Resolving breakout room issues for host of meeting

Question

Resolving breakout room issues for host of meeting

Brian Norman 40

When learners are in teams breakout rooms and the meeting host tries to join them, the host is unable to enter and gets put 'on hold' which shuts of both camera and mic; although they can hear the discussion in the breakout room? Any advice on resolving this welcomed.

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Answer 1

Aetherin 1,465 Independent Advisor

Hi @Brian Norman,

Based on Microsoft's documentation, when an organizer or breakout room manager joins a breakout room, Teams automatically turns off their camera and microphone upon entry. The organizer will need to manually turn them back on after joining the room. Therefore, this behavior is generally considered expected behavior by design rather than a malfunction.

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Regarding the "On hold" status, it is likely related to the way Teams manages breakout rooms. When you move into a breakout room, Teams places your connection to the main meeting on hold in the background while the breakout room becomes your active session. In other words, seeing "On hold" does not necessarily mean that you failed to join the breakout room. Since the host can still hear participants in the breakout room, it suggests that they have successfully entered the room and that the status is simply reflecting what is happening with the main meeting connection.

However, there may also be other factors contributing to the "On hold" status. I noticed that some AI-assisted suggestions in the forum mentioned a few potential causes and troubleshooting steps that you may want to review and rule out. The automatic disabling of the camera and microphone, however, is documented behavior by design and is not caused by the "On hold" status.

I hope this answer helps clarify the behavior you're experiencing. Thank you so much for taking time.

Brian Norman 40 Reputation points

2026-08-19T15:56:22.6066667+00:00

Thanks. However my camera and mic remains greyed out? It is like I get stuck while entering the room. I have confirmed that I am set as the meeting organisor.
Aetherin 1,465 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-20T09:04:31.2233333+00:00

Hi @Brian Norman,

Thank you for your reply.

If the button remains greyed out, it may indicate that Teams has not fully completed the transition from the main meeting into the breakout room.

Just to confirm, are you using the Teams desktop app? If you're using the Teams desktop app, it may also be worth updating Teams to the latest version and clearing the Teams cache before testing again, as outdated builds or corrupted cache data can sometimes cause unexpected meeting or breakout room behavior.

Additionally, please ensure that no other application is currently using your microphone or camera.

Please let me know the results, and I'll be happy to take a closer look.
Aetherin 1,465 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-21T11:33:12.0966667+00:00

Hi @Brian Norman,

Have you had a chance to check the replies provided? Any update would be appreciated.

Answer 2

Try these checks and workarounds for the organizer being put on hold when joining a Teams breakout room:

Confirm the organizer is joining from a supported Teams desktop client on Windows, VDI, or macOS. Breakout rooms can be attended from web, iOS, iPadOS, Android, Chromebook, Linux, and PSTN, but those clients cannot manage breakout rooms.
Verify the organizer is actually the meeting organizer or was set as a breakout room manager. If not, Breakout rooms controls may not work correctly.
Check whether meeting room mode is enabled on the organizer device. Breakout rooms are not supported in meeting room mode. In Teams, go to More > Settings > Optimize for room and turn it off if enabled.
If some participants are on unsupported devices or older Teams versions, breakout room movement and room behavior can fail. Ask affected users to update Teams and rejoin the meeting.
If the organizer still cannot enter correctly, try leaving the attempt and rejoining the breakout room from the breakout rooms panel again.
If the issue continues, collect Teams logs from both the organizer and one affected participant, then report it through Help > Give Feedback in Teams. For Microsoft Support troubleshooting, log files from both machines are needed.

Relevant causes from Teams guidance include unsupported clients, not being the organizer or breakout room manager, and breakout rooms being unsupported in meeting room mode.