Co-Host Moderation: Participant Chat Replies Routing Strictly to Primary Host

Question

Hi Zoom Support / Community,I need assistance setting up a co-host moderation workflow during meetings where participant chat is restricted.Current Account & Meeting Configuration:Account Type: Zoom Workplace Business License (300 Participants)	Desktop Client: Updated to the latest version on all host and co-host devices	Focus Mode: Enabled during the meeting	Meeting Chat Permissions: Set to "Host and co-hosts" by admin policy	Direct Messaging (Participant-to-Participant): Locked OFF by admin policy	Q&A in Meetings: EnabledThe Problem with Meeting Chat (No Shared Inbox):	No Shared Inbox in Chat: In Meeting Chat, there is no shared message box for the moderation team. When a participant sends a message or replies to a co-host, it goes only to the Primary Host's window instead of a shared box accessible by all co-hosts.			Co-host Messaging Isolation: When a co-host messages a participant directly, the reply routes strictly back to the Primary Host, leaving the co-host unable to see or receive the response.	My Questions / Points to Validate:	Chat Limitation: Under our admin settings, is it confirmed that Meeting Chat does not support a shared inbox, causing all incoming participant messages and replies to pool exclusively to the Primary Host?			Focus Mode Behavior: Does Focus Mode strictly affect video and screen sharing views, or does it also restrict chat permissions independently?			Q&A Shared Inbox Workflow: Is the In-Meeting Q&A panel the official Zoom solution that acts as a true shared inbox—where all messages/questions submitted by participants are visible to the Primary Host AND all Co-Hosts simultaneously so anyone on the team can reply?	Thank you!

jrmagno · Answer

Chat Limitation-If you're asking specifically about creating a mini group chat (e.g., 4 of 20 meeting participants) without leaving the meeting, Zoom does not currently provide that functionality in Meeting Chat.
Work around are
Send a private chat to an individual participant, if private chat is enabled.
Create a separate Zoom Team Chat group chat with the selected participants, but this is separate from the meeting chat.
Yes. Focus Mode primarily affects what participants can see in terms of video and shared content; it does not independently change or restrict Meeting Chat permissions.

Chat permissions are controlled separately through the Meeting Chat settings. The host can choose options such as:
No one — disables participant chat.
Host and co-hosts — participants can communicate with the host/co-hosts.
Meeting group chat — participants can send public messages to everyone.
Meeting group chat & anyone directly — participants can send public and private messages.
Yes — the In-Meeting Q&A panel is the official Zoom feature designed for this type of shared question-management workflow.

For Zoom Meetings, when Q&A is enabled:
The host and all co-hosts can see the submitted questions in the Q&A panel.
Any host or co-host can answer the question in writing, answer it privately, or mark it to be answered live.
Questions remain in the shared Q&A interface, so the team can coordinate who responds.
Questions can also be dismissed/reopened, and participants can optionally upvote or comment.

Co-Host Moderation: Participant Chat Replies Routing Strictly to Primary Host

2 replies

Getting Started

Getting Started

Sign up

Login with SSO

Login to the community

Login with SSO