Starting Your Instant Meeting vs Scheduling a Meeting

There are two types of meetings: Instant meetings and scheduled meetings.

Instant meetings allow you to immediately start a meeting, and subsequently, you can invite other participants to join this meeting at any time. You can click New Meeting from the main dialog box or click the video camera, with Meet with Video optionally selected, while in a chat with a contact or another channel. 

Scheduled meetings allow you to schedule a future meeting - either a future one-time meeting or future recurring meetings. To schedule future meetings, you can open your calendar (or manually open any contacts' calendar) or send an email invite to create the meeting. These methods allow you to schedule the time/date and invite others to join your scheduled meeting. 

This article covers:

• Scheduled meetings
• Instant meetings

Scheduled meetings

You can schedule a future one-time meeting or a future recurring meeting. There are several ways to schedule a meeting. You can invite your participants ahead of time and include the invitation on a calendar or send it out through email. Learn more about scheduling meetings and meeting IDs.

Instant meetings

You can start an instant meeting with these methods. The meeting starts instantly and you can invite others to join this meeting at any time. You can use your Personal Meeting ID for instant meetings.

To start an instant meeting:

1. In the Zoom client's home tab, click New Meeting.
   You can also click the downward arrow for instant meeting options.
   
2. While in a chat with a contact or another channel, click the video camera to start an instant meeting.
   You can also click the down arrow for instant meeting options.
   
3. On the Zoom website, sign in to your account and click Host a Meeting.
   
   Note: An instant meeting ID started from Zoom desktop client, Zoom mobile app, or the Zoom website will expire as soon as the meeting has ended. Instant meeting IDs scheduled through the API will expire after 24 - 48 hours.