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Before a Meeting
To create breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams before the meeting starts, follow these steps:
1. Schedule the Meeting
- Breakout rooms cannot be created when scheduling a meeting. You must create and send the meeting invite first.
2. Edit the Meeting in the Calendar
- After scheduling the meeting, open the meeting invite and click Edit.
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3. Access Breakout Room Controls
- Once you're in the meeting, click on the Breakout Rooms option from the meeting control bar.
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4. Create Rooms
- Click the Create Rooms option.
5. Assign Participants
- Click the Assign Participants option.
- Indicate whether you want Teams to automatically assign participants to breakout rooms or if you want to manually assign them yourself.
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6. Save the Room Setup
- Once you have configured the rooms and participant assignments, simply close the breakout room settings. The rooms will be ready for use when the meeting starts.
During a Meeting
To create breakout rooms during an ongoing Microsoft Teams meeting, follow these steps:
1. Join the Meeting
- As the organizer or co-organizer, join the Teams meeting.
2. Open Breakout Room Controls
- In the meeting control bar, click on the Breakout Rooms icon at the top of the meeting window.
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3. Select the Number of Rooms
- In the popup window, choose how many breakout rooms you want to create. You can create up to 50 breakout rooms.
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4. Assign Participants
- Assign participants and Create rooms.
- You can assign participants to breakout rooms in one of two ways:
- Automatically: Teams will divide the participants evenly into the rooms.
- Manually: You will be able to assign specific participants to each room.
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6. Open the Rooms
- Once the participants are assigned, click Open rooms. This will send all assigned participants to their respective breakout rooms.
7. Manage the Breakout Rooms
- You can:
- Join a breakout room: Click on the room name and select Join room to enter any of the breakout rooms.
- Broadcast messages: Send announcements to all breakout rooms by clicking on Make an announcement.
- Reassign participants: You can reassign participants to different rooms by going back to the breakout room controls.
- Set a time limit: Optionally, you can set a timer for the breakout sessions.
8. Close the Rooms
- When it's time to bring everyone back, click Close rooms. This will close all breakout rooms, and the participants will return to the main meeting.