Microsoft Teams - Using the Lobby in Teams

This document provides an overview of how to use the lobby in Microsoft Teams.

A lobby is automatically part of every Teams meeting. The lobby settings include options to let certain people bypass the lobby. The lobby settings can be changed before and during the meeting.

Options for 'Who can bypass the lobby':

  • Only organizers and co-organizers
    • As the meeting organizer, you and any co-organizers can get into the meeting directly. Everyone else will wait in the lobby.
  • People who were invited
    • Anyone who receives the invitation, including those to whom it is forwarded, will join the meeting directly. People without a Teams account won't be able to bypass the lobby.
  • People in my org
    • Only people within your org can get into your meeting directly. Everyone else will wait in the lobby.
  • People in my org and guests
    • People in your org and people with guest access can get into your meeting directly.
  • People in my org, trusted orgs, and guests
    • Anyone from your organization and organizations with which your IT admin has set up a connection, or anyone joining as a guest, will be able to bypass the lobby.
  • Everyone
    • Anyone who has access to the meeting link can get into the meeting directly, including people who call in.

Before the meeting

Lobby options during scheduling

When scheduling the meeting, make sure the Options pane is open.

teams lobby option pane

Under Options, the ‘Who can bypass the lobby’ lets you select who will be automatically admitted to the meeting. Click the dropdown to select a group.

teams lobby bypass options

Click More Options for additional lobby settings.

teams lobby more options

The Meeting options window will appear. 

  • Under Security, the ‘Who can admit from the lobby’ drop-down setting lets you select the people who will have the ability to admit lobby guests into the meeting. 
  • The ‘People dialing in can bypass the lobby’ setting lets you enable or disable the ability for people dialing in to bypass the lobby.
  • Click Save after you've made your selections. 

teams meeting security options

Click Save to save the meeting.

Editing lobby options before the meeting

To edit the lobby settings for a scheduled meeting, edit the meeting from your Teams Calendar.

Click the Details tab at the top.

Click Meeting Options.

lobby details and meeting options

A browser window will open and display the Meeting access settings.

  • Under Meeting Access, the ‘Who can bypass the lobby’ drop-down setting lets you select who will be automatically admitted to the meeting. 
  • The ‘Who can admit from the lobby’ drop-down setting lets you select the people who will have the ability to admit lobby guests into the meeting. 
  • The ‘People dialing in can bypass the lobby’ setting lets you enable or disable the ability for people dialing in to bypass the lobby.

lobby meeting access settings

Click Save after you've made your changes.

During the meeting

After the meeting has been started, the lobby settings can still be updated.

Click the More button on the Teams control bar.

teams lobby more options

Click Settings.

teams lobby more settings

Click Meeting Options.

teams lobby settings options

The Meeting options window will appear.

  • Under Security, the ‘Who can bypass the lobby’ drop-down setting lets you select who will be automatically admitted to the meeting. 
  • The ‘Who can admit from the lobby’ drop-down setting lets you select the people who will have the ability to admit lobby guests into the meeting. 
  • The ‘People dialing in can bypass the lobby’ setting lets you enable or disable the ability for people dialing in to bypass the lobby.
  • Click Save after you've made your changes. 

teams lobby security settings screen

 

When a guest enters the lobby, a 'Waiting in the lobby' popup will appear. Click Admit to let them into the meeting. Click Deny if you do not want them to enter the meeting.

teams lobby admit guest

To view the Participants window and see if anyone is waiting in the lobby, click the People button on the Teams control bar. 

teams lobby people button

 In the Participants window, you will see a 'Waiting in the Lobby' section at the top when a guest is currently in the lobby. Click the green check to let them into the meeting. Click the red X if you do not want them to enter the meeting.

teams lobby participant window



Keywords:
microsoft teams, lobby, bypass lobby, admit from lobby, lobby settings 
Doc ID:
148638
Owned by:
Zoom Z. in Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Created:
2025-02-26
Updated:
2025-02-27
Sites:
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville