Managing the profanity filter

Account owners and admins can enable or disable the profanity filter to prevent inappropriate words from appearing in Zoom's transcription-based features. You can add words to the filter manually, by uploading a CSV file, or by importing widely available third-party word lists. The profanity filter applies across all Zoom products that use Zoom's transcription services, including automated captions in meetings and webinars, meeting summaries, and recording transcripts.

Requirements for enabling, disabling, and configuring the profanity filter

Table of Contents

How to enable or disable the profanity filter for the entire account

This setting allows account owners or admins to enable or disable Profanity filter for all users in the account.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the top-right corner, click your profile picture or initials, then click Admin Center.
  3. In the side menu, click Settings .
  4. Click Meeting.
  5. Under In Meeting (Advanced), click the Profanity filter toggle to enable or disable it.
  6. If a verification dialog appears, click Enable or Disable to verify the change.
  7. (Optional) Select the Enable grammatical inflection support for available languages check box to allow the profanity filter to pick up different variations of the listed words, including conjugations and tenses.
  8. Click Save.

Once you've enabled the profanity filter, you can add words to filter out of generated transcriptions.

How to add words to the profanity filter for generated transcriptions

Account owners and admins can add words to the profanity filter manually, by uploading a CSV file, or by importing a third-party list. Added words are filtered out of all generated transcriptions, including captions, recordings, and AI-generated content. Account owners and admins can add more words, edit existing entries, or delete words from the list at any time.

Manually add words to the profanity filter

Account owners and admins can manually enter individual words to add to the profanity filter.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the top-right corner, click your profile picture or initials, then click Admin Center.
  3. In the side menu, click Settings .
  4. Click Meeting.
  5. Under In Meeting (Advanced), verify that the Profanity filter toggle is enabled.
  6. Click Manage filtered words.
    A pop-up window will appear.
  7. In the Add words field, enter words that you want to prevent from being displayed in transcriptions, selecting the check box next to each word after you enter it.
  8. Click Add.
    The words will appear on the list of filtered words.
  9. Click Save.

Upload a CSV file to add words to the profanity filter

Account owners and admins can upload a CSV file to bulk-add words from an existing internal list.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the top-right corner, click your profile picture or initials, then click Admin Center.
  3. In the side menu, click Settings .
  4. Click Meeting.
  5. Under In Meeting (Advanced), verify that the Profanity filter toggle is enabled.
  6. Click Manage filtered words.
    A pop-up window will appear.
  7. Click Upload.
  8. Click the Upload a file tab.
  9. (Optional) Click Download CSV Sample to download the profanity filter template.
  10. Drag and drop a CSV file or click Choose files to select a file to upload.
  11. Click Upload.

Import words from a third-party list to the profanity filter

Account owners and admins can import words from publicly available third-party repositories rather than building a custom list manually.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the top-right corner, click your profile picture or initials, then click Admin Center.
  3. In the side menu, click Settings .
  4. Click Meeting.
  5. Under In Meeting (Advanced), verify that the Profanity filter toggle is enabled.
  6. Click Manage filtered words.
    A pop-up window will appear.
  7. Click Upload.
  8. Click the Import from third party list tab.
  9. (Optional) Click the link for a third party list if you want to view the filtered words on the list. Some lists are available in multiple languages.
  10. Select the check box next to each third party list you want to import.
  11. Click Save.
  12. Click View List to view your filtered words list or OK to exit.

How to edit or delete existing words in the profanity filter

Account owners and admins can edit or delete individual entries from the profanity filter at any time.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the top-right corner, click your profile picture or initials, then click Admin Center.
  3. In the side menu, click Settings .
  4. Click Meeting.
  5. Under In Meeting (Advanced), verify that the Profanity filter toggle is enabled.
  6. Click Manage filtered words.
    A pop-up window will appear.
  7. (Optional) To edit a word, click the pencil icon and apply your updates.
  8. (Optional) To delete a word, click the trash icon .
  9. (Optional) To delete multiple words or remove lists, select the check box next to each item, then click Delete.
  10. Click Save.