Zoom: Enable Waiting Rooms


Zoom describes a waiting room as “a virtual staging area that prevents people from joining a meeting until the host is ready.” This feature is particularly useful when a host needs to control who can participate in a Zoom meeting and when a participant can enter the meeting. For example, a faculty member may need to ensure that only students in a certain section of a course are able to participate; clinicians may meet with clients one-on-one in the same Zoom meeting by allowing participants in one at a time.


When Scheduling a New Meeting in the Zoom app:

  1. In the Zoom application, click Schedule.

  1. Click Advanced Options.

  1. Select Enable Waiting Room.

  1. Click Schedule to schedule the meeting and save the settings.

When editing an existing scheduled meeting in the Zoom app:

  1. In the Zoom application, click the 3 dots next to Start for the scheduled meeting.

  1. Click Edit.

  1. Click Advanced Options.

  1. Select Enable Waiting Room.

  1. Click Save to confirm the new settings.

When editing or creating a Zoom meeting in Outlook:

  1. In the details window for the meeting, click Settings next to Add a Zoom Meeting in the Ribbon.

  1. In the sidebar, click Show under Advanced Options at the bottom.

  1. Click Enable waiting room. Close the sidebar to save the setting.

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