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!

[vshorto]

I AGREE!  This new set-up is terrible!  I use Zoom for teaching and daily ask kids to give me your thoughts, vote yes or no, give me a chat waterfall, where I can quickly view all responses.  This is a HUGE NO for the new setting!

[AudreyW1]

Exactly. I use this for teaching kids daily.
I want them to safely send to messages to me and I can read them all at a glance without having to click individually.

I can't imagine when Monday comes and I am expecting 100+ kids in each Zoom session.

[micsal1]

Could not agree more!   Hate this new chat....it is so time consuming and I agree...need the waterfall to read responses (direct messages to me) as they come in.  Cannot click on 100 people!  

[vshorto]

So true!  This new format is awful! Whose bright idea was this at Zoom?  I use Zoom for teaching. Daily, I ask the kids for their thoughts, vote yes or no, give me a chat waterfall of answers, etc  I can't open up each chat one at a time!

[AudreyW1]

Found a solution for now, but hope Zoom won't change it up.
Login from web browser instead of using Zoom app on desktop. Tried & tested it just now, it is still the old interface.

[vshorto]

OMG!  Thanks!

[Nancybixby]

Did not work for me.

[XcelJill]

Me either...  I think it depends on which version you have downloaded.  :(((

[Vivek108]

ive tried that but the web brower automatically switches back to the desktop

[Nancybixby]

I agree. At least we should a choice.

[ZainabAbdelhai]

I agree. I want the old chat settings. I don't have time to click on each person's name to see their feedback. I hope there is a way we can change back to the old settings. 

[micsal1]

Agree with everyone!  This new format for chat is HORRIBLE.  I had over 100 students today and did not have time to click on each one when I asked them a question, response, etc.  PLEASE give the old chat back where we can see direct messages from students as they come in.

[MELIBBYS]

I AGREE 1000%. Put it back to the way it was before.

There isn't enough time in a day to have to click on everyone's icon to see each message from each individual participant!!!!!

[micsal1]

Hello Everyone Again!

After spending quite a bit of time in a live chat with a zoom representative, there is not a solution at this time.  However, I was sent some links to "older versions" of zoom.  I did uninstall my zoom app from my laptop and intalled the 6.0 version!  It worked!  The old chat (and other old stuff) came back.  Please see the links below that were sent to me.  Hope it works for you:)

Version 6.0.11

• Win EXE 64bit - https://zoom.us/client/6.0.11.39959/ZoomInstallerFull.exe?archType=x64 
• Win EXE 32bit - https://zoom.us/client/6.0.11.39959/ZoomInstallerFull.exe 
• ARM EXE 64bit - https://zoom.us/client/6.0.11.39959/ZoomInstallerFull.exe?archType=winarm64 
• Win MSI 64bit - https://zoom.us/client/6.0.11.39959/ZoomInstallerFull.msi?archType=x64 
• Win MSI 32bit - https://zoom.us/client/6.0.11.39959/ZoomInstallerFull.msi 
• ARM MSI 64bit - https://zoom.us/client/6.0.11.39959/ZoomInstallerFull.msi?archType=winarm64 
• Mac (Apple Silicon) - https://zoom.us/client/6.0.11.35001/zoomusInstallerFull.pkg?archType=arm64 
• Mac (Intel) - https://zoom.us/client/6.0.11.35001/zoomusInstallerFull.pkg 

[MarciaK]

Zoom would not let me install the 6.0.11 version.

[MarciaK]

Would not let me install the 6.0 version.

[MBTaggart]

I truly appreciate the research you did and the suggestions you posted, but we should not have to do this. It’s Zoom’s job to accommodate us, not the other way around. 

Our account is used by four different subgroups. I have no idea what settings the other three use. 

[sakurajoe]

HELP! The old system was the sole function for me using zoom REFUND!

[AudreyW1]

Everyone, I was advised by the live chat support team to give feedback directly to Zoom via the desktop app.
(Open it, click on your profile picture on the top right corner, hover over "Help" and select "Give Feedback". I also sent via "Report a Problem".)
Keep doing this repeatedly collectively and they will have to listen to our feedback!

[XcelJill]

Please change this asap!  It's impossible to teach and communicate like this at the same time.  Students are losing out. :((

[LeoGB]

Agreed, this is a terrible feature change. Even just the process of starting a message with a new participant is much less intuitive and more complex. Whereas before it was just a case of clicking a drop-down menu and selecting the relevant participant, you now have to click a button in the top-left (which is not at all obvious) to start a "new chat". Crazy. 

[MarciaK]

It was probably designed by someone who never runs large meetings on Zoom.

[Hanna9]

Extremely bad set-up. I want the old chat back!! It's virtually unusable. 

[MarciaK]

Totally agree. The "new" chat is a mess. Zoom should at least give us the option of which chat version we wish to use on a meeting.

[AudreyW1]

Zoom has officially replied it! It is fixed!!!

Their official reply to me via email:

---

@AudreyW1 wrote:

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!

---

[Vivek108]

mine is still the same. how can this be fixed?

[AudreyW1]

FIXED BY ZOOM! This is their official reply: To fully resolve the issue, please disable “Meeting chat - Private group messages” from the web portal settings to revert back the in-meeting chat behavior. It is enabled by default.

[AudreyW1 · Accepted solution]

They've replied me via email. Tried & tested. This works! I have the old format back!

To fully resolve the issue, please disable “Meeting chat - Private group messages” from the web portal settings to revert back the in-meeting chat behavior. It is enabled by default.

To disable the setting “Meeting chat - Private group messages", kindly refer to this page:

https://us02web.zoom.us/profile/setting?tab=meeting 

[MELIBBYS]

I don't see a "toggle" button for "Meeting chat - Private group messages." on the Settings/In Meeting (Basic) page. Can you send a screenshot of the specific toggle button we are supposed to turn off?   Thanks so much!

[CarlaA]

Hi @MELIBBYS, 

If you are not seeing this setting within your account, please reach out to our support team via a ticket. They will be able to investigate and assist you further. Thank you! 

[Vivek108]

what a lazy reply. If you're suggesting something, can you not at least check to see if it exists? I cant see it either. 

[ivangobike]

I cannot find this option listed.

[MarciaK]

Not listed in two Zoom accounts that I have access to.

[Vivek108]

i cant see this option on my web portal settings. please advise. 

[peteralpaugh]

i cannot find the setting “Meeting chat - Private group messages",

where is it??

this "new" chat setup is very bad for teaching classes

[peteralpaugh]

i cannot find this setting. anyone know where it should be?  under what heading?

[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..

[MarciaK]

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