# Using the Waiting Room
<a name="waiting-room"></a>

When anonymous users try to join an Amazon Chime meeting, they automatically go to the Waiting Room, and the **Waiting Room** section appears in the **Attendees** panel.

You become an anonymous user when:
+ You don't have an Amazon Chime account.
+ You have an Amazon Chime account, but you don't use your account credentials to sign in.

External users who are registered and signed in but not part of the meeting organizers Amazon Chime group also go to the Waiting Room. However, the meeting organizer can choose to let external users skip the Waiting Room. For more information about doing that, see [Allowing external attendees](understand-mtg-options.md#allow-external), in this guide.

Authenticated users always join Amazon Chime meetings without going to the Waiting Room. You become an authenticated user when:
+ You use your Amazon Chime credentials to sign in to the meeting and you belong to the same Amazon Chime group as the organizer.
+ The organizer includes `meet@chime.aws` in the meeting invitation and adds you to the attendee list.
+ The organizer makes you a delegate or a moderator.
+ You're the organizer.

For more information about delegates and moderators, see [Creating delegates](delegates.md) and [Scheduling moderated meetings](moderate-meeting.md), in this guide.

**Topics**
+ [

# Visual quick start guide
](wr-quick-start.md)
+ [

# Admitting or denying anonymous users
](admit-deny-anonymous.md)
+ [

# Turning the Waiting Room off or on
](turn-off-waiting-room.md)
+ [

# Leaving the Waiting Room
](leave-waiting-room.md)

# Visual quick start guide
<a name="wr-quick-start"></a>

When anonymous users try to join a meeting, the **Waiting Room** section appears in the **Attendees** panel. The following image shows the section. Numbers in the image correspond to the numbered text below.

![\[A list of names with Xs and checkmarks next to them, plus three numbered call outs.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/chime/latest/ug/images/waiting-room-basic.png)


In the image:

1. The red oval displays the number of users in the Waiting Room. Under **Apply to all**, choose the **X** to deny all users, or select the checkmark to admit all users.

1. To deny or admit individual users, select the **X** or checkmark next to that user's name, phone number, or conference room ID.

1. Users that you admit to the meeting appear in the **Present** section. The brackets (**< >**) indicate anonymous users.

# Admitting or denying anonymous users
<a name="admit-deny-anonymous"></a>

Meeting hosts, moderators, delegates, and authorized attendees can admit anonymous users or prevent them from attending.

You're an authorized attendee when:
+ You use your Amazon Chime credentials to sign in to the meeting.

  —and—

  You belong to the same Amazon Chime account as the meeting organizer.

The following sets of steps explain how to do both tasks.

**To admit an attendee from the Waiting Room**
+ In the **Waiting Room** section of the **Attendees** panel, select the checkmark next to the attendee that you want to admit.

  —or—

  To admit everyone in the Waiting Room, select the checkmark under **Apply to all**.

**To deny an attendee in the Waiting Room**
+ In the **Waiting Room** section of the **Attendees** panel, select the X next to the attendee that you want to deny.

  —or—

  To deny admission to everyone in the Waiting Room, select the X under **Apply to all**.

# Turning the Waiting Room off or on
<a name="turn-off-waiting-room"></a>

The steps in this section explain how to turn the Waiting Room off and on during a meeting. You can also turn the waiting room off for external attendees. For more information about doing that, see [Setting meeting options](understand-mtg-options.md), in this guide.

**Important**  
You must be a meeting host, delegate, or moderator to turn the Waiting Room off or on.
When you turn the Waiting Room off, all current and future anonymous attendees can join the meeting directly.
If you subsequently turn the waiting room on, new anonymous or restricted users must wait to be admitted
Hosts, moderators, and delegates can also lock meetings to prevent unauthorized attendees from joining. When you lock a meeting, only current and invited attendees can join. For more information, see [Locking a meeting](lock-actions.md), in this guide.

**Note**  
You must have at least one person in the waiting room in order to turn it off.

**To turn off the Waiting Room**

1. On the left control bar, open the More menu (**...**).

1. Choose **Turn off Waiting Room**.  
![\[An ellipsis menu and the Turn off Waiting Room menu command.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/chime/latest/ug/images/waiting-room-off.png)

To turn the Waiting Room on, repeat the steps listed above.

# Leaving the Waiting Room
<a name="leave-waiting-room"></a>

If you find yourself in the Waiting Room, you can leave at any time.

**To leave the Waiting Room**

1. Choose **Leave meeting**. 

1. In the **Are you sure you want to leave this meeting** dialog box, choose **Leave meeting**.
**Note**  
The dialog box does not appear when you leave a moderated meeting.