After deploying Zoom Team Chat basics such as user groups, pre-defined chat channels, and account-level settings, you can create additional user groups, change user group settings, and create channels for specific teams, projects, or topics.

Once you’ve completed initial deployment of contact groups and Zoom Team Chat channels, you adjust how Zoom Team Chat functions for your users, chat security settings, and what services you use to store your messages and files sent through Team Chat.

This article covers:

• How to configure Zoom Team Chat settings
  • Change Zoom Team Chat settings for sharing
  • Change Zoom Team Chat visibility settings
  • Change Zoom Team Chat security settings
  • Change Zoom Team Chat external settings
  • Change Zoom Team Chat storage settings

Prerequisites for admin management of Zoom Team Chat settings

• Account owner, admin, or user assigned a custom role with chat permissions

How to configure Zoom Team Chat settings

Zoom Team Chat has account-level settings that apply to all users. You can enable or disable certain chat features like file transfer and code snippets. The following steps are a few of the settings you can enable or disable.

Learn more about all the available account-level settings.

Change Zoom Team Chat settings for sharing

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
3. Click the Team Chat tab.
4. In the Sharing section, change these settings as needed:
   • Screen capture*
   • Share screen in chat: Let users share their screen in Team Chat through direct messages.
   • Allow users to share files: Allow users to share files in chats and channels. When disabled, users can still take and share screenshots
   • Chat emojis*
   • Custom emojis
   • Search and send animated GIF images
   • Send code snippet
   • Record voice messages*
   • Record video messages*
   • Translate messages*

*Note: You can also configure these settings at the group level, so that different groups of users on your account have different features and access.

Change Zoom Team Chat visibility settings

These visibility settings are only available at the account level.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
3. Click the Team Chat tab.
4. In the Visibility section, change these settings to get started:
   • Set Chat as a default tab for first-time users: Upon first sign-in to the client, the Team Chat tab is the default, instead of the Home tab.
   • Announcements
   • Auto-archive channels or group chats: After archiving, the chat history will be retained, accessible to users via search, and can be unarchived by the channel owner.
   • Suppress deleted or deactivated user notice in group chats and channels: When a user is deleted or deactivated from the account, display no message in any group chats or channels where they were members.
   • Enable read receipts: Show when messages have been viewed by recipients in chats and channels with fewer than 20 members.

Change Zoom Team Chat security settings

Zoom Team Chat security settings can be configured for the entire account through Account Settings, or at the Group Settings level for more granular control for different users groups or departments. Some of the the following settings are only available at the Group-level.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
3. Click the Team Chat tab.
4. In the Security section, change these settings as needed:
   • Enable Team Chat: Enabling this option will allow users to send messages in Team Chat.
   • Enable advanced chat encryption
     
     • Note: For users to access the Team Chat tab on the Zoom Web App, admins must ensure that the Advanced chat encryption setting is disabled.
   • Enable Personal channel in Chat window: Provides a personal chat space for each user, for keeping notes and sending themselves reminders.
   • Allow users to manage apps in Channels: Disabling this option will prevent users from adding apps to Channels.
   • Allow users to create Shared Spaces: Users can create shared spaces to effortlessly share channels with other users or teams.
   • Share links to messages and channels in Team Chat: Users can create a link directly to a specific chat channel or message in a channel.
   • Allow hyperlinks in Team Chat:Users can send and click on hyperlinks in Team Chat.
   • Schedule a meeting from chat or channel: Users can quickly schedule meetings with members of a chat or channel in Team Chat.
   • Chat Etiquette Tool: Allows admins to create policies to prevent unwanted sharing of sensitive information based on defined keywords and text patterns/regular expressions (such as account numbers and social security numbers).
   • Allow channel owner and admin(s) to remove messages of other members: Allows admins to remove messages from other members when necessary. 
     The affected members will see their message removed, and the admin will view the original message in the chat history report.

*Note: These settings are only available at the Group-level settings.
**Note: These settings can also be configured at the Group-level, so that different groups of users on your account have different features and access.

Change Zoom Team Chat external settings

You can adjust Zoom Team Chat external settings for the entire account via Account Settings or at the Group level for specific user groups or departments, allowing for more detailed control. Some settings are exclusively accessible at the Group-level.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
3. Click the Team Chat tab.
4. In the External section, change these settings as needed:
   • Add external users into group chats and channels: If disabled, no external users can be added to group chats and channels. When enabled, there are three options: allowing everyone (internal and external), limiting it to members in your organization and specified accounts, or restricting it to only the account owner and admins. This setting controls the options available for channel creation in the client.
   • Require admin approval for adding external users into group chats and channels: If disabled, no approval is necessary. If enabled, you can choose to send requests directly to all admins with approval permission*  (via Zoom’s Invite Approval bot) or send them to a specified channel. If a specified channel is selected, admins are responsible for managing membership, and all members can see the requests, but only admins with permission can accept or decline them. 
   • Allow members of your organization to join external group chats and channels: This setting controls whether members of your organization can join externally-owned group chats and channels. If enabled, members can join. If disabled, they cannot.
   • Require admin approval for joining external group chats and channels: If disabled, no approval is needed for your members to join externally-owned group chats and channels. If enabled, you can choose to send requests directly to all admins with approval permission* (via Zoom’s Invite Approval bot) or to a specified channel. If a specified channel is selected, admins are responsible for managing membership, and all members can see the requests, but only admins with permission can accept or decline them. 
5. Click Save.

*External Connections permission is required to approve requests.

Note: If the External accounts box is checked below any of these settings, the setting can be customized for specific companies/accounts by navigating to ADMIN, then Team Chat Management, External Connections, Connections, and Accounts.

*Note: These settings apply to group chats, channels and Continuous Meeting Chats. There is a separate, existing setting for direct messages, Enable Team Chat.

Change Zoom Team Chat storage settings

You can choose how long chat messages are stored in the Zoom cloud and on local devices. This will delete all messages after the designated time frame.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
3. Click the Team Chat tab.
4. In the Storage section, change these settings as needed:
   • Store messages in Zoom's cloud: Enable this setting to store messages and files in Zoom's cloud. If disabled, messages and files are not stored in Zoom's cloud, but messages sent to offline users can be received for up to 7 days (depending on local storage setting).
   • Set retention period for messages on local devices: Enable this setting to configure retention period for messages on local devices. If disabled, messages are never deleted locally. (This setting excludes "personal chat" messages.)
   • Store edited and deleted message revisions: Store edited/deleted messages (as well as the original version) in the cloud.
   • Store files from channels in third-party storage: Upon configuration, only newly created channels will store files in the third-party account. Establish a message and file retention period in Zoom's cloud to enable third-party storage.
   • Send data to third-party archiving service*: Store and backup Zoom Team Chat with a 3rd-party service.
5. Click Save.

Notes:

• Setting retention by different chat types is only available with version 5.14.0 or later.
  Using previous versions will default to the shortest of the specified retention periods.
• *These settings can also be configured at the Group-level, so that different groups of users on your account have different features and access.

Learn more about chat storage settings and view chat history.