.

Who can create breakout rooms in Teams?

Microsoft says the meeting organizer can, and so can a presenter in the organizer's organization who has been appointed a breakout rooms manager.

How many breakout rooms can I make in Teams?

Microsoft's help says you can create up to 50 rooms at a time, and a meeting can have up to 1,000 people.

Can I use breakout rooms in Teams on my phone?

Microsoft's page describes creating rooms in Teams for desktop and doesn't mention mobile, so use a desktop or laptop to set them up.

Why can't someone be put in a Teams breakout room?

Microsoft says participants signed in with a Teams (free) account can't be added to or assigned to a room.