Known issues and limitations

Learn about known issues and limitations for breakout sessions.

Roles in a breakout session

In meetings, hosts and cohosts create breakout sessions, assign participants, and start the sessions when they're ready.

Attendees can share content and use collaboration tools such as chat to collaborate in smaller, more focused discussion groups. See Best practices for participating in breakout sessions.

Audio and video in breakout sessions

Each breakout session is a separate audio and video conference. If you connected to audio when you joined the meeting or webinar, it switches over automatically when you join a breakout session. In meetings, you can mute or unmute your audio and start or stop your video at any time during the breakout session, just like you would in the main meeting.

If you join a meeting from a room device, pressing Mute device or Unmute device mutes or unmutes the entire room.

When all breakout sessions end, your audio switches to the main session automatically. In meetings, if your video was on during the breakout session, it remains on when all breakout sessions end and you return to the main session.

Feature

Host

Cohost

Attendee

Preassign participants to breakout sessions

Allow anyone to join breakout sessions

Create and start breakout sessions

  • Maximum number of breakout sessions in a meeting or webinar: 100

  • You plan determines the number of participants in a breakout session. For example, for plans that allow 1,000 people, you can have 100 sessions with 10 people in each, 20 sessions with 50 people in each, and so on. Regardless of your plan, a maximum of 1,000 participants can join a single breakout session.

  • Choose to assign participants automatically or manually.

    Hosts and cohosts can't assign attendees to breakout sessions in webinars. Once breakout sessions have started, attendees can choose which breakout session they want to join.
  • Control how and when participants are allowed to return to the main session.

Add, rename, or delete a breakout session

Move or exchange attendees in breakout sessions

Move people into breakout sessions from the lobby

Remove a participant from a breakout session

Ask all participants to return to the main session

If the breakout sessions are still in progress, attendees' audio is muted when they return to the main session. In meetings, remind attendees to unmute themselves if they want to speak in the session.

End all breakout sessions

Lower participants' hands

Feature

Host

Cohost

Attendee

Join or leave a breakout session from your computer, mobile device, video device, or phone

Start or stop your video during a breakout session

Mute or unmute your audio during a breakout session

Share content during a breakout session

Use Chat to message others in your breakout session

  • You can only chat to others within your breakout session, not across all breakout sessions.
  • In Webex App, chat in breakout sessions is available on desktop only.

Ask for help during a breakout session

Respond to a request for help in breakout sessions

Broadcast a message in breakout sessions

Raise your hand during a breakout session
Sort by raised hands

Known issues and limitations

Learn about known issues and limitations for breakout sessions.

Roles in a breakout session

Hosts and cohosts can preassign panelists and attendees to breakout sessions in webinars. They can't assign attendees to breakout sessions during a webinar. Once breakout sessions have started, attendees can choose which breakout session they want to join.

Audio and video in breakout sessions

Each breakout session is a separate audio and video conference. If you connected to audio when you joined the webinar, it switches over automatically when you join a breakout session. When you return to the main webinar, your audio automatically switches to the main session.

During the breakout session, only panelists can mute or unmute their audio. All attendees are muted and do not have the option option to unmute themselves. Attendees can only be unmuted by a panelist in their breakout session.

If you are a panelist joining a webinar from a room device, pressing Mute device or Unmute device mutes or unmutes the entire room.

Feature

Host

Cohost

Panelist

Preassign participants to breakout sessions

In webinars, you can preassign panelists and attendees to breakout sessions. You can't assign attendees to breakout sessions during a webinar. Attendees can choose which breakout session they want to join after they start.

Allow anyone to join breakout sessions

Create and start breakout sessions

  • Maximum number of breakout sessions in a meeting or webinar: 100

  • You plan determines the number of participants in a breakout session. For example, for plans that allow 1,000 people, you can have 100 sessions with 10 people in each, 20 sessions with 50 people in each, and so on. Regardless of your plan, a maximum of 1,000 participants can join a single breakout session.

  • Choose to assign participants automatically or manually.

    Hosts and cohosts cannot assign attendees to breakout sessions in webinars. Once breakout sessions have started, attendees can choose which breakout session they want to join.
  • Control how and when participants are allowed to return to the main session.

Add, rename, or delete a breakout session

Move or exchange panelists in breakout sessions

In webinars, attendees cannot be moved or exchanged between breakout sessions.

Remove a panelist from a breakout session

In webinars, attendees cannot be removed from a breakout session.

Ask all participants to return to the main session

If the breakout sessions are still in progress, attendees' audio is muted when they return to the main session. In webinars, attendees remain muted; panelists can be unmuted by the host.

End all breakout sessions

Lower participants' hands

Feature

Host

Cohost

Panelist

Attendee

Join or leave a breakout session from your computer, mobile device, or phone

Join or leave a breakout session from a video device

Start or stop your video during a breakout session

Mute or unmute your audio during a breakout session

Share content during a breakout session

Use Chat to message others in your breakout session

You can only chat to others within your breakout session, not across all breakout sessions.

Ask for help during a breakout session

Respond to a request for help in breakout sessions

Broadcast a message in breakout sessions

Raise your hand during a breakout session

Sort by raised hands