If you've ever run a remote meeting where someone shared their screen by accident, or guests wandered in uninvited, you know: managing attendees and permissions in Gotomeeting can make or break your call. This guide is for anyone who wants less chaos, fewer surprises, and more control—whether you're running weekly team check-ins or juggling client calls.
Let's break down the must-dos, the time-wasters, and some no-nonsense tips to make your meetings smoother.
Step 1: Understand Gotomeeting’s Roles and Permissions
First things first: know what you can (and can't) control.
Gotomeeting keeps things pretty simple. There are three main roles:
- Organizer: The person who schedules and controls the meeting. Full control—think host, bouncer, and tech support rolled into one.
- Co-organizer: Backup hosts you assign. Almost everything an Organizer can do, except delete the meeting or change its schedule.
- Attendee: Everyone else. Can participate, chat, and sometimes share screen if you let them. No admin powers.
What’s missing? Granular permission settings. You can’t set up custom roles or limit access to individual features for specific users. If you need fine-grained controls, Gotomeeting isn’t the most flexible tool out there.
Pro tip: If you’re running big events or need detailed controls, consider whether you’re using the right platform. For most team calls and client meetings, Gotomeeting’s simplicity is a feature, not a bug.
Step 2: Set Up Your Meeting with the Right Controls
Scheduling the Meeting
- Use the desktop app or web dashboard. Both are straightforward, but the web is less glitchy.
- Always set a password for sensitive meetings. It’s an extra click, but keeps out uninvited guests.
- Decide if you want to allow attendees to join before you. This is off by default (which is safer), but sometimes useful for informal calls.
Inviting Attendees
- Invite people by email through Gotomeeting, or just send them the join link. Both work, but email invites are easier to track.
- For recurring meetings, double-check who’s on the invite list. People get added, dropped, or forwarded links without you noticing.
What to skip: Don’t bother with the Outlook plugin unless your whole team lives in Outlook. It’s clunky and causes more problems than it solves.
Step 3: Assign Co-Organizers (When You Actually Need Them)
You don’t need a co-organizer for every meeting. But for bigger calls or when you can’t be there the whole time, they’re a lifesaver.
How to Add a Co-Organizer
- Schedule or open your meeting.
- In the meeting settings, look for “Co-organizers” (sometimes buried under “More Options”).
- Enter their email address. They’ll get an invite with organizer-level access.
Honest take: Don’t give out co-organizer access just to be nice. Only assign it to people who actually need to moderate or help manage the call. Too many cooks = confusion.
Step 4: Control Who Can Join
Gotomeeting isn’t immune to “Zoombombing”-style disruptions, but you can minimize risk.
Lock Your Meeting
- Once everyone’s in, use the “Lock Meeting” option. This stops latecomers (and strangers) from joining.
- If you want to let someone in late, just unlock temporarily.
Use the Waiting Room (a.k.a. Lobby)
- Gotomeeting doesn’t have a full-featured waiting room like Zoom, but you can prevent people from joining before the organizer arrives.
- For higher-security, combine this setting with passwords.
Remove Unwanted Attendees
- Click on their name in the People pane and select “Remove.”
- They can technically rejoin if they have the link—so lock the meeting if you’re worried.
Don’t bother: Don’t waste time trying to block users by domain or IP. Gotomeeting doesn’t support this for regular meetings.
Step 5: Manage Screen Sharing and Mics
This is where most meetings go off the rails.
Control Screen Sharing
- By default, organizers and co-organizers can share screens. You can allow attendees to share, but think twice with large groups.
- To change sharing permissions:
- During the meeting, click the Screen icon, then pick who can share.
- You can switch this on the fly if someone needs to present.
Pro tip: If you’re worried about distractions or confidential info, only let organizers share and grant access as needed.
Mute and Unmute
- You can mute everyone, individual people, or specific troublemakers.
- Use “Mute All” when background noise gets out of hand.
- Attendees can unmute themselves unless you use “Mute All and Block Unmute.”
What works: The “Mute All” button is your friend. Just remember, muting doesn’t silence private chats—so if someone’s being disruptive, consider removing them.
Step 6: Use Chat and File Sharing Wisely
Chat is handy, but it can also derail meetings fast.
- You can restrict chat to organizers only, or let everyone message.
- If chat turns into a distraction (side conversations, off-topic links), shut it down temporarily.
- File sharing is limited in Gotomeeting—links are fine, but don’t expect a Slack-like experience.
Ignore: Don’t try to use Gotomeeting as a file sharing or persistent chat platform. It’s just not built for that. Stick to what it does well.
Step 7: Review Attendance and Follow Up
If you need to track who showed up:
- After the meeting, go to your meeting history in the dashboard.
- Download the attendee report (available for Pro and Plus users).
- Use it for billing, compliance, or just to see who bailed.
What’s missing: Free plans don’t get full attendee reports. If you need this for every call, check your plan before promising attendance tracking.
Step 8: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
- Don’t re-use meeting links for every call. Old links get forwarded and you lose control of who joins.
- Don’t assign co-organizer to external clients. They get too much power—stick to internal team members.
- Don’t rely on chat for Q&A. Use the “Raise Hand” feature or just ask people to unmute.
- Don’t forget to lock your meetings. Especially with sensitive topics or external guests.
Step 9: Gotomeeting Permissions That Don’t Exist (Don’t Waste Time Looking)
Gotomeeting is intentionally simple. It doesn’t let you:
- Set granular permissions (e.g., “Jim can chat but not share screen”)
- Restrict access by email domain or region
- Assign roles beyond organizer, co-organizer, and attendee
- Pre-approve attendees (outside of webinar mode)
If you need this level of control, you’ll need a more complex (and probably pricier) tool.
Keep It Simple and Adjust As Needed
You don’t need to micromanage every setting to run a tight meeting. Start with the basics: only invite who you need, set a password, assign a backup organizer if needed, and lock the room once you start. Most issues—unwanted guests, chaos on the mic, surprise screen shares—can be handled in real time with a few clicks.
Gotomeeting isn’t perfect, but its simplicity is a strength. Try a few of these steps in your next meeting. If something goes sideways, tweak your settings and move on. The best meeting controls are the ones you actually use.
Good luck—here’s to fewer surprises and better meetings.