What is Zoombombing and how Google Meet’s new waiting room feature can keep your online meetings secure

If you’ve ever joined an online meeting only to have uninvited guests disrupt the session, you’ve experienced what’s called zoombombing. It happens when people crash virtual meetings without permission, often posting inappropriate content or causing distractions. While the term became popular with Zoom, it can happen on any video conferencing platform, including Google Meet.

To tackle this issue, Google is introducing a new “waiting room” feature in Google Meet. Think of it like a virtual lobby where participants wait until the host allows them in. This gives hosts more control over who enters the meeting and helps prevent interruptions, ensuring discussions run smoothly and productively. Participants in the waiting room see a friendly message letting them know they will be admitted shortly. Hosts and co-hosts can decide who joins the meeting and even move someone back to the waiting room if needed. They can also send announcements to participants waiting, keeping them informed without disturbing the ongoing session.

The feature is particularly useful for sensitive or private meetings such as board discussions, client calls, interviews, or parent-teacher conferences, where hosts may want to prepare before everyone joins. It provides peace of mind and helps meetings start on a professional and organized note.

Enabling the waiting room is easy. Hosts can activate it while creating or editing a Google Calendar event, and admins can adjust default settings at the domain or group level. By default, the feature is off for end users, giving organizations flexibility in how they implement it. Google is rolling out this feature gradually starting October 23, 2025, and it will be available to most Google Workspace subscribers, including Business, Enterprise, Education, and individual plans.