How to Join a Zoom Meeting: Available Methods and Instructions

How to join a Zoom meeting

There are 5 common ways to join a meeting:

As each has its own differences, we’ll address them individually, with a complete breakdown of each step and screenshots to help guide you along.

1. How to join from Zoom desktop client

1. Open the Zoom app on your desktop. An easy way to do this is to type Zoom in the search bar and click Start Zoom.

2. Click Sign In to log in to Zoom.

3. Choose your sign in method. Enter your email and password or choose to sign in with SSO, Google, or Facebook.

4. Once signed in, click Join to join a meeting.

5. Enter a meeting ID, personal link, or click the drop down to choose from recently used meeting IDs.

6. With the meeting ID entered, click do not connect to audio or turn off my video to adjust these settings.

7. Once you’ve made the selections, click Join to join the meeting.

8. You’re done! You’ll now be in the meeting.

2. How to join using the Zoom app on mobile

1. Open the Zoom app on your mobile device by tapping the Zoom app icon.

2. Tap Sign In to log into your Zoom account.

3. Enter your email and password or tap to sign in via SSO, Google, or Facebook.

Pro Tip

Zoom should automatically launch. If it doesn’t, tap Launch Zoom to proceed.

4. Once signed in, Tap Join to join a meeting. 

5. Tap the Meeting ID field and enter the meeting ID. Alternatively, tap join with a personal link name and enter the personal link name.

6. Tap the toggle buttons for Don’t Connect To Audio and Turn Off My Video to enable or disable them when you join the meeting.

7. Once ready, tap Join Meeting.

Pro Tip

The first time you join a conference call on mobile, Zoom will prompt you to give permissions to access your device’s microphone, camera, and storage. Tap Got It to proceed, and tap Allow for the device permissions you want to enable. These are recommended for the optimal experience.

3. How to join from an email invitation link

To join a meeting from an email invitation, you must receive an email from the person hosting the meeting.

1. Find the email with the invitation in your inbox, open it, and tap the meeting link.

2. This will open the Zoom app, and you should automatically join the meeting shortly thereafter. If your email service is browser-based, you may receive a prompt to open the app manually. Click Open Zoom Meetings or Launch Zoom to open the app and meeting if they do not open automatically.

3. The meeting will open in a separate window. Tap Join with Computer Audio to join the meeting using your computer audio.

Pro Tip

Before you join the meeting, you can make sure your audio and microphone are working by testing them. Tap Test Speaker and Microphone and follow the instructions to test that both are working before you join.

4. You’re all done. You’re in the meeting!

How to join from an email invitation link on mobile

Joining a meeting from an email invitation link is almost exactly the same on mobile. Find the email in your inbox, and tap the Join Meeting Link to open the meeting. The browser will open, and will give you the option to download the mobile app. Tap Join Meeting if you have the app downloaded.

4. How to join from a browser using the Zoom.us website

If you don’t have the Zoom app open on your device, you can still join a meeting from Zoom’s website. To join a Zoom conference call using your browser, follow the instructions below.

1. Go to the zoom.us website and tap Sign In in the top-right corner.

2. Enter your email address and password, and tap Sign In.

Pro Tip

Alternatively, you can sign in using paired accounts, including SSO, Google, or Facebook. Tap any of the options and follow the instructions to sign in via these alternative methods.

3. Once signed in, you will automatically be brought to the “Upcoming Meetings” tab, where all scheduled meetings will be displayed. Tap the meeting for more information. You can also tap Start or Join to start or join the meeting directly.

4. From the meeting information screen, you can view more details about the meeting. Tap Start this Meeting or Join the Meeting to initiate or join the meeting.

5. How to join by dialing in via telephone

To join a Zoom meeting via the telephone, you will need to know the regional dial-in number for your location. You can find a partial list by visiting Zoom’s International Dial-In Numbers page while logged into your account.

You can also find this information in the email invitation for the meeting. After opening the email invitation:

1. Simply dial the number for your region, or tap the number in the email to automatically open your phone with the number dialed.

2. If you dialed a one-tap number, skip to step 3. Otherwise, you will be prompted to enter the meeting ID number, followed by the “#” key.

3. If the meeting hasn’t started yet and the host hasn’t enabled the “Join Before Host” feature, you’ll be asked to enter the host key. Instead, press the “#” key again to mark yourself as a participant and wait for the host to arrive.

How to join multiple Zoom meetings at the same time

Participants can join multiple meetings simultaneously using the desktop client. This is ideally suited for support staff that may need to monitor multiple meetings at once. Once enabled, you can join multiple meetings using join URL or by navigating to https://zoom.us/join and entering the meeting ID.

We’ll cover how to join multiple meetings simultaneously — and enable this feature for the rest of your team — below.

How to join multiple Zoom meetings simultaneously

Joining multiple meetings is relatively simple, once the feature is enabled. Follow the steps below to join multiple meetings at once.

1. Join the first meeting using the Zoom desktop client.

2. After joining, navigate to https://zoom.us/join.

3. Once there, enter the meeting ID and click Join.

4. You will automatically launch the additional meeting.

How to enable “Join Different Meetings Simultaneously” on desktop for all members of your organization

You can enable the “Join Different Meetings Simultaneously” feature for all members on your account by following the steps below.

Image Credit: Zoom Support

How to enable “Join Different Meetings Simultaneously” on desktop for a specific group

If you want to only enable the “Join Different Meetings Simultaneously” on feature for a specific group of users, you can do that, too. Just follow these steps.

1. Sign into the Zoom web portal as an admin. This will ensure you have the privilege to edit groups.

2. From the navigation panel, click User Management and then Group Management.

3. Choose the group name that you wish to enable this setting for from the list, then click the Settings tab.

4. Click the Meeting tab.

5. Under the In Meeting (Basic) tab, find the setting to “Join Different Meetings Simultaneously on Desktop.”

6. To turn the setting on, tap the toggle switch. If a verification prompt comes up, click Turn On to verify.

Pro Tip

If the option to enable simultaneous meetings for a group is grayed out, it means that this feature has been locked at the admin level. To be able to edit it at the group level, it will first need to be enabled at the admin level. Contact your Zoom administrator to have this fixed.

7. To make this setting mandatory for all users in the group, click the lock icon and then click Lock to confirm.

Image Credit: Zoom Support

How to enable “Join Different Meetings Simultaneously” on desktop for a single user

You can even get “Join Different Meetings Simultaneously” to work for just you. Here’s how to do it.

Pro Tip

If the option to enable simultaneous meetings for just yourself is grayed out, it means that this feature has been locked at the admin level. To be able to edit at the individual level, it will need to be enabled at the admin level. Contact your Zoom administrator to have this fixed.

Final steps for joining Zoom calls

There are a couple of other things we want to show you that may come up before you actually get into the meeting.

Joining a password-protected meeting

You may need to enter a password, if the host has chosen to lock the meeting room with one. You can find this information on the meeting invitation, usually below the meeting ID number and dial-in phone numbers for supported regions. If the meeting allows for joining by telephone, a specific number-only password for phones will be included.

When prompted, click in the “Meeting Password” box (if necessary), type the password, and then hit Join Meeting / OK / the “#” key (on your phone).

Standing by in the Waiting Room

There’s another security feature that meeting hosts can enable called the Waiting Room. Basically, it’s a buffer zone that lets the host control who gets let into a meeting, and when.

If the host has enabled the Waiting Room for a meeting and hasn’t joined the meeting yet, you’ll see a window like the screenshot below pop up when you try to join a meeting.

When the host has joined the meeting, depending on their settings and preferences, they may let participants into the meeting one by one, or let them in all at once. They may also automatically let all participants in as soon as they join.

Testing your audio

On some platforms, there will be a Test (Computer) Audio button that you can click to access, test, and modify your Zoom settings before the meeting starts.

You’re all set to join any Zoom meeting! Check out our other posts on how to schedule a meeting and how to use Zoom to perfect your video calling experience.