View saved chat messages in the Zoom app
If chat cloud storage is enabled during account owner or administrator account setup, they can view users’ chat history in their account. We archive and store all chat messages on Zoom’s cloud-based AWS DynamoDB service, and they can be viewed and retrieved for as long as needed.
A chat history report can be viewed and downloaded locally by account owners, administrators, or other users with permissions to access chat history. This includes the following messages sent and received by users, as well as the following data:
- Chat messages (text)
- files
- Pictures
- Emoji Reactions
- Animated GIFs
- audio messages
- Code snippets (downloads in a ZIP file)
There is also an option in the chat history report to view the following types of chats:
- You can have a one-on-one chat, a group chat, or a channel chat
- The ability to track the time and date of all messages sent or received by internal or external users and, for example, receive a notification when a file was sent but access was restricted due to file transfer controls set up by the administrator (admins can set a restricted file do not show).
The following topics are covered in this article:
- How to enable or disable archiving of group messages
- Here’s how to view and download saved messages
- How to delete saved messages
Requirements for viewing saved chat messages
- An account owner or admin should have the following permissions:
- Four types of accounts are available: Pro, Business, Education, and Enterprise
- In order to save messages to Zoom, the user must have the Zoom desktop client or Zoom mobile app version 3.5 or later installed on their computer
- Encryption of advanced chats has been disabled. In case the chat history tool is enabled, there are some limitations associated with it.
Note: Account owners and admins can’t access the chat history when a user switches from a free account to a paid account because the owner or admin can’t access it until after the user switched to a paid account.
How to enable or disable archiving of group messages
If you would like to enable group message archiving for your account, please do the following:
- Go to the Zoom web portal by logging into your Zoom account.
- From the navigation menu, select Account Management, and then from the Account Management menu, click Account Settings.
- To access the Zoom app, click on the Zoom app tab.
- You can turn cloud storage on or off by clicking the switch next to Cloud Storage under Storage.
- After you make the change, a confirmation dialog box appears. Click Activate to confirm.
- When you click Save chat messages, you can choose how long you want to save your chat messages. It is possible to store messages in Zoom’s cloud for a period of up to 10 years.
You can learn more about chat memory settings by clicking here.
Note: By default, only the account owner can view the group message archives through the chat history report, which can be accessed from the Settings menu. By adding the Chat history permission to the account’s role-based access control system, account owners can grant other administrators and users of the account access to view the chat history of that account.
Here’s how to view and download saved messages
- You can access the Zoom web portal by logging into your account.
- Select Account Management from the navigation menu, then click Reports from the drop-down menu that appears.
- The User Activity Reports tab should be selected, then the Chat History tab should be selected.
- Use the From and To fields to specify a time period.
Note: The storage period is unlimited. - To search for a specific message sent or received by a specific user, you can enter their name or email address (optional).
- Then click the Search button.
- Messages can be viewed or downloaded using the following options:
- View: It is possible to view messages related to a chat conversation individually, in a group or in a channel.
- Download: A CSV file can be downloaded for individual, group or channel chat conversations linked to this file.
- Compress All for Download: Recent search results are compressed into ZIP files containing CSV files containing each chat thread in the recent search results. The ZIP file will be redirected to the Downloads tab after processing and you can download it from there. The ZIP files are password protected to prevent unauthorized access. On the Downloads tab, if you click the View button in the File Password column, you can see the password you need to extract each ZIP file.
- Note: Email addresses for external users have EXTERNAL next to them, indicating that they are external users.
How to delete saved messages
Messages, files and images shared with internal users can also be deleted. A chat history shows a name of the admin who deleted the message, which can be viewed or edited by other admins with permission to view or edit chat histories. There’s still a way to view deleted messages in the chat history tool, but they’ll be crossed out to indicate they’ve been removed.
Both the Zoom desktop client and the Zoom mobile app allow you to delete deleted messages. If a user deletes a message in a group chat or 1-on-1 chat, it will be deleted for everyone in those chats, but only the user who sent the message will receive a notification that the admin has deleted their message. Deleting a parent message that has replies does not delete the replies along with the parent message.
Note: You must have the appropriate permissions to edit chat history in Role Management.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal by entering your email address and password.
- You can access your account reporting area by clicking Account Management in the navigation menu.
- The User Activity Reports tab is under the Chat History heading.
- In the From and To fields you have the option of specifying a period of time.
Note: It is possible to set a time period that can last up to a year. - Click the Search button and enter the email address of the user you are looking for.
- Click the trash can button when hovering over the messages to delete them.
