“Participants can only send messages to the host not working

When you select “Participants can only send messages to the host”, students should still be able to chat privately to you. If no one can type at all, it’s usually not related to your plan (Pro vs free doesn’t affect this feature).

Here’s what’s likely happening and how to fix it:

Possible Reasons

1. In-meeting chat is fully disabled
   Go to:

   • Zoom Web Portal → Settings → Meeting → In Meeting (Basic)

   • Make sure Chat is enabled.

   • Also check that “Private chat” is enabled if needed.

2. Chat permissions were changed during the meeting
   Inside the meeting:

   • Click Chat → Click the three dots (…)

   • Under “Participant can chat with,” select Host only

   • Make sure it’s not set to No one

3. Participants are muted via webinar mode
   If you're using a Webinar instead of a Meeting, chat behavior is different.

4. Outdated Zoom app
   Ask students to update their Zoom app to the latest version.