Managing the Chat Etiquette Tool
Account owners and admins can use the Chat Etiquette Tool to create policies that identify defined keywords and text patterns/regular expressions (such as account numbers and social security numbers). These policies help prevent users from inadvertently sharing unwanted messages in Zoom Chat, in-meeting chat, webinar chat, and webinar Q&A. When a user sends a message that triggers a policy, the message will be blocked or a warning prompt will be displayed for the user to confirm that they want to send the message, depending on what the admin set. For example, an admin can create a policy to identify and block an offensive word being sent in chat, and if a user enters that word, then a prompt will appear stating that the message can’t be sent because of Chat Etiquette policies.
Notes:
- The Chat Etiquette Tool is a client-side feature. Once a Chat Etiquette policy is created in the Zoom web portal, this tool automatically identifies keywords and text patterns in Zoom Chat and/or in-meeting chats, webinar chats, and webinar Q&A. The text pattern matching, keywords matching, and action take place solely on the client side, meaning:
- This tool does not send additional message information, like data, metadata and event information, to the account admin, to Zoom, or to any 3rd party services, whether the message triggers Chat Etiquette policies or not.
- The Chat Etiquette Tool also works on meetings using end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and Zoom Chat with advanced chat encryption enabled.
- Chat Etiquette events are not logged locally on the device.
- Chat Etiquette policies are never defined by Zoom. They are always defined by account admins.
- Chat Etiquette policies apply at the Account and Group level. If a policy is applied to a specific group, the policy will not carry over to other groups within the account unless the policy is applied at the account level.
- If you want to enable the Chat Etiquette Tool for both Zoom Chat and in-meeting/webinar chats/webinar Q&As, then you must enable the setting in each area of the Zoom web portal, as outlined in How to enable the Chat Etiquette Tool for Zoom Chat and How to enable the Chat Etiquette Tool for in-meeting chats, webinar chats, and webinar Q&A.
This article covers:
Prerequisites for Chat Etiquette policies
- Pro, Business, Education, or Enterprise account
- Account owner or admin privileges for managing the Chat Etiquette Tool
- Zoom Chat, in-meeting/webinar chat:
- Zoom desktop app
- Windows: 5.6.0 or higher
- macOS: 5.6.1 or higher
- Linux: 5.6.0 or higher
- Zoom mobile app
- Android: 5.6.0 or higher
- iOS: 5.6.0 or higher
- Webinar Q&A:
- Zoom desktop app
- Windows: 5.11.0 or higher
- macOS: 5.11.0 or higher
- Linux: 5.11.0 or higher
- Zoom mobile app
- Android: 5.11.0 or higher
- iOS: 5.11.0 or higher
- Zoom Web App
Note: Chat Etiquette policies also affect users who join meetings and webinars from their browser (Zoom web client).
Chat Etiquette policy priority
When a message triggers multiple Chat Etiquette policies, the more restrictive action is applied to the message. A Chat Etiquette policy is considered as “more restrictive” if its action was configured as Block the message.
For example, if a message triggers 5 Chat Etiquette policies:
- If all 5 of the Chat Etiquette policies had the action Ask user to confirm sending of message selected, the user is asked to confirm if they want to send the message.
- If any of the 5 Chat Etiquette policies had the action Block the message configured, the user’s message is blocked.
You can enable the Chat Etiquette Tool for users who are messaging on Zoom Chat, which takes place outside of meetings and webinars.
Account
To enable the Chat Etiquette Tool in Zoom Chat for all members of your organization:
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator with the privilege to edit account settings.
- In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
- Click the Zoom Chat tab.
- Under Security, click the Chat Etiquette Tool toggle to enable it.
- If a verification dialog appears, click Enable to verify the change.
- (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing this setting, click the lock icon , and then click Lock to confirm the setting.
Group
To enable the Chat Etiquette Tool in Zoom Chat for all members of a specific group:
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator with the privilege to edit groups.
- In the navigation menu, click User Management then Groups.
- Click the applicable name of the group, then click the Zoom Chat tab.
- Under Security, click the Chat Etiquette Tool toggle to enable it.
- If a verification dialog appears, click Enable to verify the change.
Note: If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at the account level, and needs to be changed at that level.
You can enable the Chat Etiquette Tool for users when they are chatting in meetings and webinars, and when they are using the Q&A feature in webinars.
Account
To enable the Chat Etiquette Tool in meetings and webinars for all members of your organization:
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator with the privilege to edit account settings.
- In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
- Click the Meeting tab.
- Under Security, click the Chat Etiquette Tool toggle to enable it.
- If a verification dialog appears, click Enable to verify the change.
- (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing this setting, click the lock icon , and then click Lock to confirm the setting.
Group
To enable the Chat Etiquette Tool in meetings and webinars for all members of a specific group:
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator with the privilege to edit groups.
- In the navigation menu, click User Management then Groups.
- Click the name of the group, then click the Meeting tab.
- Under Security, click the Chat Etiquette Tool toggle to enable it.
- If a verification dialog appears, click Enable to verify the change.
Note: If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at the account level, and needs to be changed at that level.
How to create Chat Etiquette policies
Admins can create up to 50 Chat Etiquette policies at the account level to determine what information is detected and what action is taken when the policy is triggered. Once you create a policy at the account level, you can apply it at the group level.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin.
- Access the Chat Etiquette Tool settings at the account level for Zoom Chat or in-meeting chat, webinar chat, and webinar Q&A.
- Click Create New Policy.
- Enter the following information. Click Next to move to each section.
- Name your policy
- Policy Name: Enter a display name to identify the policy.
- Description (Optional): Enter a description for the policy.
- Define Content to Detect
- Select a Rule Type: Choose if you want to detect content using Keywords (for example, a specific word or number) or a Regular expression (a special sequence of characters that identifies items like account numbers or social security numbers).
- Add Keywords: If you selected Keywords, enter keywords separated by commas, then click Save. Keywords are not case-sensitive.
- Add Regular Expression: If you selected Regular expression, enter the regular expression, then click Save. Click Test to enter content and check it against the regular expression. A check mark indicates the content matches the regular expression.
- Actions Taken When Policy is Triggered
- When this policy is triggered: Specify the action when something in a chat message matches the policy.
- Ask user to confirm sending of message: When a user tries to send or share a message that triggers the policy, Zoom will display a prompt asking them to confirm if they want to send the message.
- Block the message: When a user tries to send or share a message that triggers the policy, Zoom will display a prompt stating that the message can’t be sent because of Chat Etiquette policies.
- Click Review to review the policy.
- Click Save.
- Repeat steps 3 to 6 to create more policies.
Note: You can drag and drop policies to visually organize them in the web portal. This does not change how policies are prioritized.
How to manage Chat Etiquette policies
After creating Chat Etiquette policies, you can choose which ones are activated/deactivated at the group level. You can also delete or lock specific policies at the account level.
- Access the Chat Etiquette Tool settings for Zoom Chat or in-meeting chat, webinar chat, and webinar Q&A.
- Hover over a policy to access these options:
- Activate / Deactivate: Activate or deactivate a policy. Deactivated policies will still appear in the web portal but can’t be triggered.
- The following options are only available at the account level:
- Lock or unlock icon: Lock the policy to make it mandatory at the group level. After locking, admins will not be able to deactivate it at the group level. Unlock the policy to make it optional at the group level. Admins will be able to deactivate it at the group level.
- Trash bin icon : Delete the policy.
Learn more about managing settings for groups.