Environment
U-M Zoom
Issue
Why does a participant in my Zoom Meeting or Webinar show up as a Guest?
Resolution
Starting August 17, 2020, all users will be able to easily identify users in a Zoom Meeting or Webinar who are:
- Not signed in to a Zoom account, OR
- Signed in from an email address that is not in the same account as the host
These users will appear in the Participants list with (Guest) following the display name and a faint highlight around the participant.
Who sees that someone is a Guest?
- Everyone in a Zoom Meeting can see the participant list, but only some of those people can see who is a Guest
- Only the Host, Co-Hosts, and Panelists in a Zoom Webinar can see the participant list, but only some of those people can see who is a Guest
- Refer to the below table to learn who can see the Guest designation and who cannot
| Role in Meeting or Webinar |
Do they see that someone is a Guest? (if they can see the participant list) |
| Host |
Yes |
| Guest(s) |
No - Guest participants do not see (Guest) or the highlight for themselves or other users |
| Co-hosts, panelists, and other participants who are members of the same account as the host |
Yes |
Additional Information
Benefits of This Feature
- Hosts and co-hosts can more easily scan the participants list for potentially malicious visitors (Zoombombers) by only looking at Guest users rather than looking at all users
- Note: not all Guests are Zoombombers! Guests may be invited participants. ALMOST ALL Zoombombers will show up as Guests, but MOST Guests are not Zoombombers.
- If someone who should be the host of the meeting does not have host controls, someone can check if the host appears as a Guest to identify the issue; the most common reason that a host does not see host controls is because they did not log in, so Zoom does not know they are the host
- The resolution to this issue would be for the person to Claim Host by clicking Participants > Claim Host and either signing in (using SSO!) or entering the Host Key
- If the host is planning to use pre-assigned breakout rooms, users who are not signed in will not end up in the correct rooms, so being able to identify Guests helps to identify people who may not be signed in and thus may not end up in the correct room
The ability to see who is a Guest in a Zoom Meeting or Webinar is controlled by the user setting Identify guest participants in the meeting/webinar. This setting has been available previously for individual users to opt to turn on, but U-M made the decision recently to turn the setting on for all users and lock it on to increase security and have a consistent experience for all users. Users will no longer be able to turn the setting off.