I would like to begin a Team Chat for a meeting I didn't host. How do I do this?

[relztrah]

I am not familiar with Team Chat, but I would like to use it for a meeting that I didn't host. The host has given me permission to start a chat with the other members. The meeting ended a few days ago. Questions:

1. Am I able to start a Team Chat session if I was not the host of the meeting? I have the meeting ID and password.
2. Will Team Chat still be available even though the meeting has ended and all participants have logged off?
3. How will participants know that a chat has begun since they have logged out of the meeting? Will they receive some kind of alert? 

Thank you in advance for any help. 

[hassan454 · Accepted solution]

Team Chat in Zoom (and similar platforms) is separate from the in-meeting chat. If you weren’t the host, you usually cannot restart or extend the chat space tied to that specific meeting after it ends. Meeting chat typically exists only while the session is live; once everyone logs off, that chat is gone.

To continue the discussion you’ll need the host to create a dedicated chat channel or group (Team Chat) and invite participants. That way, members receive notifications in the app (desktop/mobile) when new messages are posted. Without a persistent channel, people won’t get alerts for new messages after the meeting has ended.

Short summary:

You can’t start a persistent chat for a finished meeting if you weren’t the host.

Meeting chat disappears when the meeting ends.

Ask the host to create a Team Chat channel to keep the conversation going.

[hassan454 · Accepted solution]

Team Chat in Zoom (and similar platforms) is separate from the in-meeting chat. If you weren’t the host, you usually cannot restart or extend the chat space tied to that specific meeting after it ends. Meeting chat typically exists only while the session is live; once everyone logs off, that chat is gone.

To continue the discussion you’ll need the host to create a dedicated chat channel or group (Team Chat) and invite participants. That way, members receive notifications in the app (desktop/mobile) when new messages are posted. Without a persistent channel, people won’t get alerts for new messages after the meeting has ended.

Short summary:

You can’t start a persistent chat for a finished meeting if you weren’t the host.

Meeting chat disappears when the meeting ends.

Ask the host to create a Team Chat channel to keep the conversation going.

[Ray_Harwood · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Zoom Community, @relztrah.

Only the meeting owner can initiate the Continuous Meeting Chat.

You can initiate a Team Chat Channel, and invite people to join,  but it would not be directly associated with the meeting, nor available to future attendees if this is a recurring meeting.

[relztrah]

Thank you both for the clarification. 

[relztrah]

Follow-up question: What is the difference between a chat and a channel? Is there an advantage to creating a channel if I want to have a continuous conversation with a group of people? Thank you again for any help. 

[Ray_Harwood]

So with Team Chat (which is not the same as in-meeting chat, as @hassan454 points out), a "chat" is typically a direct or group conversation started between specific users, while a "channel" is a structured group space with its own name and privacy controls created for ongoing collaboration around a topic or team.  I gathered the following items from a Perplexity search:

What is a Chat?

• A chat can be 1-on-1 or with a group, started by inviting users directly.

• Group chats are informal and do not have names, topics, or advanced privacy controls.

• Chats and group chats are ideal for quick, ad hoc discussions, short-term topics, or decisions.

• New members added to a group chat can participate, but cannot view historic messages from before they joined.

• Chats are searchable by participant names and exist just among the invited users

What is a Channel?

• A channel is a named, persistent space designed for longer-term projects, announcements, or teams.

• Channels can be public or private. Public channels are searchable and joinable within the Zoom account, while private channels require invitation and are not visible to non-members.

• Channels have admins and can be managed (renamed, deleted, membership adjusted).

• Channels support features like designated announcers (who can post) and structured collaboration over time.

• Channel history is visible to all members, including new ones who join.

ZVA, the Zoom Virtual Agent, had this to say:

Difference Between a Chat and a Channel in Zoom Team Chat

• A chat can be a direct message to a single contact or a group of contacts.
• A channel is an established space where multiple contacts can communicate together as members. Channels have additional features, such as permissions for posting messages, adding users, and using mentions like @all

If you've used Slack, for example, the structure and difference is similar there.

[relztrah]

Excellent summary. And again I thank you. In effort to learn how to use the Team Chat, I created a new chat and sent myself an invitation to my work email, not the same email that I use with my Zoom account. I received the invitaton, click on the link and see this:

So does the person who receives a link to join a team chat need to sign in with the sender's credentials? This does't make sense. I must be overlooking or misunderstanding something. 

[Ray_Harwood]

Hey, @relztrah.  Not with the sender’s credentials – but must have a Zoom Account and be logged in with their credentials as the person who received the invite.  John sends a request  to Fred; Fred logs in as himself, then clicks the link. 

All Team Chat participants need a Zoom account, but they can be Basic (free) accounts.