How to send a message to everyone during a Zoom meeting

In this article, we will explain how to use the in-meeting chat to send a message to everyone.

We also introduce how to save chat logs and how to send files to everyone, so if you want to use chat in parallel with meetings, please refer to it.

How to send a message to everyone in Zoom’s in-meeting chat

First, let’s take a closer look at how to send a message to everyone during a Zoom meeting.

We will also explain how to operate the chat during screen sharing and how to change the chat settings from the meeting screen.

Prerequisite: Enable In-Meeting Chat

In order to send and receive messages during a meeting, it is necessary to activate the chat function as a preparation.

To enable in-meeting chat, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Zoom website (https://zoom.us/) and sign in
2. Click Settings from the navigation menu
3. Scroll down to In a Meeting (Basic)
4. Check “Allow meeting and webinar participants to send chat messages”
5. Set any list in the “By default, participants are allowed to chat with the following users” column (no target, host, everyone, everyone directly)
6. Click “Save”

Select “Everyone” to allow everyone to send and receive messages, or “Everyone directly” to allow everyone to send and receive individual messages.

Send chat to everyone

Here‘s how to send a message to everyone in the meeting.

1. Launch Zoom and start a meeting
2. Click “Chat” from the menu at the bottom of the meeting screen
3. Enter your message in the chat box that appears on the right side of the screen
4. Set the list in the “To” column to “Everyone”
5. Press “Enter” to send (“Shift” + “Enter” if you want a line break)

If you want to send an individual message to a specific user instead of everyone, select the user you want to send the message from the To dropdown list.

Send a chat while sharing your screen

If you want to check messages or send/receive messages during screen sharing, the procedure is as follows.

1. Launch Zoom and start a meeting
2. Click “Screen Share” from the menu at the bottom of the meeting screen
3. Select any screen and click “Share”
4. Click “Chat” from the menu displayed at the top of the screen
5. Enter a message in the chat box that appears in a mini window
6. Set the list in the “To” column to “Everyone”
7. Press “Enter” to send (“Shift” + “Enter” if you want a line break)

When you receive a new message, the “Chat” button will flash orange to notify you that you have a new message.

Change in-meeting chat settings (host)

The chat permissions that you set when enabling in-meeting chat can also be changed during the meeting. (host only)

Follow the steps below to change your message sending/receiving settings.

1. Launch Zoom and start a meeting
2. Click “Chat” from the menu at the bottom of the meeting screen
3. Click “Details (… icon)”
4. Arbitrarily set the range of sending and receiving messages (no target, host and co-host, everyone, everyone directly)

Useful chat functions to remember

From here, we will introduce useful in-meeting chat functions that you should keep in mind along with sending and receiving messages.

We also explain how to operate two screens using a smartphone, so please refer to it as well.

Saving chat logs

Messages sent and received in the in-meeting chat can be saved as a log.

There are two types of messages you can save: public messages sent to everyone and private messages sent to you.

There are two ways to save chat logs: manual saving and automatic saving. The operations for each are as follows.

Manual save

1. Launch Zoom and start a meeting
2. Click “Chat” from the menu at the bottom of the meeting screen
3. Click “Details (… icon)”
4. Click “Save Chat”

For autosave

1. Go to the Zoom website (https://zoom.us/) and sign in
2. Click Settings from the navigation menu
3. Scroll down to In a Meeting (Basic)
4. Check “Auto save chat”

Setting up auto-save is convenient because you don’t have to worry about saving messages for each meeting.

Sending and receiving files

You can also send files to everyone using the in-meeting chat.

Note that this also requires activation settings in advance and cannot be used from mobile devices such as smartphones.

Enable File Sending and Receiving

1. Go to the Zoom website (https://zoom.us/) and sign in
2. Click Settings from the navigation menu
3. Scroll down to In a Meeting (Basic)
4. Check “Send files in meeting chat”
5. Edit the options if you want to limit the file format/size
6. Click “Save”

Send files to everyone

1. Launch Zoom and start a meeting
2. Click “Chat” from the menu at the bottom of the meeting screen
3. Set the list in the “To” column to “Everyone”
4. Click the file icon in the chat box displayed on the right side of the screen
5. Select any file and send

Efficient sending and receiving chats using smartphones (for hosts)

If you display the chat screen while sharing the screen, the screen may overlap partially and it may be difficult to see.

In such a case, it is recommended to access the meeting from your smartphone and use it for chat confirmation.

The method to check the chat screen of Zoom from the smartphone is as follows.

1. Launch the Zoom mobile app and join the meeting
2. Tap “Details” from the menu at the bottom of the meeting screen
3. Tap “Chat”

If you use a smartphone to display the chat, you need to sign in with the same account that you use on your computer.

Zoom allows simultaneous access from the same account on different devices (computer and smartphone, etc.), so if you use multiple accounts, sign in with the same account you are hosting.

Summary of how to send a message to everyone on Zoom

• In Zoom, apart from the standard chat function, there is a function that allows you to exchange messages within the meeting.
• Permissions such as “Can only send messages to the host” and “Everyone can exchange messages with each other” can be changed at any time on the host side
• You can also save chat logs and send and receive files depending on the settings on the host side.

By using the in-meeting chat to create messages addressed to everyone, you will be able to efficiently share progress information, minutes, etc.

When holding a meeting, please use the chat function along with video calls and screen sharing.