How do I pre-assign external users to Zoom breakout rooms?

Format Your CSV File

1. Download the Breakout Room Template.
2. Enter the room names in Column A and the students' email addresses in Column B. The room names will repeat for each student assigned to that room. See example below.
3. Save the CSV file to your computer.

Example

Using a CSV file formatted like this one below, Zoom will create two breakout rooms (Room 1 and Room 2). The first three students will be assigned to Room 1 and the last two students will be assigned to Room 2.
 

Pre-assigned room name	Email
Room 1	matas.burrows@fake.com
Room 1	aasiyah.bernard@fake.com
Room 1	deen.goff@fake.com
Room 2	ahyan.schneider@fake.com
Room 2	britany.morgan@fake.com

 

Set Up Breakout Rooms in Zoom.butler.edu

After scheduling your meeting, you can add pre-assigned breakout rooms following these steps. Note that students must be logged in to Zoom in order to be pre-assigned to a breakout room. When setting up the meeting, step #8 will force all students to log in before joining the meeting. Additionally, students must join the meeting using the Zoom desktop or mobile app; if they join from the web client, they will not be able to join a breakout room.

1. Navigate to zoom.butler.edu and select Meetings from the menu at the right.
2. Locate your meeting and click on the meeting name link.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the meeting details and select Edit this Meeting. (If you meeting is recurring, select All** in the Edit Meeting window.)
4. Under Meeting Options, select Breakout Room Pre-Assign.
5. Select Import CSV.
6. Drag and drop or browse to upload your CSV file.
7. Select Save to close the Breakout window.
8. Under Meeting Options, select Require authentication to join and select Sign in to Zoom from the dropdown menu.
9. Select Save to save the meeting changes.

 **Note that you cannot pre-assign students to breakout rooms for only one occurrence. If the Breakout Room Pre-Assign field in step 4 is greyed out, you chose to edit a single occurrence instead of all. Cancel your edits and start from step 3 above.
 

Using Pre-Assigned Breakouts in a Meeting

1. Launch your Zoom meeting.
2. After your students join, select Breakout Rooms from the Zoom meeting controls. (If you do not see Breakout Rooms, first select the More button.)
3. You should see the breakout rooms you created with the students in each room. 
   1. If you do not see the correct rooms or student names, select Recreate. 
   2. Select Recover to pre-assigned rooms from the list.
   3. Click Yes when prompted.
4. Select Open All Rooms.
5. To bring students back into the main room, select Close Rooms.

 

What records in a Breakout Room?

Local recordings that save to your computer will follow you; if you move from the main room to a breakout room, what you see in your Zoom window will be recorded. With cloud recordings, Zoom only records the main room, i.e. no breakout rooms.

Instructors can allow students to record their breakouts locally (to their own computers). Instructors can also ask students to submit these recordings to Canvas if assessment or feedback is needed. Note that an assignment or discussion board must first be set up prior to student submissions.

Related Resources

How do I use Zoom Breakout Rooms for small group discussions during a virtual meeting?
What should I do if I do not see my students in their pre-assigned breakout rooms in Zoom? (Instructors)
How do I pre-assign students to Zoom breakout rooms for a meeting scheduled in Canvas? (Instructors)