How to Set Up a Webinar in Teams (Registration, Presenters and Q&A)
A webinar is a meeting with a front door: people register, you decide who presents, and attendees watch and ask questions rather than talk over each other. If you've ever run a 60-person "meeting" and regretted it, this is the fix.
Meeting, webinar or town hall?
• Meeting — everyone can talk and share. Up to about 300 people with everything on.
• Webinar — registration page, presenters vs attendees, Q&A. Up to 1,000 attendees.
• Town hall — a broadcast for very large audiences (10,000 or more). Attendees watch a stream; no cameras or mics for them.
• Webinar — registration page, presenters vs attendees, Q&A. Up to 1,000 attendees.
• Town hall — a broadcast for very large audiences (10,000 or more). Attendees watch a stream; no cameras or mics for them.
Most training sessions and customer events want a webinar.
Create the webinar
1. Click Calendar on the left of Teams.
2. Click the arrow next to New meeting and choose Webinar.
3. Fill in the title, date, time and a description for the registration page.
4. Under Presenters, add anyone who'll be speaking or sharing a screen. Add co-organisers if someone else should be able to manage it.
5. Click Save.
2. Click the arrow next to New meeting and choose Webinar.
3. Fill in the title, date, time and a description for the registration page.
4. Under Presenters, add anyone who'll be speaking or sharing a screen. Add co-organisers if someone else should be able to manage it.
5. Click Save.
Set up registration
1. On the webinar page, click Registration on the left.
2. Under Configuration, choose who can register: Everyone (public) or People in your organisation.
3. Set a capacity limit if you need one, and whether registrations need manual approval.
4. Under Attendee form, add any questions beyond name and email.
5. Click Publish site.
2. Under Configuration, choose who can register: Everyone (public) or People in your organisation.
3. Set a capacity limit if you need one, and whether registrations need manual approval.
4. Under Attendee form, add any questions beyond name and email.
5. Click Publish site.
Copy the registration link and share it. People who register get a confirmation email with their join link.
Meeting options for a webinar
Under Meeting options, the useful ones are:
• Attendee mics and cameras off — the default; attendees listen and use Q&A.
• Q&A on — questions go to a moderated panel where organisers can answer or publish them.
• Lobby — attendees usually bypass it, presenters always do.
• Record automatically — if you want to share it afterwards.
• Q&A on — questions go to a moderated panel where organisers can answer or publish them.
• Lobby — attendees usually bypass it, presenters always do.
• Record automatically — if you want to share it afterwards.
Run the event
Presenters click Join from their calendar. Attendees use the link from their confirmation email. During the event, presenters share slides with Share > PowerPoint Live, and organisers watch Q&A to pick questions.
Start a few minutes early and use the Green room (if enabled) to check mics before attendees can see you.
Afterwards
Open the webinar from your calendar:
• Registration shows who signed up, with a Download button.
• Attendance (under Recap) shows who actually came and for how long.
• The recording appears in the chat and in the organiser's OneDrive.
• Attendance (under Recap) shows who actually came and for how long.
• The recording appears in the chat and in the organiser's OneDrive.
Troubleshooting
"Webinar" isn't in the New meeting menu. Your licence or your organisation's settings don't include webinars. Use a normal meeting with attendees' mics off, or ask IT.
Attendees say the join link doesn't work. Each person's link is unique. Make sure they're using the one from their own confirmation email, not a forwarded one.
Registrations stopped. You hit the capacity limit, or registration closed because the start time passed. Change it under Registration > Configuration.
Wrapping up
New meeting > Webinar, add presenters, publish the registration page and share the link. Keep attendee mics off, turn on Q&A, and download the registration and attendance lists afterwards.
