Storing Zoom Chat message history

Account owners or admins can choose how long chat messages are stored in the Zoom Cloud and on local devices. All messages older than the designated retention periods are deleted. Using Zoom Cloud storage also allows account owners and admins to view, download, or delete stored chat messages (within their chosen cloud storage retention period) through the Chat History Report.

Account owners and admins can set these retention periods for all users on the account, as well as different retention periods for user groups. For group chats and channels that include members from different groups or accounts with different cloud storage retention periods, all group chats and channels will follow the cloud storage retention period of the owner for that group chat or channel. 1:1 chats will continue to use the shortest retention period between the users. Local storage retention, on the other hand, follows each user's specific settings, independent of other group members' settings.

Requirements for managing chat storage retention

• Paid Zoom account
• Account owner or admin privileges
• View and edit access to the Chat history privilege in role management

Understanding cloud and local storage

Zoom Cloud Storage

Enabling the Store messages in Zoom’s cloud setting means that messages and files will be stored in Zoom’s cloud storage, allowing them to be viewed, downloaded, or deleted by account owner or admins in the Chat History report at any time within their chosen cloud storage retention period. 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 the local storage setting).

By default, the cloud storage retention period for messages is 2 years, but account owners and admins of paid accounts* can change this length of time to as short as 1 day or up to 10 years. Retention period for messages stored in the cloud can be set either at the account level (applicable to all users on the account) or at a user group level (applicable to all users in the user group).

*Note: For free accounts, cloud storage retention is set to 2 years and cannot be changed.

The retention period of a message is determined and set at the time it is sent, and is calculated based on a number of factors, including the users involved in the conversation and whether it is sent as part of a direct conversation (1:1 chats) or as part of a group conversation (group chats and channels).

The table below provides examples of various scenarios and how the retention period is calculated. Generally, there are 2 high-level scenarios:

• 1:1 chats
  For messages sent directly to another contact in a 1:1 chat, the two retention periods for the users involved are compared and the shortest period among the two available options is used.
• Group chats and channels
  For messages sent as part of a group conversation in a group chat or channel (including synced in-meeting messages from a dedicated meeting chat), the retention period of the owner of the group chat or channel is used. The retention periods of the other members in the group/channel are not considered. However, if the account-level cloud storage setting is unlocked and cloud storage has been set for a specific channel, then the channel-specific cloud storage setting will be followed.

Notes:

• The timeframe for the retention period is based on when the message is sent. For example, if the account admin chooses to set cloud storage retention to 3 days, a message sent at 3 pm will be deleted 3 days after it is sent at 3 pm that day.
• If a user deletes their own message, the original message will still be available in the Chat History report only if the Store edited and deleted message revisions setting is enabled.
• Synced in-meeting messages from a dedicated meeting chat will follow the Cloud Storage retention period set for group conversations.

Local storage

Enabling the Set retention period for messages on local devices controls how long messages are stored on local devices, and are thereby visible to end users in the Zoom app. If this setting is disabled, messages are never deleted locally while the app is installed on the device.

By default, this setting is disabled, meaning messages are never deleted. Account owners and admins of paid accounts* can change this length of time to as short as 1 day or up to 10 years. Retention periods can be set for all users on the account, as well as different retention periods for user groups.

*Note: For free accounts, the control for setting local storage retention is disabled and cannot be changed for free accounts. These messages are stored locally for up to a year on the local device, except when the Zoom app is deleted. 

Local storage retention operates differently that Cloud storage retention, as each user's local storage follows their specific Local Storage settings, regardless of other group members' settings. For example, if a user belongs to a channel with members who have different local storage policies, their local storage will still follow their own setting. If a user belongs to two different groups with different local storage settings, the most restrictive policy applies. A member not in any group follows the account's default local retention policy, while another member in a custom group follows that group's local retention policy, leading to different retention periods for each member.

When the local storage retention period is changed, the new setting applies to both existing and new messages on the device. Learn more about how local storage retention changes are enforced across apps.

Notes:

• The timeframe for the local retention period is based on when the message is sent. For example, if the account admin chooses to set local storage to 3 days, a message sent at 3 pm will be deleted 3 days after it is sent at 3 pm that day, regardless of whether the recipient(s) came online and received the messages.
• If the Zoom app is uninstalled, locally stored messages will be deleted.
• If local storage is set for 1 month or less, a yellow banner appears in your Chat window, notifying the members of your account of how long local messages will be stored.
• Synced in-meeting messages from a dedicated meeting chat will follow the Local Storage retention period set for group conversations.

How to change Chat message storage settings

Chat admins can access messaging history in the Zoom web portal by enabling cloud storage for chat and configuring retention policies. You can change settings to specify how long chat messages are stored for.

Account

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
3. Click the Chat tab.
4. Under Storage, click the toggles next to the following settings to enable or disable them. If a verification dialog appears, click Enable or Disable to verify the change.
   • Store messages in Zoom’s cloud: Automatically save all Chat messages to the cloud for the specified retention period, which can vary based on the type of chat, such as direct messages, group conversations, and channels. After the specified cloud retention period, Zoom will remove all Chat messages, files and metadata from the cloud. Admins can view, download, or delete stored chat messages in the Chat History Report.
     Notes:
     • Setting retention by different chat types is only available with version 5.14.0 or later. Users on versions lower than 5.14.0 will default to the shortest of the specified retention periods.
     • If the retention period is changed, the new retention period will only apply to new messages and will not retroactively apply to existing messages.
     • Cloud storage retention rules are set independently in master- and sub-accounts.
   • Set retention period for messages on local devices: Automatically save all Chat messages on the local device. After the specified local retention period, all Chat messages will be removed from the local device. Downloaded files will remain on the local device. You can specify the time period messages are stored on the desktop or mobile device based on the type of chat, distinguishing between direct messages/group conversations and channels.
     Notes:
     • Setting retention by different chat types is only available with version 5.14.0 or later. Users on versions lower than 5.14.0 will default to the shortest of the specified retention periods.
     • This setting only applies to the account’s internal users and will not affect external users, even if the external users are chatting with internal users in a channel/group chat owned by the internal user.
     • If the retention period is changed, the new retention period will apply to both existing and new messages.
     • Files are handled as part of the message. If the message expires, the link to the file will be locally deleted too, but if the user has downloaded the file, the local file will remain on the local device.
   • Store edited and deleted message revisions: Enable to store edited and deleted messages (as well as the original version) in the cloud. Account owners and admins can view, download, or delete stored messages using the Chat History Report in Zoom web portal.
     Notes:
     • This option requires Store messages in Zoom’s cloud be enabled before it is visible.
     • Even if this setting is disabled, messages deleted by the account owner/admin or channel owner/admin will still be stored and available in the Chat History Report.
   • Store files from channels in third-party storage: Once you set up third-party storage, only new files in newly created channels will be stored in the third-party account. Set a retention period for messages and files in Zoom’s cloud to use third-party storage. Choose to backup files with Zoom Cloud, or integrate with SharePoint or Box.
   • Send data to third-party archiving service: Archive messages and files with a third-party archiving service.
5. Click Save, where appropriate.
6. (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing a setting, click the lock icon next to it , and then click Lock to confirm the setting.

Group

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit groups.
2. In the navigation menu, click User Management then Groups.
3. Click the applicable group name from the list.
4. Click the Chat tab.
5. Under Storage, click the toggles next to the following settings to enable or disable them. If a verification dialog appears, click Enable or Disable to verify the change. If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at the account level and needs to be changed at that level.
   • Store messages in Zoom’s cloud: Automatically save all Chat messages to the cloud for the specified retention period, which can vary based on the type of chat, such as direct messages, group chats, and channels. After the specified cloud retention period, Zoom will remove all Chat messages, files and metadata from the cloud. Account owners and admins can view, download, or delete stored chat messages in the Chat History Report.
     Notes:
     • Setting retention by different chat types is only available with version 5.14.0 or later. Users on versions lower than 5.14.0 will default to the shortest of the specified retention periods.
     • If the retention period is changed, the new retention period will only apply to new messages and will not retroactively apply to existing messages.
     • Cloud storage retention rules are set independently in master- and sub-accounts.
   • Set retention period for messages on local devices: Automatically save all Chat messages on the local device. After the specified local retention period, Zoom will remove all Chat messages from the local device. Downloaded files will remain on the local device. You can specify the time period messages are stored on the desktop or mobile device based on the type of chat, distinguishing between direct messages/group conversations and channels.
     Notes:
     • Setting retention by different chat types is only available with version 5.14.0 or later. Users on versions lower than 5.14.0 will default to the shortest of the specified retention periods.
     • This setting only applies to the account’s internal users and will not affect external users, even if the external users are chatting with internal users in a channel/group chat owned by the internal user.
     • If the retention period is changed, the new retention period will apply to both existing and new messages.
     • Files are handled as part of the message. If the message expires, the link to the file will be locally deleted too, but if the user has downloaded the file, the local file will remain on the local device.
   • Store edited and deleted message revisions: Enable to store edited and deleted messages (as well as the original version) in the cloud. You can view, download, or delete stored messages using the Chat History Report in Zoom web portal.
     Notes:
     • This option requires Store messages in Zoom’s cloud be enabled before it is visible.
     • Even if this setting is disabled, messages deleted by the account owner/admin or channel owner/admin will still be stored and available in the Chat History Report.
   • Store files from channels in third-party storage: Once you set up third-party storage, only new files in newly created channels will be stored in the third-party account. Set a retention period for messages and files in Zoom’s cloud to use third-party storage. Choose to backup files with Zoom Cloud, or integrate with SharePoint or Box.
   • Send data to third-party archiving service: Archive messages and files with a third-party archiving service.
6. Click Save, where appropriate.
7. (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing a setting, click the lock icon next to it , and then click Lock to confirm the setting.

Cloud storage retention examples

The following table shows how long chat messages are stored in the cloud for a variety of scenarios, depending on the chat type and involved users.

Note: Group chats and channels that contain users from several accounts can also affect cloud storage retention. Learn more about the effect of Zoom Chat settings on inter-account communications.

Chat History Reporting examples

The following scenarios describe which accounts can view chat messages in the Chat History Report, based on the chat type and involved users.

Note: The account must have the Cloud Storage setting enabled for messages to be available in the Chat History Report.