Despite our best efforts, conflicts in meeting schedules could still happen. But unlike in-person meetings where you can only be in one physical location at a time, Zoom meetings can allow you to be present in both meetings.

Can You Join Two Zoom Meetings at once?

Business, Enterprise, and Education accounts can join two Zoom meetings at once by enabling the option in their Zoom settings. Zoom Basic and Pro account holders can use a combination of different devices or applications, such as the Zoom desktop app and a browser.

You cannot join two meetings simultaneously if you only use the Zoom desktop or mobile app. Zoom will disconnect you from the first meeting before allowing you to join the second meeting. You can, however, join multiple meetings if you use a combination of devices or browser tabs.

For instance, you can join one meeting on the Zoom desktop app and another in the mobile app. Or you can use the desktop app for one meeting and a browser session for another meeting.

However, this second method will result in the audio from both meetings coming through the same set of speakers or your headphones, which isn’t ideal.

As mentioned earlier, for Zoom Business, Enterprise, or Education accounts, there is already an option called “Join different meetings simultaneously on desktop” which needs to be enabled by the admin before users can start using it.

For the rest of this article, we will be assuming that you are using a Zoom free or Pro account.

In this demonstration, you’ll see I have two meetings scheduled for 5pm and I’ll connect to the first one I’ve arranged with Wilson.

Having started my meeting with Wilson, if I then go and try to join my meeting with Herman, you see that the option to join is greyed out.

I’ll go into my calendar and open my appointment with Herman. There I’ll click on the link to the meeting, which will automatically open in a browser window.

Now I’m prompted to launch the meeting in the Zoom desktop app, but by doing so I get that message requesting that I first end the meeting I’m currently in with Wilson.

If I go back into my browser window, this time rather than opening the meeting in the Zoom app, I’ll click the Cancel button. Zoom then gives me an additional option to join the meeting in a browser session.

By choosing this option I can be in both meetings simultaneously. One using the Zoom desktop App and the other in a browser tab.

However, as I already mentioned, using this method will result in the audio from both meetings coming through my computer’s speakers, which will be very confusing.

To get around the audio issues, it’s probably best to use different devices. And for this, I recommend having one meeting open on your desktop and another using the mobile app. At least then you separate the audio channels.

Aside from accidental scheduling conflicts, there could also be other more deliberate reasons for joining multiple meetings. An example is if you are in a monitoring or support role, and you need to jump in quickly if needed.

In such situations, it might be less confusing to mute all incoming audio altogether and rely on the chat box instead. Just be sure to set expectations on how you would participate in the meeting beforehand.

On this website, we’re all about tech tips to save time and find ways to be a little less busy. It would be useful to consider that, even though it is possible to join two meetings at the same time, would you actually be productive in both? I know I wouldn’t.

And would you end up having to go back and spend more time reviewing what was actually discussed? Adding more work for your already busy schedule? Perhaps a simpler alternative is to just excuse yourself from one meeting and just ask for the meeting notes. And then try to make sure not to be slated on multiple meetings again in the future.

In the next section, we’ll talk about how to join a meeting on a mobile app. We’ll use an iPhone as an example, but the Zoom mobile app looks very similar across most mobile devices.

How to Join a meeting in Zoom on iPhone

To join a Zoom meeting on iPhone you will need the Zoom app. If you don’t have the app you will be prompted to install it from the app store.

Once the app is installed there are really only two ways of joining a meeting. Either you received a link in an email or text message, which will take you directly to the meeting. Or, alternatively, if you’ve been provided the meeting ID and password you can use those details to sign in.

Here we see Wilson has received an invite by email. Clicking the link opens the meeting in the Zoom app and Wilson will join the meeting once the Host allows him to do so.

If you receive the link via chat message or SMS, it’s a similar story. Simply clicking the link will launch the meeting in your Zoom app.

The alternative option is to use the meeting ID and password. Make a note of the details, open the Zoom app, click on Join a Meeting, and enter the Meeting ID. You’ll then be prompted for the password, which once submitted will allow you entry into the meeting.

Notice that we didn’t mention anything about registering for a Zoom account. This is because you can join a Zoom meeting even if you do not have a Zoom account. More on this in the next section.

Can You Join a Zoom Meeting Without an Account?

Regardless of whether you join a meeting using a computer or mobile device, you do not need a Zoom account. You simply need to click on the link and provide your name.

If you are on a desktop or laptop, you can join a meeting using either the Zoom app or in a browser tab. If you’re on a mobile phone you’ll need to install the Zoom app from your app store before you can join a meeting.

On desktop, click on the Zoom meeting link. This will open a browser window and prompt you to open the Zoom app.

If you don’t have the app installed it will begin downloading.

If you’d rather not install the app, click on the blue Launch Meeting button. This will give you the additional option to open the meeting in the browser window. You’ll then be prompted to verify you’re not a robot and provide your name for the purposes of the meeting.

Alternatively, if you decide to install the app, your meeting will launch automatically. Once again, you’re prompted to provide your name so the other attendees know who you are.

If you are connecting via your mobile device, start by downloading and installing the Zoom app from the App Store. Once installed, clicking the meeting link will automatically launch the Zoom app. Pop your name in and wait for the host to admit you into the meeting.

And that’s how you join a Zoom meeting without creating a Zoom account.

Hope these tips were helpful! And for more tips like these, please check out my YouTube playlist of Zoom Tips. See you there!