Guests can join a Nearo Room from a browser on any device, or from the Nearo desktop app on a computer — no account or login required either way.
What you need to join
To join a Nearo Room as a guest, you need:
The Room link from your host
An up-to-date version of Safari, Google Chrome, or Microsoft Edge
A working microphone
An internet connection
You do not need a Nearo account, and you do not need to install any software.
ℹ️ You can join from a computer, tablet, iPad, Chromebook, or phone.
If you are on a Mac or Windows computer, you can also join from the Nearo desktop app instead. See Joining from the Nearo desktop app below.
Joining with a Room link in your browser
Your host will send you a Room link — a web address you can click to open the Room in your browser.
Click the Room link in the message or email from your host.
The Room join page opens in your browser and shows whether your host is "Available", "Not available right now", or "Currently in a call".
Type your name in the Your name box.
Adjust your video and audio before you join. The preview of your camera is on the join page, below the join button, with the round Mic and Camera buttons over the bottom right of the preview (red when off) and the Mic and Camera pickers below the preview.
Under the preview, a setup check runs on its own. It reads "Your setup looks good." or tells you the first thing to fix, and it never stops you from joining. Click See more for the full list, or click Join anyway beside a problem. If the name box is empty, type your name first. See What should I do if the Nearo setup check says something needs attention?
Click the join button. It reads Join Room when your host's Room is open, Request to Join when it is closed, and Join & Wait when your host is in a session with someone else. Whichever it says, you can join and wait for your host.
ℹ️ If you are signed in to Nearo in that browser, you join with your account, and "Joining as" with your name replaces the name box. If you are a student in a class, the Dashboard also shows a Join Room button next to each of your teachers.
Joining from the Nearo desktop app
You can also join a Room using the Nearo desktop app, and you still do not need a Nearo account to do it.
Download the Nearo desktop app from the Nearo download page and install it on your Mac or Windows computer.
Open the app. On the first screen, Welcome to Nearo, click Join a Room (it is above "or" and Sign in).
Enter the room code in the Enter room code box — the letters and numbers at the end of your Room link, after /r/ — and click Next.
The next card shows your host's Room and whether your host is "Available", "Not available right now", or "Currently in a call". Enter your name, check your video and audio, and click Join Room.
ℹ️ On this card, the camera preview is below Join Room and Cancel. It has round Mic and Camera buttons, and under it are two full-width buttons that show your current devices, Mic: [device] and Camera: [device]. Click one to choose a different device. The setup check line is under the preview. The signed-in Join a room section does not have the check.
Rooms you have joined before are listed under the room code box, so you can join them faster next time.
If the Nearo desktop app is already installed, you can also start from the Room link. On the Room join page in your browser, click Open in the Nearo app, below the camera preview, and Nearo opens your host's Room with the room code already filled in. If the app does not open, the page offers Join in this browser instead.
ℹ️ If you are signed in to the Nearo desktop app, use the Join a room section on the home screen instead (under My room, if you have one, and above Call a teammate): enter the room code and click Join room. Your account name is used automatically.
💡 Joining from the web is still the easiest way to join. Joining from the Nearo desktop app has one added benefit: you can share your own screen, which you cannot do when you join from the web.
ℹ️ In the Nearo desktop app, two hours after your session connects, a box asks "Are you still there?" Click OK to keep going. If you click Cancel, or do not answer within 2 minutes, the session ends. The web has no such question.
Waiting to be admitted
After you join, you wait until the host lets you in.
You will see "Waiting for [Host]" with "[Host] isn't in the room yet." if the host has not opened their Room, "[Host] will let you in shortly..." once they have, or "[Host] is in a call with someone else and will let you in when it ends." if they are with another student.
Your camera and microphone preview stays on while you wait, so you can keep checking them.
Click Cancel to go back to the name screen.
Once the host admits you, the session starts automatically.
If the host declines your request, you will see "The host declined your request to join." Click Try Again to ask again. In the Nearo desktop app, you will see "Request Declined" instead, with a Back to Login button.
If the host closes their Room while you are waiting, you will see "[Host] closed the room." Click Join again to ask again. The Nearo desktop app shows the same message, with Join again and Leave room buttons.
ℹ️ If you still can't get into the Room, see Why can't my student join my Nearo Room?.
ℹ️ If you have been waiting a long time, Nearo asks "Are you still there?" Select I'm still here to keep waiting. In the Nearo desktop app, press OK on the "Still waiting to join?" dialog.
What you can do in a Room
As a guest, you can:
Use audio and video to communicate with the host
See the host's screen when the host shares it
Control the host's screen using remote control when the host is sharing — with your mouse and keyboard on a computer or Chromebook, or by touch on an iPad or phone
Share your own screen, if you joined from the Nearo desktop app
Draw and type in a shared notebook when the host opens one, using the same drawing tools as the host
💡 For the touch controls on an iPad or phone, see Using a shared screen on an iPad or phone.
🔔 If you joined from the web, you cannot share your own screen in a Room. Join from the Nearo desktop app if you need to share your screen.
Moving your video while a screen is shared
While the host is sharing a screen, the video tiles sit in a strip beside the shared screen, and you can choose where the strip goes.
Click the three dots at the far right of the Controls bar, the dark gray strip along the bottom of your screen, next to the red End Call button. In the Nearo desktop app, the three dots are at the right end of the Controls bar. On an iPad or computer, when the video tiles sit on the left or right of the shared screen, the same controls move into a panel under the video tiles, and the three dots are just before End Call.
In the Video Position section, select Top, Bottom, Left, or Right.
💡 You can also hide your own video from yourself and, on a phone, hide the controls during a session. See Using video in Nearo.
Leaving the Room
Click the red End Call button at the far right of the Controls bar to leave (the last button in the panel under the video tiles when the host shares their screen on an iPad or computer). In the Nearo desktop app, it is at the right end of the Controls bar. There is no confirmation.
You will see "You have left the room" with a Join again button that takes you back to the name screen. You see the same screen when the host ends the session.
In the Nearo desktop app, you go straight back to the join form when the session ends.