How to Use Breakout Rooms in Teams (2026)
Breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams split one meeting into smaller groups for discussion, then pull everyone back together. Only the meeting organizer (or an assigned breakout manager) can set them up. Here’s how to create, assign, manage, and close them.
Create Breakout Rooms
You must be the organizer, using the Teams desktop app:
- On the meeting toolbar, click the Breakout rooms icon.
- Choose the number of rooms.
- Pick how to assign people:
- Automatically — Teams splits participants evenly.
- Manually — you place each person yourself.
- Click Create rooms.
- Click Open (or Start rooms) to move everyone in.
Participants get a notification and are moved into their room automatically (or asked to join, depending on your settings).
Assign and Move People
- Reassign someone: in the breakout panel, select the person > Assign > pick a room. Do this before or after rooms open.
- Move between rooms: open a room’s … menu to manage its members.
You can only assign people who are in the meeting — late joiners need to be assigned after they arrive.
Manage Open Rooms
While rooms are open, the organizer can:
- Join a room: open the room’s … > Join room to drop in and help.
- Send an announcement: click … at the top of the breakout panel > Make an announcement — a message appears in every room.
- Set a timer: Rooms settings (gear) > Set a time limit so rooms close automatically.
- Recreate rooms: reset and reassign if you need a different split.
Close Rooms and Return
- Click Close (or Close rooms) in the breakout panel.
- Everyone is moved back to the main meeting.
- Anything discussed stays in each room’s chat for later reference.
Troubleshooting
I don’t see the Breakout rooms button
Only the organizer can create rooms, and only in the desktop app — not Teams on web or mobile. Confirm you scheduled the meeting (you’re the organizer) and you’re on desktop.
I want a co-organizer to run the rooms
Assign a breakout rooms manager: open Rooms settings (gear) > Assign presenters to manage rooms. They must be a presenter from your org on desktop.
Participants didn’t move into rooms automatically
In Rooms settings, turn on Automatically move people into opened rooms. Otherwise people get a prompt to Join manually.
Someone’s stuck in a room after I closed it
Close rooms again, or have them click Return / Resume. A weak connection can delay the move back.
Pre-assigning before the meeting
You can pre-create rooms and assignments from the meeting’s calendar event (Breakout rooms tab) — but the people you assign must have been invited to the meeting.
Quick Reference
| Goal | What to do |
|---|---|
| Create rooms | Breakout rooms icon > set number |
| Auto-split people | Choose Automatically |
| Place people yourself | Choose Manually > Assign |
| Help in a room | Room … > Join room |
| Message all rooms | … > Make an announcement |
| End breakouts | Close rooms |
Related Teams guides: How to create a poll in Teams · How to record a Teams meeting · How to share your screen on Teams · How to mute on Teams · The best AI note takers for Zoom, Teams & Meet
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