Use this walkthrough to enter an ad-hoc meeting from an activity or a direct-message conversation, confirm that you are connected, and leave without confusing the meeting stage with the call itself.
The entry point changes with the conversation, but the rest of the meeting experience is shared. Follow the preparation first, take the activity or direct-message branch, then continue with the common checkpoints.
Before You Begin
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Sign in - Meetings are available to signed-in users. Make sure you are using the account that belongs to the relevant space or direct-message conversation.
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Check activity access - For an activity meeting, you must belong to the space and be able to open the activity. If it is inside a private area, you must also belong to that area.
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Check conversation access - For a direct-message call, you must be a participant in that conversation. Access to a related space does not grant access to the call.
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Use an active activity - An archived activity cannot start a new meeting. Its activity menu does not offer Start Meeting. A draft activity also does not offer the normal meeting action from its message controls.
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Look for an existing room - Each activity and each direct-message conversation can have only one active room. If a Voice entry or meeting action is already visible, join that room instead of looking for another start action.
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Remember the personal limit - Several rooms can be active across a space, but you can be connected to only one meeting at a time. Entering another room replaces your current call.
Starting, joining, and reopening are related but different. Start creates the room and connects the first participant. Join connects you to a room that is already active. Open returns you to the stage of the room you have already joined; it does not create another connection.
Start Or Join An Activity Meeting
Use this branch when the conversation belongs to a space activity.
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Open the correct space and activity - Confirm the activity name and, for a private area, that you are in the intended private context before starting. Everyone who enters the room must pass the same activity access boundary.
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Check beneath the activity - An existing meeting appears as a Voice entry beneath the activity. It can show the call duration and current participants, so pause here before creating anything.
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Start a new room - If no Voice entry exists, open the activity menu and choose Start Meeting. When you are in the activity conversation, the Start meeting action beside the message composer can start the same room. The action disappears once that activity already has an active meeting.
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Join the active room - If Voice is already present, select its header. Visual Space joins the existing room and opens its stage; it does not create a second meeting for the activity.
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Reopen instead of rejoining - If you are already connected to this room but have closed its stage, select Voice again. The stage opens over your current workspace while the same call continues.
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Check the result - The meeting stage is visible, the call controls are available, and your presence appears in the activity's Voice entry. When the activity panel is expanded, participant rows can also show speaking, microphone, camera, and screen-share status.
An activity can have only one active room, but that rule does not reserve the whole space. Other activities in the same space may have their own meetings at the same time.
Start Or Join A Direct-Message Call
Use this branch for a one-to-one or group direct-message conversation.
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Open Messages and select the conversation - Check the conversation title or participants before starting. The room belongs only to this direct-message conversation.
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Look for active-call presence - An active call appears beneath the conversation in the conversations panel. In the selected conversation, the top bar also shows a meeting action.
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Start a new call - If no room is active, use Start meeting beside the message composer. Visual Space creates the conversation's one private room, connects you, and opens the shared meeting stage.
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Join an existing call - Use the Voice entry beneath the conversation or choose Join meeting in the conversation top bar. Both take you into the room that is already active for that conversation.
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Reopen your connected call - If the top bar says Open meeting, you are already connected and the room is selected. Use it to return to the stage without joining again.
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Check the result - The stage opens with the same core call controls as an activity meeting. Your presence appears with the call beneath the conversation, and the top-bar action changes to reflect that the meeting is open rather than merely available to join.
Confirm The Stage And Your Presence
Both entry branches now meet at the same stage. Take a moment to verify the connection before speaking or presenting.
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Find the call bar - Confirm that the microphone, camera, screen-share, connection, and red Leave meeting controls are visible. Their current appearance tells you whether your microphone, camera, or share is on.
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Check the connection indicator - Wait if the meeting is still checking or reconnecting. A healthy connection and responsive controls are stronger confirmation than the stage appearing by itself.
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Confirm the owning room - In an activity, look for Voice beneath the correct activity. In Messages, look beneath the correct conversation. The duration and participant presence confirm which active room you entered.
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Confirm your participant presence - Your participant entry or avatar should appear after the join completes. Expanded presence can show live speaking and media status; a compact panel may show avatars instead.
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Use the stage as the success checkpoint - You are successfully connected when the stage is open, your call controls respond, and the owning activity or conversation shows your presence. If only a room row is visible, you may be seeing an active meeting that you have not joined yet.
The stage, call controls, and participant presence together confirm that the room join completed.
For a closer explanation of participant rows, compact presence, and room boundaries, see Meeting rooms and presence.
Close The Stage Without Leaving
Closing the stage changes what you are viewing. Hanging up changes whether you are connected. Keeping that distinction clear lets you return to work without dropping the call.
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Close the full stage - Use the stage's close control, not the red Leave meeting control. An activity meeting reveals the Visual Space context underneath it; a direct-message call returns you to Messages.
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Confirm the call continues - The Voice entry still includes you, and your microphone, camera, or screen-share state remains part of the call. After the stage has been opened, a picture-in-picture preview can remain over the workspace.
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Keep working safely - Move or collapse picture-in-picture when it covers something you need. Collapsing the preview does not hang up.
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Reopen from picture-in-picture - Select the preview's open-stage control to return to the full meeting.
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Reopen from the owning conversation - Select the activity or conversation's Voice entry. In a selected direct-message conversation, Open meeting in the top bar provides the same return path.
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Check continuity - The same room, participants, and call state should be present when the stage reopens. You have changed views, not started a second meeting.
The stage can remember the feed and layout you were using. See Stage and layouts for the difference between Grid, Stage, Focus, and picture-in-picture.
Switch To Another Meeting Safely
Because you can join only one call at a time, starting or joining another room is a switch rather than an additional connection. The order depends on the kind of room you are entering.
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Choose the destination carefully - Verify the target activity or direct-message conversation before selecting its meeting action. Any successful switch removes you from the current room.
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Switch to an activity room - Start or join the target activity meeting in the normal way. Visual Space connects to the replacement activity room before it leaves the current call. If the new activity join fails, the current call is not eagerly dropped.
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Switch to a direct-message call - Start or join the target direct-message room only when you are ready to leave the current call. Visual Space leaves the current room first and then connects to the private conversation. If the new connection fails, you are no longer in the previous meeting.
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Verify the replacement - Check that the stage belongs to the intended activity or conversation and that your presence has moved to its Voice entry. Do not rely only on the stage layout, which is shared by both meeting types.
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Recover from a failed activity switch - Return to the current call's stage or presence row; it should still be connected because the replacement never completed.
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Recover from a failed direct-message switch - Fix the access or connection problem, then explicitly rejoin either the intended direct-message call or the previous room. The previous call is not restored automatically.
Hang Up When You Are Finished
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Open meeting controls - Return to the full stage or use the essential controls in picture-in-picture.
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Choose Leave meeting - Select the red call-end control. This disconnects you from the room and closes its stage or picture-in-picture view.
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Confirm you left - Your participant presence disappears from the room. If other people remain, their meeting can continue; when nobody remains, the active room and its Voice entry disappear after presence refreshes.
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Handle optional feedback - Visual Space may ask how the meeting went. You can submit a rating, add more detail, or dismiss the prompt; this does not change whether you left the call.
Success means both views agree: the stage or picture-in-picture is closed, and the owning activity or conversation no longer shows you as a current participant.
If Something Does Not Look Right
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Start Meeting is missing from an activity - First look for an existing Voice room. If none exists, confirm that you are signed in, the activity is not archived or a draft, and you have access to its space and private area.
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Start meeting is missing from a direct message - Make sure a conversation is selected and no active call already belongs to it. If a room exists, use Join meeting, Open meeting, or its Voice entry instead.
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The room is visible but you cannot join - Seeing presence does not expand access. Confirm membership in the owning space and private area, or participation in the direct-message conversation.
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A warning marker appears beside Voice - The latest meeting refresh or start/join attempt did not succeed, so the displayed room state may not be current. Check your connection and access, then retry. A later successful refresh or join clears the warning.
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The stage closes during a connection problem - Visual Space may close a meeting when it can no longer confirm the room or recovery takes too long. Restore your network connection, return to the owning activity or conversation, and join again.
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You closed the stage by mistake - If your presence still appears, you have not left. Reopen it from picture-in-picture, Voice, or the direct-message top bar.
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You meant to leave but still appear present - Use Leave meeting rather than the stage close control, then allow the presence row a moment to refresh.
Related Meeting Guides
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Meetings - Understand how rooms, stages, controls, and meeting continuity fit together.
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Meeting rooms and presence - Learn where rooms appear, who can enter them, and how live presence is represented.
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Stage and layouts - Choose a feed layout and understand the difference between closing the stage and leaving the call.