New Zoom Chat - I want the old chat where I can see all the private messages at one glance

[AudreyW1]

I do not have time to click person by person during a discussion meeting.
Most times their suggestions come to me (the host) via the chat and I do not want others to see their inputs.

Now, I have to click name by name to check their inputs. Ridiculous when I have almost 100 people in the meeting.
I need to be able to read all incoming messages quickly at a glance as we are discussing stuff.

Please allow us to choose if we want to see all messages at a glance instead of having to click user by user!

[SyberKnight]

@MBTaggart,

for me, yes. but it was a process to get it back to how it was. you can see what i did at my post in this thread on July 11th...

https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Team-Chat/New-Zoom-Chat-I-want-the-old-chat-where-I-can-see-all-t...

[mottymalta]

I can't see private group messages. Am I missing something? I want to revert to the old system too as this "improvement" is terrible.

[SyberKnight]

@mottymalta ,

please read thru the posts for an answer. more specifically, mine on July 11th, where i detail how i got the old chat method back... https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Team-Chat/New-Zoom-Chat-I-want-the-old-chat-where-I-can-see-all-t...

[mottymalta]

thanks

[nonyanon]

Your saying these instructions are for the host?

[MGSR]

Hello Community,

Thank you for posting your feedback. We have shared this with the product team.

[Fta-admin]

any update from the team? I can't find the option to disable the private group message..

[mottymalta]

nor can I? Any help please?

[SyberKnight]

please read thru the posts for an answer. more specifically, mine on July 11th, where i detail how i got the old chat method back... https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Team-Chat/New-Zoom-Chat-I-want-the-old-chat-where-I-can-see-all-t...

[MarciaK]

Sorry, but this is not a solution. There is no option to turn off "private messaging" in either account that I manage. 

[MarciaK]

I just want the "old" chat box restored. Easier, better especially when hosting large Zoom meetings.

[dineshlakmal]

Same problem. Very disappointed with this useless chat update. It’s making Zoom almost impossible to use for large classes. Time to look for better alternatives.

[peteralpaugh]

i have the same problem. and i cannot find the setting referenced in the suggested "solution". where can i find it. 

[BrianDonato]

I agree that leaving that setting off is likely cleaner but, if you are trying to gather that much feedback from a large group, perhaps a Zoom Poll would be a better option? https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0066150

[Monaroalanon]

Cannot find the setting "Meeting chat - Private group messages" to disable it. Does not exist in the meeting settings.

[KarenLemons]

Please bring back the old "waterfall" method of chat. Our entire organization will consider moving platforms if this isn't remedied, as it makes using the chatbox--a feature we depend on with large classes--useless. 

[MarciaK]

Just came off a Zoom meeting with 100+ people on it. The private chat function is difficult with that many people on a meeting -- especially removing people from a chat. The "remove" box was not available for one private "group" function. The only option was to completely delete that particular "private" chat and start over again. In other words, folks, this new chat function is a horror story.  I wonder if the designers tested it properly in an actual Zoom meeting with more than 5 participants on it.   We need the old chat box. Question: is Zoom listening to us?

[MarciaK]

This is NOT a solution. Zoom needs to take our concerns seriously and come up with a real solution. For me the best solution is to bring back the old chat box. There is a saying. "If it ain't broke, why fix it."

[NBV]

100% agree with you all, another teacher here.  This new chat is a nightmare even in classes of 8 kids.  I've got a ticket in to get this "meeting chat- private group messages" button because it does not currently exist in my settings

[MarciaK]

Let us know how it goes.

[SyberKnight]

here is the solution that worked for me.    note: IT IS TOTALLY FIXABLE (REVERTABLE)...

i just finished a 22 day frustrating back'n'forth with support about this issue, and finally got my old chat method back.

like others have mentioned, our group meetings work better with the old/previous/waterfall in-meeting chat panel method; and it would seem that this is NOT something the lower level support folks know anything about. so if you reach someone who isn't really grasping the issue &/or giving you non-relevant advice etc, try asking for an escalated/higher-level support person.

there are 2 similarly worded settings that shouldn't be confused...

 1) Meeting chat - Direct messages (this needs to stay ON)

 2) Meeting chat - Private group messages (this needs to be turned OFF)

here's the first tricky part - not everyone has this option available in their account settings (as of this date).

if you do not have it that second "Private group messages" option, then this is when you have to chat with support - they have to enable this feature setting for you to have it available in settings, for you to turn off. then once it's enabled & visible for you to change...

here's the second tricky part - you may need to turn it off in 2 places.

place #1) go to your Zoom web browser portal > Settings > In Meeting (Basic) > Meeting chat - Private group messages.

...turning this OFF may not actually revert your in-meeting chat panel to the previous method for everyone in your meeting. 

place #2) go to your Zoom web browser portal > Account Management > Account Settings > In Meeting (Basic) > Meeting chat - Private group message.

...turning this OFF is the key for it to actually revert your in-meeting chat panel to the previous method for everyone in the meetings.

just to be clear, these settings are NOT done in your personal Zoom "app" - you have to log in to your groups' Zoom account @ https://zoom.us for this meeting setting to occur for everyone who joins your groups' meetings.

hope that helps.

[MarciaK]

Are you confusing "private group messages" with "Meeting chat - Direct Messages"? If you turn that feature off no one will be able to chat directly with another participant.

[mottymalta]

Thanks but nowhere on my settings does it say: Private group messages. So I am a bit stuck! Once again Zoom has updated something that was working fine and messed it up. Please revert to the old system as this slows my teaching down too much!

[BexR1968]

THIS WORKED!!!! thank you so much.  We had to contact Zoom to enable the setting, but it worked for us yesterday!!! Brilliant 

[natulaay]

How can someone contact Zoom to enable this setting?

[ACA-TalkTrust]

Thank you for this amazing post!  I didn't even know this was an option until I saw it the old way in another meeting.  Instead of asking the person how they did it, I went to the internet.  Fortunately it didn't take me long to find your (very clearly written) instructions.

I reached out to zoom chat.  The bot new nothing of this, so I asked for a person.  The person knew nothing about it, so I copied and pasted (most) of your article.  They "put me on hold" and came back advising they would have to enable this feature for me.  They opened a support ticket and said it would take 1 to 48 hours, but they would email me when it was complete.  

I know this will work, so I am thanking you in advance.  If everyone else would actually READ your post, they would know exactly what to do.  Thank you!

[SyberKnight]

@ACA-TalkTrust 

THANK YOU for reading & THANK YOU for your post. much appreciated.

it's crazy to me how many folks don't take the time to read & absorb before posting.

(btw: i'm in ACA too 🙂

[instructor_rick]

Why on earth has Zoom done away with the chat cascade/waterfall format? Of all the dozens of obscure settings that few people care about, they chose to eliminate this function? I'm wondering what the conversation looked like that led to the conclusion that this was a good idea. Incredibly frustrating. If anyone has info about a possible update that will restore that function, please share.

[SyberKnight]

yes you can revert. read @ https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Team-Chat/New-Zoom-Chat-I-want-the-old-chat-where-I-can-see-all-t...

[MBTaggart]

This thread is just going in circles. I’m so tired of getting the runaround from Zoom.

[SyberKnight]

@MBTaggart ,

it goes in circles when people post without reading for the answer first.

[MBTaggart]

Yeah that seems to be endemic to “Community Help” threads of all kinds, but especially so where tech is concerned. 

[mottymalta]

Thanks for a couple of you messaging me with the solution re Private messaging. But nowhere on my settings is there Private Messaging. So I am not sure what I need to turn off. If I switch off Messaging that will stop everyone messaging me and I don't want that. What I want is to revert to the old style where I can scroll quickly to all messages. This update makes it so slow for me to click on every individual message. Sometimes I have scroll through 90 messages. It is simply impossible to check through every message and continue teaching. Hence me wanting to revert back before the improvement (sarcasm/update).

[SyberKnight]

@MarciaK ,

based on your 3 recent posts, it 'seems' to me that you've not really read carefully my longer post, where i (at least i believe i) detail not only the difference between those 2 chat settings, but also how to get the one that's missing for you. i've done what i can to be helpful, but i'm not gonna re-type what actually worked for me. ✌️

btw, in case it's confusing, my post is @ https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Team-Chat/New-Zoom-Chat-I-want-the-old-chat-where-I-can-see-all-t...

[MarciaK]

Thanks for your response. I understand that you've tried to be helpful and I'm grateful for that. 

[SyberKnight]

@MarciaK and @mottymalta ,

this is my last reply on this topic.

i've explained as best i can that yes, there is a difference between the "Direct" and "Private" meeting chat settings;

and i explained how & where to set those settings;

and i explained that if you don't have the "Private" setting, then how to get it to show up so you can turn it off,

and that will revert your mtg chat back to its previous glory.

it's all right there @ https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Team-Chat/New-Zoom-Chat-I-want-the-old-chat-where-I-can-see-all-t...

...if that link isn't working for you, then go find my post in this thread on 2025-07-11.

if the way i write & shared the info "that works" isn't understandable to you, then i'm sorry & don't know how else i can help.  maybe someone else who "gets it" can help explain it to where it makes sense to you.

i hope that helps.

✌️

[MarciaK]

Finally! Had to go through the whole rigamarole of contacting Support to ask to get ""Meeting chat - Private group messages" added to my "In Meeting - Basic" settings. Once added, I toggled it off and voila -- classic all-in-one Meeting Chat feature restored. Thanks SyberKnight and others for your assistance.

[natulaay]

How can I contact Zoom Support to get ‘Meeting chat - Private group messages’ added to my ‘In Meeting - Basic’ settings?

[Alex410]

Totally agree—managing chats from so many participants individually in large meetings is impractical. A unified view of all incoming messages (even private ones) would make the conversation much more efficient. Definitely a much-needed feature!

[MichaelBridoux]

I cannot find this setting neither... This new chat sucks