Account owners and admins can view chat history for users on their account if chat cloud storage is enabled. Chat messages are archived and stored on Zoom’s cloud leveraged AWS DynamoDB, and can be stored up to 10 years.

Account owners, admins, or other users with privilege to access Chat History can view and locally download all messages sent and received by users in the Chat History report, including:

• Chat messages (text)
• Files
• Images
• Emoji reactions
• Animated GIFs
• Audio messages
• Code snippets (downloads in a ZIP file)

Additionally, you can view the following chat types in the Chat History report:

• 1-on-1, group, or channel chats
• Chats sent or received by internal or external users, including a notification for when a file was sent but restricted based on file transfer controls set up by an admin (admins will not be able to view the file if its access was restricted)

This article covers:

• How to enable or disable group messaging archiving
• How to view and download stored messages
• How to delete stored messages

Prerequisites for viewing stored chat messages

• Account owner or admin privileges
• Pro, Business, Education, or Enterprise account
• Advanced chat encryption disabled. If enabled, there are limitations to the chat history tool.
• Zoom desktop client for Windows, macOS, or Linux: Global minimum version or higher
• Zoom mobile app for Android or iOS: Global minimum version or higher
• Zoom Web App

Note: If a user switched from a free account to a paid account, account owners and admins can only access chat history from the time that the user became a paid account.

Limitations on chat message history exports

Admins wanting to export their chat message records should be aware of the following technical limitations: 

• Max number of exported chat messages for CSV exports: 50 million chat messages
   
• Max number of exported chat messages for HTML exports: 1 million chat messages
   
• Files sent through Team Chat that exceed 50 MB will not be provided in either HTML or CVS format
   
• After the generated export file size reaches 1 GB, any additional files sent through Team Chat will not be included in the export
   
• When searching multiple emails, data export is limited to a maximum of one month, while the search for an individual email can extend up to 1 year.

How to enable or disable message archiving

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an account owner or admin.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
3. Click the Team Chat tab.
4. Under Storage, click the Set retention period for messages and files in Zoom's cloud toggle to enable or disable it.
5. If a verification dialog appears, click Enable to verify the change.
6. Select the amount of time you would like to save chat messages for, then click Save. Messages can be saved on Zoom's Cloud for up to 10 years.

Learn more about chat storage settings.

Note: By default, only the account owner has access to group messaging archives through the Chat History report. 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.

How to view and download stored messages

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management, then Reports.
3. Click the User Activity Reports tab, then click Chat History.
4. Specify a time period using the Start Date and End Date fields.
   Note: You can choose a time period of up to 30 days, or up to 1 year if searching by a specific user.
5. (Optional) Enter a user's name or email to search for messages sent or received by a specific user.
6. Click Search.
7. 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 or as HTML (Include attachments and CSV).
   • Download All: Compress each chat thread in the current search results as a ZIP file. You will be redirected to the Downloads tab to download the ZIP file when it's finish 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.

How to delete stored messages

You can also delete messages, files, or images for internal users. 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 it's been deleted.

Deleted 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 see a notification message stating that the admin has deleted their message. If the deleted message is a parent message with replies, replies will not be deleted.

Note: You must have the permission to edit chat history in role management.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management, then Reports.
3. Click the User Activity Reports tab, then Chat History.
4. Specify a time period using the From and To fields.
5. Enter a user's email address and click Search.
   Note: You can choose a time period of up to 1 year after you specify a user.
6. Hover over the messages and click the trash bin button to delete the message.