BrainsMingle Help

Create breakout rooms

Last updated

Breakout rooms split participants into smaller groups for focused discussions during a live session. Set the number of rooms, choose manual or random assignment, set a duration, and launch — all from the call toolbar.

Before you get started

  • You must have a host or moderator role to create breakout rooms.
  • You must be in an active live session. The Breakout Rooms control is in the call toolbar. See Use the video call toolbar for a full overview.
  • Breakout rooms is a Beta feature. Availability may vary.

Open the Breakout Rooms panel

  1. Click the Breakout Rooms icon in the call toolbar.
  2. The Breakout Rooms panel opens on the right side of the screen.
  3. Click + Create Rooms.
The Breakout Rooms panel in its empty state showing a Create Rooms button
The Breakout Rooms panel before any rooms have been created

Configure breakout rooms

  1. Set the Number of rooms using the + and − controls.

  2. Choose an Assignment method:

    • Manual — assign participants to rooms yourself.
    • Random — the platform distributes participants automatically.

  3. Set the Duration:

    • 5 min, 10 min, or 15 min — preset durations.
    • Custom — enter a custom duration in minutes.

  4. Click Create Rooms.

The Create Breakout Rooms dialog showing number of rooms controls, Manual and Random assignment method options, and duration presets for 5, 10, 15 minutes and Custom
The breakout rooms configuration dialog with room count, assignment method, and duration options

During breakout rooms

When breakout rooms are active:

  • Participants leave the main session view and join their assigned room.
  • The host remains in the main session and can monitor all rooms from the Breakout Rooms panel.
  • The host can broadcast messages to all rooms simultaneously.
  • A timer counts down the remaining duration. When the timer expires, all participants return to the main session automatically.

Close breakout rooms

Breakout rooms close automatically when the timer expires. To close them early, click Close Rooms in the Breakout Rooms panel. All participants return to the main session immediately.

Related articles