Chatting in a Zoom meeting

The in-meeting Zoom chat feature allows you to send instant messages to other users within a meeting or a private message to an individual participant. You can delete your messages, reply in threads, format your text, capture and send screenshots, react to messages with emojis, and more (if enabled). Meeting hosts can choose who participants can chat with or disable chat entirely. 

Note: If you see a prompt that your message has triggered a Chat Etiquette policy, you are either warned or blocked from sending the message based on what your account admin has configured. The Chat Etiquette 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.

Requirements for messaging with others during Zoom meetings

Table of Contents

How to chat in a Zoom meeting

Chat with everyone or send a private message

You can send a message to everyone in the meeting, or send a private message if enabled by the host.

Note: Hosts can't see private chats between participants. Additionally, if the host saves the chat, private messages between participants do not appear on the chat transcript.

  1. While in a Zoom meeting, in the meeting controls toolbar, click the Chat icon .
  2. In the To: drop-down menu, select Everyone or select the participant you want to chat with directly.
  3. Enter your message in the chat window.
  4. (Optional) At the bottom of the chat window, customize your message by clicking any of the following options.
    Note: Some options may be disabled by your admin.
  5. Press Enter or click the send icon to send your message.
    If you sent a private message, a (direct message) notification will be indicated next to your message.

Reply to another message in the meeting chat

Instead of sending a new message to everyone, you can also reply to messages already sent by yourself or another participant.

  1. In the meeting controls toolbar, click the Chat icon .
  2. Below the message you want to reply to, click the reply icon .
    A text compose box will appear below and indented to the right slightly, indicating the message will be part of this thread.
  3. Enter your message in the chat window.
  4. Press Enter or click the send icon to send your message.

React to a message in the meeting chat

  1. In the meeting controls toolbar, click the Chat icon .
  2. Below the message you want to react to, click the add reaction icon .
    A small box will appear, providing you with your recently used emojis for quick access.
  3. Select a recently used emoji or click the more icon to view the full list of emojis.
    The selected emoji reaction will appear below the message. Additional emojis can be selected.
  4. (Optional) To remove the reaction, click the emoji that you added to the message.

Chat while screen sharing

While screen sharing in a meeting, click Chat in the meeting controls toolbar. A floating chat window will appear, which is not visible to other meeting participants.

If you receive new chat messages while screen sharing, a red icon will appear next to Chat indicating the amount of unread messages. Click Chat to open the chat window.

Add formatting to your in-meeting chat messages

In the chat window, click the format icon to access the following text options:

Manage chat settings

If you're the meeting host, you can change the in-meeting chat settings.

  1. Join a Zoom meeting as the host.
  2. In the meeting controls toolbar, click the Chat icon .
  3. In the chat panel, click the more icon .
  4. You can access the following options:
    • Save chat: Save all chat messages in a TXT file. Saved to the same location as local recording files.
    • Participant can chat with: Control who participants can chat with.
      • No one: Disables in-meeting chat.
      • Host and co-hosts: Only the host and co-host can send messages to everyone. Participants can still send private messages to the host.
      • Everyone: Participants can only send public messages. Public messages are visible to all participants. Participants can still send private messages to the host.
      • Everyone and anyone directly: Participants can send public or private messages. Public messages are visible to all participants. Private messages are sent to a specific participant and are not visible to the host.
Windows | macOS | Linux
Android | iOS

Chat with everyone or send a private message

You can send a message to everyone in the meeting, or send a private message if enabled by the host. Incoming chats are displayed at the bottom of your screen. To view them, tap the Chat icon .

Note: Hosts can't see private chats between participants. Additionally, if the host saves the chat, private messages between participants do not appear on the chat transcript.

  1. While in a meeting, tap the Chat icon .
  2. In the Send to: drop-down menu, tap Everyone or tap the name of the participant you want to chat with directly.
  3. Enter your message in the chat window.
  4. (Optional) To format text, select the text you want to customize.
    A toolbar with formatting options will appear, with options to bold, italicize, underline, strikethrough, link, add a bulleted or numbered list, and decrease or increase indentation.
  5. (Optional) Tap the plus icon to choose a photo or file to send.
  6. (Optional) Tap the emoji icon to add an emoji.
  7. Tap the send icon to send your message.
    If you sent a private message, a (direct message) notification will be indicated next to your message.

Reply to another message in the meeting chat

Instead of sending a new message to everyone, you can also reply to messages already sent by yourself or another participant.

  1. While in a meeting, tap the Chat icon .
  2. Below the message you want to reply to, tap the reply icon .
    A text compose box will appear below and indented to the right slightly, indicating the message will be part of this thread.
  3. Enter your message in the chat window.
  4. (Optional) At the bottom of the chat window, customize your message with formatting, emojis, or files.
  5. Tap the send icon to send your message.

React to a message in the meeting chat

  1. While in a meeting, tap the Chat icon .
  2. Below the message you want to add a reaction to, tap the reaction icon .
    A small box will appear, displaying your recently used emojis for quick access.
  3. Tap an emoji, or tap the more icon to view a full list of emojis.
    The selected emoji will appear below the message. Additional emojis can be selected.
  4. (Optional) To remove the reaction, tap the emoji that you added to the message.

Manage chat settings

If you're the meeting host, you can change the in-meeting chat settings.

  1. While in a meeting, tap More , then tap Host tools .
  2. Under Allow Participants to:, tap Chat with.
  3. Choose from the following options:
    • No one: Disables in-meeting chat.
    • Host Only: Only the host and co-host can send messages to everyone. Participants can still send private messages to the host.
    • Everyone Publicly: Participants can only send public messages. Public messages are visible to all participants. Participants can still send private messages to the host.
    • Everyone: Participants can send public or private messages. Public messages are visible to all participants. Private messages are sent to a specific participant, and are not visible to the host.
Zoom Web App

Chat with everyone or send a private message

You can send a message to everyone in the meeting, or send a private message if enabled by the host.

Note: Hosts can't see private chats between participants. Additionally, if the host saves the chat, private messages between participants do not appear on the chat transcript.

  1. Join a meeting from the Zoom Web App or a web browser.
  2. In the meeting controls toolbar, click the Chat icon .
  3. In the to: drop-down menu, select Everyone in Meeting.
  4. Enter your message in the chat window.
  5. (Optional) At the bottom of the chat window, customize your message by clicking any of the following options.
    Note: Some options may be disabled by your admin.
  6. Press Enter or click the send icon to send your message.
    If you sent a private message, a (Direct Message) notification will be indicated next to your message.

Reply to another message in the meeting chat

Instead of sending a new message to everyone, you can also reply to messages already sent by yourself or another participant.

  1. In the meeting controls toolbar, click the Chat icon .
  2. Hover your cursor over the message you want to reply to, then click the reply icon .
    A text compose box will appear below and indented to the right slightly, indicating the message will be part of this thread.
  3. Enter your message in the chat window.
  4. Press Enter or click the send icon to send your message.

React to a message in the meeting chat

  1. In the meeting controls toolbar, click the Chat icon .
  2. Hover your cursor over the message you want to react to, then click the add reaction icon .
    A small box will appear, providing you with your recently used emojis for quick access.
  3. Select a recently used emoji or click the more icon to view the full list of emojis.
    The selected emoji reaction will appear below the message. Additional emojis can be selected.
  4. (Optional) To remove the reaction, click the emoji that you added to the message.

Chat while screen sharing

While screen sharing in a meeting, click Chat in the meeting controls toolbar. A floating chat window will appear, which is not visible to other meeting participants. If you receive new chat messages while screen sharing, a red icon will appear next to Chat indicating the amount of unread messages. Click Chat to open the chat window.

Add formatting to your in-meeting chat messages

In the chat window, click the format icon to access the following text options:

Manage chat settings

If you're the meeting host, you can change the in-meeting chat settings.

  1. As the host, join a Zoom meeting from the Zoom Web App or your web browser.
  2. In the meeting controls toolbar, click the Chat icon .
  3. Below the chat window, click the ellipses icon .
  4. For the Participants Can Chat with setting, choose from the following options:
    • No one: Disables in-meeting chat.
    • Host and co-hosts: Only the host and co-hosts can send messages to everyone. Participants can still send private messages to the host.
    • Everyone: Participants can only send public messages. Public messages are visible to all participants. Participants can still send private messages to the host.
    • Everyone and anyone directly: Participants can send public or private messages. Public messages are visible to all participants. Private messages are sent to a specific participant, and are not visible to the host.