Can't copy chat text

[d25789590]

In some meetings that I host I cannot copy the contents of the chat. For example to copy someone's email address that they share in the chat.

Is there a setting I'm missing? This used to just work and now it has stopped. Now the only option on my right-click menu is "Select All". (Using Windows 10)

Thank you.

[Dan_ZoomSE · Accepted solution]

Hello @d25789590,

The meeting Host has the ability to allow or prevent copying for in meeting Chat.  If you are finding that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't this is due to the host of those meetings having it turned off for their meeting setting.

This may be a little confusing as we do not have a specific setting for allowing/preventing copying of chat.  This is a by-product of the setting called "Allow users to save chat from the meeting".  When this is turned off or set to host only, then saving as well as copying chat is prevented.  Please see the attached screen capture.

If this has answered your question, please click the Accept as Solution button at the bottom of this message so that others in the Community may benefit from the response as well.

Thanks!

[RRS_Zoomer · Accepted solution]

One other observation, the last time this occurred I logged into the meeting on a second device (i.e. my iPhone). As I participant, my Copying and Pasting was unrestricted and worked flawlessly. I hope this helps the developers working on the fix for this issue. 

#SquashTheBug 

#FreeCopyandPaste

[LukeFlegg · Accepted solution]

Absolutely diabolical design.

I've just finished a big workshop and we couldn't actually end it for another 30 mins because we were all struggling to work out how to not lose the chat. I mean, seriously who designed this? It worked great before - "Export chat" or at least allow Copy paste. Just because Zoom messed up big time with security in the past it's now over compensating in the most clumsy way. You can't stop people doing effortless screenshots, which is what we had to do, so literally zero gain security-wise, just a HUGE amount of pain now having to type up the text from 20 screenshots. Wow.

[rachaela]

We are having the same issue in Webinars. Some attendees can right click and "copy" the body of the chat, while other users cannot. We can't figure out why it's working for some users, but not others. I wondered if it had to do with some attendees not using the most up to date version of Zoom, but I can't find anything to support this theory. A fix or explanation would be greatly appreciated. 

[david3]

The recent problems copying chat text to the clipboard or saving chat text to the local computer are caused by the New Zoom Experience, where they changed Chat so that it is closer to Teams.

If the host enables the new experience for their meeting, the participants are likely to be very frustrated indeed, not being able to save any Chat text in any way. Other meetings, where the New Experience was not enabled, continue to work well.

So, yes, it is a rather serious bug, and, like many other companies, Zoom has difficulty understanding that it can implement buggy designs.

This may be the Zoom Community, but that doesn't mean that anyone at Zoom sees this post.