Steps to Access Zoom Chat History in 2022: Setting Up and Retrieving Conversations

Accessing Zoom chat history after a meeting has ended can be a matter of ensuring your account settings are correctly configured and understanding the process of saving and retrieving these chats. This guide will walk you through the steps to ensure you can access chat history, regardless of your Zoom account type or settings.

1. Checking Your Settings

To ensure that chat settings are configured to save the chat, follow these steps:

Navigate to the Zoom web portal. Click on Settings in the navigation menu. Select Meeting from the dropdown menu. Under BASIC, find and check the Chat settings.

Ensure that the chat is enabled and configured to save the transcript automatically or manually.

2. Accessing Chat History During and After a Meeting

Accessing chat history can be done during or after a meeting:

During the Meeting: You can save the chat during the meeting by clicking on the “More” button in the chat window and selecting Save Chat. This will save the chat transcript to your computer. After the Meeting: If you did not save the chat during the meeting, you can still access it from a recorded meeting. If the meeting was recorded to the cloud, the chat will typically be included in the recording.

3. Finding Saved Chats

When you manually save a chat:

Check the folder on your computer named Documents under Zoom with the [Meeting Name/Date] folder.

If the meeting was recorded:

Sign in to your Zoom account on the web. Navigate to My Account -> Recordings. Find the meeting and check if the chat is included in the recording files.

4. Account Restrictions and Free Account Limitations

For free accounts, chat history may not be automatically saved unless you manually save it during the meeting. Additionally, if you are part of a larger organization, your admin may set restrictions on chat saving or accessing past chats.

5. Enabling and Managing Chat Storage Settings

To ensure you can access chat history, consider enabling and managing chat storage settings:

Log in to the Zoom web portal. In the navigation menu, click Account Management -> IM Management. Click the IM Settings tab. Under Storage, click the Cloud storage toggle to enable or disable it. If a verification dialog displays, choose Turn On. Select the amount of time you would like to save chat messages for. Messages can be saved on Zoom's Cloud for up to 10 years.

Note: By default, only the account owner has access to group messaging archives through the Chat History tab. Account owners can allow other admins or users on the account access to the chat history by adding the Chat History permission using role-based access control.

6. Viewing and Downloading Stored Messages

Log in to the Zoom web portal. In the navigation menu, click Account Management -> IM Management. Click the Chat History tab. Specify a time period using the From and To fields. Note: The time period can be up to 1 year. Optional: Enter a user's name or email to search for messages sent or received by a specific user. Click Search. Use these options to view or download messages: View: View messages for the associated 1-on-1 group or channel chat conversation. Download: Download messages for the associated 1-on-1 group or channel chat conversation as a CSV file. Compress All for Download: Compress each chat thread in the current search results as a ZIP file containing CSV files. You will be redirected to the Downloads tab to download the ZIP file when it finishes processing. ZIP files will be password protected. In the Downloads tab, click Show in the File Password column to view the password to extract each ZIP file. Note: External users will have the EXTERNAL label beside their email address.

7. Deleting Stored Messages

You can also delete messages or images for internal users:

Sign in to the Zoom web portal. In the navigation menu, click Account Management -> IM Management. Click the Chat History tab. Specify a time period using the From and To fields. Optional: Enter a user's name or email to search for messages sent or received by a specific user. Click Search. You can delete stored messages: Delete: Delete messages. Other admins with permissions to view or edit chat history will be able to view the name of the admin that deleted the message. Deleted messages are still viewable in the chat history tool but are crossed out to indicate they have been deleted. Delete messages are deleted in the Zoom desktop client and mobile app. Deleted messages will be deleted for all users in the 1-on-1 or group chat but only the user that sent the message will be notified that the admin has deleted their message. If the deleted message is a parent message with replies...

By following these steps, you can effectively manage and access Zoom chat history, ensuring that all important conversations are saved and retrievable for future reference.