How do I use breakout rooms during a meeting?

Organizers and co-organizers can break out meeting attendees into smaller groups (up to 50 rooms) for separate discussions and activities.

It is a great way to keep attendees engaged, manage discussions, and collaborate in smaller groups.

Note: Breakout rooms are not available for users on the GoTo Meeting Free plan.

Before you begin...

Before you use breakout rooms during a meeting, make sure you are on a compatible device and in the right environment.

All users must be joined from the Web App or GoTo Application.
All users must be connected to audio via Computer mode (VoIP).
Organizers must enable breakout rooms while scheduling the meeting.

How do I schedule a meeting with breakout rooms?

To use breakout rooms during a meeting, you must enable the feature for every session you schedule.

Sign in to the GoTo web or desktop app.
Select Meetings in the left menu, then + Create.

Note: To add breakout rooms to an existing meeting, open the meeting details and select Edit.
Select More options, then enable Breakout rooms.
Read through what features will be disabled during the meeting, then select Confirm and turn on.
Select Save.

What to do next: To start and assign a breakout room, view How do I start and assign breakout rooms during a meeting?.

How do I start and assign breakout rooms during a meeting?

If you scheduled a meeting with breakout rooms, you can start them at any time during the session.

Attendees joined from the GoTo mobile app can participate in breakout rooms; however, those on the GoTo Meeting mobile app cannot. View GoTo App for Mobile Devices.

Start your meeting in the web browser experience or GoTo desktop app.
Select the People pane and Create breakout rooms.
Choose the number of rooms you want create.

Note: You can have up to 50 rooms. The default is set to 2 rooms.
Choose how you want to assign attendees to rooms.
- Automatically assign people to rooms – GoTo will randomly sort attendees into rooms.
- Let me assign people to rooms – This will create empty rooms and requires you to manually move attendees to the desired room.
Select Preview rooms. The People pane will display how attendees will be split among rooms.
You can manually move attendees to another room by selecting their name and Move to or by dragging and dropping.

Note: Once you start breakout rooms, you can't move attendees from one room to another. To do so, you will have to end the current breakout and start a new one.
Select Start breakout. Attendees will see a countdown before the breakout begins.

Note: You can cancel the breakout room during the countdown.
You'll remain in the main room along with any co-organizers. You and any co-organizer can join other rooms by selecting Join.
During the breakout, you can send a chat message to all rooms. Although attendees cannot chat you, they can request help using the Assistance icon.
To end the breakout and go back to the regular session with all attendees, select End breakout.

Breakouts FAQs

Review frequently asked questions about running breakout rooms during a meeting.

What are the limitations during breakout rooms?

The following features are currently not supported during breakout rooms:

Phone call or custom conference mode
Meeting lock
Password protection
Recording of breakout session
Meeting Diagnostics & attendee report
Chat between attendee and organizer during the breakout

What happens to attendees who join late?

You will be able to move late attendees manually or by dragging and dropping their name from the main room to any room.

What if my attendees need help?

If attendees need help during the breakout session, they can click the Assistance icon. This will notify the organizer to join the room.
Need Assistance during Breakouts

Can I assign myself and co-organizers to rooms?

Yes, you can add yourself or any co-organizers to a room before starting a breakout. You will be able to go back and join the main breakout at any time.

What's coming in breakout rooms?

The following features are coming soon to breakout rooms! Look out for these features in the coming months:

Ability to move multiple attendees at once during the breakout.
Ability for attendees to join the main session during the breakout.
Ability for attendees to chat from the room to the organizer.
Ability to rename breakout rooms.
Ability to set timer and share materials and handouts.
Meeting lock.
Recording of breakout rooms.
Calendar integration.