How to Enable and Use Zoom Continuous Meeting Chat

Before you start

Continuous meeting chat is a Zoom account setting that keeps a meeting chat conversation available outside the live meeting. Instead of losing the chat when everyone leaves, participants can continue exchanging messages in the same conversation through the Zoom desktop or mobile app. The chat stays linked to the recurring meeting series when you join the meeting from the Zoom app.

To enable this setting, you need a Zoom account with permission to change account, group, or user settings. Free accounts may have access to the setting, but available options can vary by account type, admin configuration, and app version. The change applies to meetings you host, not to meetings hosted by someone else.

Step-by-step instructions

Use these steps to turn on continuous meeting chat from the Zoom web portal.

• Sign in to the Zoom web portal with the account you use to host meetings.
• In the left navigation, open Settings.
• Select the Meeting tab if it is not already active.
• Scroll to the In Meeting (Basic) section.
• Find the Continuous meeting chat option.
• Turn the toggle on.
• If Zoom shows a confirmation dialog, review it and select Enable.

If the setting is locked or unavailable, your account admin may need to enable it at the account or group level. Contact the person who manages Zoom for your organization before changing other account options.

Continuous meeting chat works most predictably with recurring meetings. When you schedule a recurring meeting, each meeting in that series can use the same dedicated chat conversation. Participants should sign in to the Zoom desktop or mobile app so the meeting chat can remain available in their app after the meeting ends.

Check the output

Start the meeting as the host, send a message in the in-meeting chat, then end the meeting. Open the Chat tab in the Zoom desktop or mobile app and look for the conversation for that meeting. If continuous meeting chat is active, the conversation remains listed there and participants who joined through the app can still view and send messages until the next meeting in the series.

The chat is not a substitute for email or a permanent record. Retention and visibility depend on Zoom account rules, meeting settings, and the conversation lifecycle for that meeting series. Verify your organization's retention policy instead of assuming everyone can always see the full conversation.

Common problems and next steps

If the toggle does not appear under In Meeting (Basic), update the Zoom app and check the setting again from the web portal. The desktop app version may expose different controls, and older versions may not show newer meeting settings.

If participants cannot find the chat after the meeting, confirm that they joined the meeting while signed in to the Zoom app. Guests who joined from a browser without signing in may not see the continuous conversation in the same way, and dial-in participants typically do not retain access to chat history.

For recurring meetings with an irregular schedule, test the behavior with a short series before relying on it for important follow-ups. If the meeting is not part of a recurring series, the chat may behave differently and may not remain available in the same conversation view.