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Getting started with Zoom Team Chat
Use this guide to learn how to collaborate and communicate with team members through Zoom Team Chat. Learn how to add contacts, send messages, and use our powerful search tool to streamline communication on any type of device. If you haven't already, download and install the desktop client or mobile app before getting started.
Admins are able to set up chat management settings and assign user permissions in Zoom Team Chat. Use this guide to learn how to create chat channels, store messages, and configure account settings for chat so you and your team can keep the conversation going.
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How to change chat settings
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How to join a channel
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How to add contacts
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How to send a chat message
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How to organize your chats
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How to search for messages
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How to assign a Team Chat admin
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How to configure account settings
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How to create a chat channel
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How to store messages
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How to view chat history
Do more with Zoom Team Chat
After getting started with Zoom Team Chat, find out more about available settings and additional features on our product support page.
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Start collaboratingHow to change chat settings
- Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
- In the top-right corner, click your profile picture, then click Settings.
- Click the Team Chat tab
.
- Adjust your chat and notification settings as needed, including:
- Customizing the look and behavior of the Team Chat sidebar
- Receiving notifications for all messages or only when you are messaged directly, mentioned, or someone replies to you
- Playing sound when you receive a new message
- Muting chat notifications when you’re in a meeting
How to change chat settings
- Sign in to the Zoom mobile app.
- Tap the More icon
.
- Under Settings, tap the Team Chat tab
.
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Adjust your chat and notification settings as needed, including:
- When you receive notifications
- How unread messages appear
How to join a channel
- Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
- Click the Team Chat tab
.
- In the left sidebar, next to Team Chat, click the drop-down arrow icon
.
- Click Join a Channel.
- In the pop-up window, use the search bar to find a channel.
- Hover your cursor over the channel name, and click Join.
You will be directed to that channel to start collaborating with others.
How to join a channel
- Sign in to the Zoom mobile app.
- Tap the Contacts tab
.
- In the top-right corner, tap the plus icon
.
- Tap Join a Channel.
- Use the search bar to find a channel.
- Tap the name of the channel, then tap Join Channel.
How to add contacts
By default, your Zoom contacts directory contains users on the same Zoom account. If your admin has allowed it, you can also add any external Zoom user as a contact by specifying the email address.
- Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
- Click the Contacts tab
.
- In the left sidebar, click the add icon
.
- Click Invite a Zoom Contact.
- Enter the email address of the contact you want to add.
-
Click Invite.
- If the person has a Zoom account, they’ll receive a contact request within Zoom Team Chat. After they accept the request, you can start chatting with them.
- If the person doesn’t have a Zoom account, they’ll receive an invite email to create a Zoom account so they can connect with you. Once they sign up for Zoom, they should click on the link in the email again to confirm the connection.
- Click OK.
- Repeat steps 3-7 as needed for additional contacts.
How to add contacts
By default, your Zoom contacts directory contains users on the same Zoom account. If your admin has allowed it, you can also add any external Zoom user as a contact by specifying the email address.
- Sign in to the Zoom mobile app.
- Tap the Contacts tab
.
- In the top-right corner, tap the plus icon
.
- Tap Invite a Zoom Contact.
- Enter the email address of the contact you want to add.
-
Tap Add.
- If the person has a Zoom account, they’ll receive a contact request within Zoom Team Chat. After they accept the request, you can start chatting with them.
- If the person doesn’t have a Zoom account, they’ll receive an invite email to create a Zoom account so they can connect with you. Once they sign up for Zoom, they should click on the link in the email again to confirm the connection.
- Tap OK.
- Repeat steps 3-7 as needed for additional contacts.
How to send a chat message
- Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
- Click the Team Chat tab
.
-
In the left sidebar, do one of the following:
- To start a new chat, click the new chat icon
. Then, enter the name or email address of the contact you want to chat with.
- Select an existing one-on-one chat, group chat, or channel.
- To start a new chat, click the new chat icon
- Enter your message. Besides basic text formatting, some options available to you may include rich text formatting, adding emojis or GIFs, sending files, taking a screenshot, and more.
Note: Some of these options may be disabled by your Zoom admin and not visible to you. - Press the Enter key or click the send icon
in the lower-right corner of the chat compose box.
How to send a chat message
- Sign in to the Zoom mobile app.
- Tap the Team Chat tab
.
-
Do one of the following:
- To start a new chat, in the top-right corner, tap the new chat icon
. Then, enter the name or email address of the contact you want to chat with.
- Tap an existing one-on-one chat, group chat, or channel.
- To start a new chat, in the top-right corner, tap the new chat icon
- Enter your message. Besides basic text formatting, some options available to you may include rich text formatting, adding emojis or GIFs, sending files, taking a photo, and more.
Note: Some of these options may be disabled by your Zoom admin and not visible to you. - Tap the send icon
.
How to organize your chats
With folders, you can organize chats and channels into meaningful groups, allowing you to spend less time scrolling and more time chatting. Your folders and organization are synced with your account, so the organization follows you from device to device.
- Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
- Click the Team Chat tab
.
- In the left sidebar, next to Team Chat, click the drop-down arrow icon
.
- Click Create a Folder.
- Enter a name for the folder, then choose which contacts, chats, and channels you want to add to the folder.
- Click Create a Folder.
- (Optional) To rearrange the contents within a folder, click-and-drag an item.
How to organize your chats
With folders, you can organize chats and channels into meaningful groups, allowing you to spend less time scrolling and more time chatting. Your folders and organization are synced with your account, so the organization follows you from device to device.
- Sign in to the Zoom mobile app.
- Tap the Team Chat tab
.
- Tap the
Folders option.
- In the top-right corner, tap the plus icon
.
- Enter a name for the folder, then tap Next.
- Add contacts and channels you want included in this new folder.
Recent chats and channels are shown by default or you can begin entering names of specific contacts, group chats, and channels you want to include in this folder.
Note: This can be adjusted after you finish creating the folder. - Tap Create.
The new folder will appear in the folders list. Tapping the folder icon or name will open the folder, listing the contained chats and channels.
How to search for messages
When tracking down a contact, message, or discussion, using the search bar can speed up the process. Recent searches help you pick up where you left off, and filters allow you to narrow your search.
- Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
- Click the Team Chat tab
.
- In the top-left corner, click the search bar.
- Enter keywords to search for.
By default, Zoom will search in all chats, channels, messages, and contacts. You can narrow your search through filters, such as only showing messages or contacts that match the search. - Hover over the search result to view more information or take quick action. For example, when searching for messages, you can hover over a message and click View Context to expand the message or Jump to go directly to that message’s location.
How to search for messages
When tracking down a contact, message, or discussion, using the search bar can speed up the process. Recent searches help you pick up where you left off, and filters allow you to narrow your search.
- Sign in to the Zoom mobile app.
- Tap the Team Chat tab
.
- Tap the search bar.
- Enter keywords to search for.
By default, Zoom will search in all chats, channels, messages, and contacts. You can narrow your search through filters, such as only showing messages or contacts that match the search. - Tap on a search result to view more information or take quick action. For example, when searching for messages, you can tap a message to open that chat or channel, then tap Jump to go directly to that message’s location.
How to assign a Team Chat admin
The account owner, or an admin with edit privileges for role management, can create a custom role to assign chat management permissions to another user. This allows them to manage Zoom Team Chat in the Zoom web portal.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal as the account owner.
- In the navigation menu, click User Management then Roles.
- Click Add Role.
- Specify a name and description for the role, then click Add.
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For the following sections, select the check box in the Edit column to give this role Team Chat permissions for specific areas of the Zoom web portal.
User and Permission Management section:- Groups: Manage user groups.
- Contacts: Manage contact groups.
- Account Settings: Manage account settings.
- Team Chat: View usage statistics of chat messages and message type in Dashboard (only the View permission is available for this page).
- Chat history: Manage archived chat messages.
- Chatbots: Manage available chatbots.
- Chat channels: Manage channels for all users in the account.
- Click Save Changes.
- At the top, click Role Members, then click Add Members.
- Enter the email addresses of the users you want to assign this custom role to, then click Add.
The user(s) will automatically be assigned to this new role so that they can manage Team Chat.
Learn more about using role management.
How to configure account settings
By default, users are allowed to chat with others in Team Chat. Admins can configure Team Chat settings in the Zoom web portal at the account level for all users in the account or the group level for a specific group of users. Some settings are only available at the account level.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
- Click the Team Chat tab
.
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Adjust settings as needed in the following areas:
- Sharing
- Visibility
- Security
- Storage
- Click the toggle next to a setting to enable or disable it.
- (Optional) Click the lock icon
next to a setting to prevent users from changing this setting.
Learn about available Team Chat settings.
How to create a chat channel
You can create a chat channel and add multiple user groups to it. For example, if each department in your organization had their own user group and you wanted to create a company-wide chat channel, you could add each department’s group to the chat channel during the chat channel creation process.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- In the navigation menu, click Team Chat Management then Channels.
- On the right side of the page, click Create Channel.
- In the pop-up window, click Create a single channel and add members of Groups.
- Enter details about the channel, including the name and whether it’s a public or private channel.
- Click Continue.
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Specify the following information:
- Under Add Groups to Channel, begin entering the name of a group, then select the name of the group. You can choose multiple groups here.
- Channel Owner: Specify the channel owner. The channel owner will be able to change the channel's name, description, and settings.
- (Optional) Channel Admins: Specify the admins that can help manage the channel.
- Who Can Send Messages: Select which channel members are allowed to post messages in the channel.
- Click Done.
Users will automatically be added to the chat channel, and they can access it from the Zoom desktop client or mobile app.
How to store messages
If you want to store messages to Zoom’s cloud, and be able to view, download, or delete stored chat messages, do the following:
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
- In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
- Click the Team Chat tab
.
-
Under Storage, enable the following settings:
- Set retention period for messages and files in Zoom's cloud: Specify the time period to store messages, then click Save. After the specified cloud retention period, Zoom will remove all persistent chat messages and metadata from the cloud.
- 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: Specify Zoom Cloud to enable files within channels to be backed by Zoom cloud storage.
- (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.
Learn more about storing Team Chat message history.
How to view chat history
Admins can view chat history for users on their account if messages are being stored in Zoom’s cloud. They can view and locally download chat messages, files, images, and more.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Reports.
- Click the User Activity Reports tab, then click Chat History.
- Specify a time period of up to 1 month.
- (Optional) Enter a user's name or email to search for messages sent or received by a specific user.
- Click Search.
-
Use the following 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 text-only CSV file or HTML file that includes attachments and CSV.
- Download All: Download each chat thread in the current search results as a CSV or HTML file.