Published Aug 8, 2024
Microsoft Teams will update to allow meeting participants to select their own breakout rooms, with rollout timelines updated for various releases. This feature will be on by default and can be enabled by organizers, simplifying room coordination. No admin action is required before the rollout.
Updated November 4, 2024: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
Coming soon: Microsoft Teams meeting organizers can make the list of breakout rooms visible to all meeting participants and allow them to choose which room to join. Enabling this setting in breakout rooms allows participants to move freely from one room to another, simplifying breakout room coordination for meeting organizers and participants. This message applies to Teams for Windows, Mac, and the web.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 121269.
When this will happen:
Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out early January 2025 (previously early December) and expect to complete by mid-December 2024 (previously mid-December).
General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): We will begin rolling out mid-January 2024 (previously mid-December) and expect to complete by late January 2025 (previously early January).
General Availability (GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out early February 2025 (previously early January) and expect to complete by late February 2025 (previously late January).
How this will affect your organization:
Before this rollout: Only the meeting organizer can assign meeting participants to breakout rooms. Participants cannot move between rooms.
After this rollout: Meeting participants can select their breakout rooms of choice if the meeting organizer selects this option during setup.
Organizers can look for the new feature under the breakout rooms panel when setting up breakout rooms:
This feature is on by default and accessible to all meeting participants on the affected platforms if enabled by meeting organizers.
What you need to do to prepare:
This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before the rollout. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation.