Passcodes protect your Zoom meetings from random discovery or mistakenly typed meeting IDs. Meeting passcodes are required for all scheduled and instant meetings; all meeting types in Zoom Meetings for HIPAA require passcodes.

When a passcode is set, Zoom will include an encoded passcode string in the meeting URL, allowing your invited attendees to join with one click. Invites will also provide the passcode so that participants can join manually or call in by phone, if needed.

Managing Passcodes

Passcodes can be managed from the Zoom website, Zoom app, or Blackboard integration. When scheduling a meeting, a passcode will be generated automatically. You can edit this passcode at any time.

The below steps will walk through editing an existing meeting’s passcode using the Zoom website. If you are editing a Blackboard meeting, we recommend editing it in Blackboard directly to ensure your students receive the new passcode.

  1. Log in to Zoom Meetings using your BU Login. If you use Zoom Meetings for HIPAA, please log in here.
  2. Select “Meetings” from the menu on the left.
    Zoom web menu with meetings highlighted
  3. Locate your meeting from the list and click “Edit”.
    Zoom website meeting list with edit button highlighted
  4. Locate the “Security” section and change the passcode to what you would like.
    Zoom meeting passcode field highlighted
  5. Click “Save.”

Once updated, you will need to send an updated meeting invite to your attendees.

When Will Participants Need To Enter Passcodes?

In most cases, you and your participants will not need to explicitly enter a meeting passcode. Meeting invites and Blackboard sessions include an encoded passcode in the one-click join URL, allowing your invitees to join the meeting without any extra steps.

Additionally, if you have connected Zoom with your calendar, the Zoom desktop and mobile apps will allow you to join without any extra steps directly from the Home or Meetings tabs.

The following scenarios will require a participant to enter the passcode:

  • Manually entering a meeting ID number of a passcode-protected meeting whether clicking “Join” in the Zoom app or when joining from https://zoom.us/join.
  • Joining a meeting from a phone call when you do not provide your Participant ID number (displayed after joining a meeting from the Zoom client).
  • Manually joining a meeting from a SIP or H.323-based telepresence device.