Overview
The Waiting Room feature allows the host to control when a participant joins the meeting. As the meeting host, you can admit attendees one by one, or hold all attendees in the Waiting Room and admit them all at once. You can send all participants to the Waiting Room when joining your meeting, or you can allow participants from your Zoom account and participants with specified domains to bypass the Waiting Room. As the host, you can also choose to automatically move participants to the Waiting Room while a meeting is in progress if you lose connection from the meeting.
Participants will see the following screen when joining a meeting with Waiting Room enabled:
You can also customize the Waiting Room screen with your own logo, title, and description.
This article covers:
Prerequisites
Using Waiting Room
Zoom desktop client
Windows: 5.4.0 or higher
macOS: 5.4.0 or higher
Linux: 5.4.0 or higher
Zoom mobile app
Android: 5.1.28652.0706 or higher
iOS: 5.1.228642.0705 or higher
Customizing Waiting Room
Licensed user
Limitations
If the Waiting Room is enabled and set to capture all incoming participants, join before host will not work for that meeting. You can set internal account members or participants with a specific domain to bypass the Waiting Room.
Webinars do not support Waiting Room. Use a webinar practice session as an alternative.
The Waiting Room is disabled by default for instant meetings and Zoom Phone calls elevated to a meeting. You can only enable Waiting Room for these meetings using the Security option in your in-meeting controls.
Enabling Waiting Room
You can enable Waiting Room for scheduled meetings.
Account
To enable Waiting Room for all users in the account:
Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator with the privilege to edit account settings.
Under Security, verify that Waiting Room is enabled.
Group
To enable Waiting Room for all members of a specific group:
Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator with the privilege to edit groups.
Under Security, verify that Waiting Room is enabled.
User
To enable Waiting Room for your own use:
Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
Under Security, verify that Waiting Room is enabled.
Waiting Room options
Note: If the Waiting Room has been previously customized at the user level then disabled after, when Waiting Room is enabled in a meeting’s settings, the meeting will use the user-level setting until it has been reset, or the account setting has been locked.
Who should go into the waiting room?
Everyone: All participants joining your meeting will be admitted to the Waiting Room.
Users not in your account: Only participants who are not on your Zoom account or are not signed in will be admitted to the Waiting Room. If not signed in, they will have an option to sign in.
Users who are not in your account and not part of the allowed list: Users who are on your account or signed in to a Zoom account at the domains you list will bypass the Waiting Room. After selecting this option, enter the domains, separating multiple domains by a comma.
Users invited during the meeting by the host or co-hosts will bypass the waiting room: Users that the host or co-host invited during the meeting will by pass the Waiting Room. This applies to users invited directly through Zoom during a meeting or users invited by phone.Note: This setting doesn’t apply to inviting a Zoom Room or room system. The invited room will always be placed in the Waiting Room. Live assistants who join meetings via the dashboard or administrators using a web-based controller are also exempt from these settings.
Who can admit participants from the waiting room?
Note: If Users not in your account or Users who are not in your account and not part of the allowed list is selected, you can specify who can admit participants that are in the Waiting Room.
Host and co-hosts only: Only the host and co-hosts can admit participants that are in the Waiting Room.
Host, co-hosts, and anyone who bypassed the waiting room (only if host and co-hosts are not present): Only the following people can admit participants that are in the Waiting Room.
Host or co-hosts
Participants are bypassed the Waiting Room (they can only admit other participants if the host and co-hosts are not in the meeting)
If the host and co-hosts are not present or if they lose connection during a meeting
Select the check box to move participants to the Waiting Room if the host drops from the meeting unexpectedly. If you select this option, join before host will be disabled.
Customizing the Waiting Room
You can customize the Waiting Room title, logo, and description at an account, group, or user level.
Note: You will need to enable Waiting Room before you have the option to customize it. If the Waiting Room has been previously customized at the user level then disabled after, when Waiting Room is enabled in a meeting’s settings, the meeting will use the user-level setting until it has been reset, or the account setting has been locked.
After enabling Waiting Room, scroll to the
Security
section.
Participants will see your custom Waiting Room branding when they join the meeting.
Using Waiting Room
Enabling or disabling Waiting Room during a meeting
Admitting participants during a meeting
Admit all participants from the Waiting Room
Sending participants to the Waiting Room during a meeting
Sending messages to participants in the Waiting Room
Type and send your chat message to the Waiting Room.
Once the message has been sent, the participants in the Waiting Room will see the message on the Waiting Room screen:
Linux
Enabling or disabling Waiting Room during a meeting
Admitting participants during a meeting
Sending participants to the Waiting Room during a meeting
Android
Enabling or disabling Waiting Room during a meeting
As the meeting host, tap More.
Tap Security.
Make sure Waiting Room is enabled.
Admitting participants during a meeting
As the host, tap Participants .
Next to the name of the participant you want to admit, tap Admit.
Sending participants to the Waiting Room during a meeting
As the host, tap Participants .
Tap the name of the participant you want to send to the Waiting Room.
Tap Put in Waiting Room.
Admit all participants from the Waiting Room
As the host, tap Participants .
Tap Admit all.
Sending messages to participants in the Waiting Room
As the meeting host, tap More.
Tap Chat.
Next to Send to:, tap the drop-down.
Choose Everyone (in Waiting Room).
Type and send your message.
iOS
Enabling or disabling Waiting Room during a meeting
As the meeting host, tap More.
Tap Security.
Toggle Waiting Room to green to enable or white to disable.
Admitting participants during a meeting
As the host, tap Participants .
Next to the name of the participant you want to admit, tap Admit.
Admit all participants from the Waiting Room
As the host, tap Participants .
Tap Admit all.
Sending participants to the Waiting Room during a meeting
As the host, tap Participants .
Tap the name of the participant you want to send to the Waiting Room.
Tap Put in Waiting Room.
Sending messages to participants in the Waiting Room
As the meeting host, tap More.
Tap Chat.
Next to Send to:, tap the drop-down.
Choose Everyone (in Waiting Room).
Type and send your message.
Web client
Admitting participants during a meeting
Sending participants to the Waiting Room during a meeting