How to Retrieve Chat Notes After a Zoom Meeting

Zoom meetings often involve rich discussions and detailed chat exchanges, making chat transcripts invaluable for capturing key takeaways, decisions, and action items.

Whether you’re sharing these notes with teammates or keeping them for your records, Zoom provides straightforward options to save and access chat logs.

Here’s a guide on the process how to get chat notes after a Zoom meeting, including tools and tips to enhance your workflow.

Why Zoom Chat Transcripts Matter

• Collaboration: Share chats with absent colleagues or include them in project updates.
• Compliance: Some industries require keeping accurate meeting records for audits.
• Insight tracking: Review chat logs to ensure follow-ups or decisions aren’t overlooked.

A recent survey shows that over 55% of remote teams use Zoom chat transcripts to improve collaboration and accountability. Additionally, businesses leveraging meeting transcription tools reported a 25% reduction in follow-up errors.

First Things First: Can You Actually Get Chat Notes After Zoom Meeting Ends?

After a Zoom meeting ends, you can retrieve chat notes if specific steps were taken during or before the meeting. Here’s a summary of how you can access this information and what types of data are retrievable:

How to Get Chat Notes After a Zoom Meeting

If you manually saved the chat during the meeting, the file will be stored locally on your device. By default, it can usually be found in the Documents > Zoom folder, under a subfolder named after the meeting title and date. To save, click the ellipsis (…) in the chat window during the meeting and choose “Save Chat”​

Automatic Zoom Chat Saving

If the meeting host enabled the “Auto-save chats” feature before the meeting, the chat will be automatically saved. This feature is useful for capturing general messages and any private chats in which you were involved.

Cloud Recording for Zoom Chat and Meetings

For meetings recorded on the Zoom Cloud (available to licensed users), chats can also be accessed alongside the recording. After processing, the chat file is available for download from the Zoom web portal under the “Recordings” section​.

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What Information Can Be Retrieved After Zoom Meeting Ends?

• General Chat Messages: Public messages visible to all participants.
• Private Chats: Only those private messages that you participated in can be saved.
• Links and Data Shared: Any URLs, shared files, or numerical data posted in the chat.

Limitations and Tips

• Chats that involve private discussions between other participants (not including you) cannot be retrieved due to privacy settings.
• If you forget to save the chat during the meeting and auto-save wasn’t enabled, retrieving it afterward is not possible unless it was recorded to the cloud​
• For best results, always ensure auto-save is enabled in your settings to prevent losing important data.

Step-by-Step Answer: How Do I Get Chat Notes After Zoom Meeting Ends?

1. During the meeting:
   • Open the chat window in Zoom.
   • Click the ellipsis (...) at the bottom of the chat panel and select Save Chat.
   • Your chat will save as a .txt file in the default Zoom folder (typically under Documents/Zoom).
2. Automatically save Zoom chats:
   • Enable the Auto-Save Chats option in your Zoom account settings. This ensures all meeting chats are saved without manual intervention.
3. Access after the meeting:
   • If you’ve saved your chats manually or automatically, locate the saved file in the folder for that specific meeting date and time.
   • For cloud-recorded meetings, navigate to the Recordings section in your Zoom web portal. Click the meeting topic, and the chat file will be available alongside the recording.

These features work best when configured before your meetings begin, ensuring that no vital conversations are missed.

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How Do I Get Chat Notes After Zoom Meeting Ends from Zoom History?

To view stored messages in Zoom chat history, follow these steps based on how the chat was saved during or after the meeting:

Saved Locally During the Meeting: If you manually saved the chat, it will be available on your device. Check the default location for saved chats on your computer, typically in the Documents > Zoom folder.

Saved to Zoom Cloud: If the meeting was recorded to the cloud and chat saving was enabled, you can access the chat logs from the Zoom web portal:

• Log in to your Zoom account at zoom.us.
• Navigate to Recordings.
• Select the recorded meeting, and you’ll see options for downloading the video, audio, and chat files.

If “Auto-save chat” was enabled by the host, the chat will automatically save to the designated local or cloud location.

APIs for Developers

Zoom offers APIs to retrieve chats for meetings recorded to the cloud. However, private messages and chats not recorded are not retrievable using Zoom’s API​. For further assistance, ensure the correct permissions were set before the meeting, as private messages and chats not saved during the meeting cannot be accessed retrospectively.

Uncommon Questions About Zoom Chat Transcripts

What if I forget to save the Zoom chat?

Unfortunately, Zoom doesn’t retroactively save chats unless the feature was enabled beforehand. To prevent future issues, consider enabling auto-save or using third-party tools.

Can I save Zoom chats during breakout rooms?

Yes, participants in breakout rooms can save their local chat. However, only the host will have access to all chat logs, including messages from breakout rooms, in the main session transcript.

What happens to private Zoom chat messages?

Private messages are only visible and saved by the sender and recipient. They won’t appear in the general chat transcript.

Enhancing Zoom Chat Transcripts with Third-Party tools

Tools like Eyre or Otter.ai integrate with Zoom to provide AI-powered transcription services. These platforms go beyond chat transcripts, capturing spoken discussions, timestamps, and speaker identification.

For instance, Eyre can create time-coded text records of meetings, combining audio and chat logs into a comprehensive transcript for review or distribution.

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Keeping It Secret: Can I Disable Getting Chat Notes After Zoom Meeting Ends?

Disabling chat notes retrieval after a Zoom meeting can be achieved by modifying specific settings. Here’s how you can manage this:

Disable the ability to save chats manually

As a Zoom host, navigate to your Zoom web portal and go to the Settings section. Under the Meeting tab, locate the Chat option and uncheck Allow users to save chats from the meeting. This prevents participants from manually saving the chat transcript during or after the meeting.

Turn off automatic chat saving:

For hosts, you can disable the Auto-save chats setting in your account. This ensures that no chat transcripts are automatically saved locally at the end of the meeting. This setting can be found in the In-Meeting (Basic) section of your account settings.

Disable chat saving to the cloud

If you are using cloud recording, go to the Recording tab in your Zoom settings. Disable the Save chat messages from the meeting/webinar option. This will stop chat transcripts from being saved along with the meeting recordings.

Remove saved transcripts from recordings

If you’ve already recorded meetings with chat transcripts included, you can manually delete the chat files from your cloud storage or local recordings.

Disabling these options ensures that chat notes won’t be retrievable by participants or stored alongside meeting data.

Final Thoughts: How Do I Get Chat Notes After Zoom Meeting Ends?

By following these steps and using the right tools, you can seamlessly retrieve and use Zoom chat notes to enhance your productivity. Start with Zoom’s built-in options or explore AI-enhanced platforms for more robust record-keeping.