How to Turn Off the Waiting Room for Zoom Meetings by Default Print

Overview

This article explains how to disable the Waiting Room so that participants can join your Zoom meetings without being admitted by the host. Steps are provided for both individual accounts and organization admin accounts.

Prerequisites

• Zoom account access via the web portal at zoom.us (not the desktop app settings)
• If you are part of an organization, you may need Zoom admin rights to change account or group-level settings

Part A - Individual User (Personal/Pro)

1. Sign in at zoom.us and open the Settings page
2. Click the Meeting tab
3. In the Security section, locate Waiting Room
4. Toggle Waiting Room to Off
5. Confirm the change when prompted - if the option is grayed out, it is locked by your organization and you will need to contact your Zoom admin
6. Verify a security alternative is in place:
   • Ensure Passcode is enabled for meetings, or
   • Enable Only authenticated users can join
7. For any previously scheduled meetings, open each meeting and confirm Enable Waiting Room is unchecked, as meeting-level settings can override your default

Part B - Organization Admin (Apply for All Users or Specific Groups)

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin
2. Go to Account Management > Account Settings
3. Click the Meeting tab
4. Under Security, toggle Waiting Room to Off
5. Optionally click the Lock icon to enforce this setting for all users in the account
6. To apply this to a specific group instead of the whole account:
   • Go to User Management > Groups
   • Select the target group
   • Open the Meeting tab
   • Under Security, set Waiting Room to Off and optionally lock the setting
7. Ensure a compliant security option is enabled at the account or group level:
   • Enable Passcode for meetings, or
   • Enforce Only authenticated users can join
8. Inform users that existing scheduled meetings may retain older security settings and should be reviewed

Verify on a Test Meeting

1. Schedule a new test meeting
2. Confirm that Enable Waiting Room is unchecked and that either a Passcode is present or Only authenticated users is selected
3. Start the meeting and verify attendees can join without host admission

Troubleshooting

• Waiting Room toggle is grayed out: The setting is locked at the group or account level - contact your Zoom admin to change it
• Participants still land in Waiting Room: The specific meeting may have Waiting Room enabled at the meeting level - edit the meeting and uncheck Enable Waiting Room
• Join before host not working: If Waiting Room is enabled for all participants, join before host will not work - turn Waiting Room off or configure bypass rules
• Compliance errors when turning off Waiting Room: Ensure Passcode or Only authenticated users is enabled to meet Zoom security requirements

Notes

• Instant meetings and phone calls elevated to meetings may have different defaults - use the in-meeting Security or Host Tools controls to adjust on the fly if needed
• Organization admins can lock settings to enforce them and prevent individual users from overriding them