Overview

This knowledge base article explains how to disable the Waiting Room so that participants can join your Zoom meetings without being admitted by the host. It includes clear steps for both individual accounts and organization-admin accounts.

Prerequisites

- Zoom account access via the web portal (not the desktop app settings page).

- If you are part of an organization, you may need Zoom admin rights to change account or group-level settings.

- Zoom requires every meeting to have at least one security control: Passcode, Waiting Room, or Only authenticated users can join. If you turn off Waiting Room, ensure either Passcode or Only authenticated users is enabled.

Part A - Individual user (Personal/Pro)

1) Sign in at https://zoom.us and open the Settings page.

2) Select the Meeting tab.

3) In the Security section, find Waiting Room.

4) Toggle Waiting Room to Off.

5) When prompted, confirm the change. If the option is grayed out, it is locked by your organization; contact your Zoom admin.

6) (Recommended) Verify a security alternative:

   - Ensure Passcode is enabled for meetings, or

   - Enable Only authenticated users can join.

7) For any previously scheduled meetings, open each meeting and make sure “Enable Waiting Room” is unchecked (meeting-level settings can override your default).

Part B - Organization admin (apply for all 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) (Optional) Click the “Lock” icon to enforce this setting for all users in the account.

6) To scope this by group instead of the whole account:

   a) Go to User Management — Groups.

   b) Select the target group.

   c) Open the Meeting tab.

   d) In Security, set Waiting Room to Off and (optional) “Lock”.

7) Ensure a compliant security option is enabled at the account or group level:

   - Require that all meetings are secured with one security option (recommended).

   - 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 the Waiting Room enabled. 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 (e.g., only guests go to Waiting Room).

- 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 have slightly different defaults; use in-meeting “Security” or “Host tools” controls to adjust on the fly if needed.

- Organization admins can “Lock” settings to enforce them and prevent user overrides.