You can edit or delete messages, files, or images that you have already sent. The search results that recipients see in the chat will reflect the content of your edited message. Although the recipient does not receive a notification, deleted chat content and files are no longer accessible within Zoom. All platforms support the typing indicator, which notifies you when the other party is typing a message.

Basic text formatting

  1. Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
  2. In the Chat tab, select a chat thread.
  3. Enter your message.
  4. Highlight the portion that you want to format.
    Zoom will display these formatting options.

     
    • : Bold the highlighted text.  
    • / : Italicize the highlighted text. 
    •  : Strikethrough the highlighted text. 
    •  : Begin a bulleted list.
    •  : Begin a numbered list.
    • ... : Open the rich text formatting options. See the next section for more info.
      Note: Rich text formatting options can also be accessed by clicking the Format button. 
  5. Click an icon to format the text.
  6. Press the Enter key or click the blue send button . Note: If using rich text formatting, you must use the blue send button , as the Enter key will just make a new paragraph. 

You can also use these keyboard shortcuts to format text:

  • Bold: Ctrl/Cmd + B
  • Italicize: Ctrl/Cmd + I
  • Strike-through: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + X
  • Bulleted list: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + 8

Rich text formatting

To utilize more formatting options, commonly known as rich text formatting, in addition to the basic formatting options: 

  1. Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
  2. In the Chat tab, select a chat thread.
  3. Click the Format button, or enter some text, highlight the text, and click the ... option. The following options are available: 
    • : Bold the highlighted text.  
    • / : Italicize the highlighted text. 
    •  : Underline the selected text.
    •  : Strikethrough the highlighted text. 
    •  : Click this option to access both adjust both the color of the text itself and/or the color highlight around the text. The Clear option removes any selected colors and reverts the text to standard black/white formatting. 
    •  : Adjust the size of the font. Choose between Small, Medium, and Large text sizes. 
    •  : Insert a link for the highlighted text. 
    •  : Adjust the style of the text, choosing from Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and Paragraph. 
    •  : Begin a bulleted list.
    •  : Begin a numbered list.
    •  : Increase the indent of the selected text. 
    •  : Decrease the indent of the selected text. 
    •  : Create a quote of text. See the section below for more information. 
    • : Clear all formatting of the selected text. 
  4. Click the blue send button  to send your message to the contact(s) or channel.  

Note: If using rich text formatting, you must use the blue send button , as the Enter key will just make a new paragraph. 

Replying to a message

You can reply to a message to keep all related replies in the same thread; this allows users to easily identify replies.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
  2. In the Chat tab, select a chat thread.
  3. Hover over the message you want to reply to.
  4. Click the reply icon .
  5. Enter your reply, then press Enter.

Replies can contain text, screenshots, files, code snippets, emoji, or animated GIFs.
Your reply will display under the parent message. All future replies will be displayed under the parent message.
Graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message Description automatically generated

To add an emoji to the message or reply, you can begin typing : and at least two characters to find matching emojis to be included. For example, :jo will provide the :joy:, :joy_cat:, and :joystick: emojis. You can also click the smiley icon  in the right corner of the text box to see all available emojis, gifs, and saved gifs to select from. 

Quoting messages

When responding to a specific message in a complex chat thread, quoting that message can help others know exactly what your message is in response to. To quote a message: 

  1. Right-click the message you want to quote and select Quote
  2. A new reply is opened for you to enter your message. 
  3. Click the send icon to post the response. The quoted message will appear slightly above your response in grey, while you response is below the quoted message in the default text color.

Adding reactions to messages

You can react to messages by adding an emoji. 

  1. Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
  2. In the Chat tab, select a chat thread.
  3. Hover over the message you want to react to.
  4. Click the reaction icon . Graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message Description automatically generated
  5. Select an emoji. You can select from the same emojis available when composing a chat message.
    The icon will appear below the message.
    Graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message Description automatically generated
  6. To remove the reaction, click the emoji that was added to the message.

Managing chat messages

You can view more options to manage your chat messages.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
  2. In the Chat tab, select a chat thread.
  3. Hover over the message you want to share, click the ellipses icon . Graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message Description automatically generated
  4. Use of these options:

Follow Message 

Enable push notifications for replies to the selected message. Push notifications must be set to All messages for the chat thread.

Note: You will automatically follow your own messages and messages that you've replied to.

Unfollow Message

Click Unfollow Message to disable push notifications for replies to the selected message, regardless of the push notifications settings for the chat thread. This will also disable push notifications if someone mentions you in the reply.

Bookmark Message

Bookmark important messages, allowing you to quickly view them later on.

Click the bookmarked messages icon to see your bookmarked messages.
If the original thread was with another contact, you will see posted in followed by the contact's name. If you starred a message in a channel, you will see posted in followed by the channel's name. Click Jump to view the original chat thread.

Note: Bookmarking a message was formerly starring a message. You can still star a contact or channel for easy access, but individual messages are now bookmarked to avoid confusion. 

Remove Bookmark

Remove the bookmark on the message and remove the message from the bookmarked messages section.

In the bookmarked messages section, you can also hover over the message and click the yellow bookmark icon  to remove the bookmark from that message. 

Share Message

Share the message (text), image, or file with another contact or channel.

Note: You can only share a message with one contact or channel at a time.

Pin for Everyone

Pin the message for everyone in the current group chat or channel. The pinned message appears at the top of the chat window with a pin icon. Only one message can be pinned at a time. Click the info icon beside the channel name, then click Pin History to see a list of pinned messages. 

To hide or unpin a pinned message, hover over it, click the ellipsis icon , then click Hide or Unpin for Everyone.

Note: All members of the group chat or channel can pin or unpin messages including admins and regular members.

Mark as Unread

Note: This option is only available on messages (text), images, and files.

Place an unread message badge on the Chat tab and left-side panel. Zoom will also place Unread above the message.

Mark as Read

Note: This option is only available on messages (text), images, and files.

Remove the unread message badge on Chat tab and left-side panel. Zoom will also remove Unread above the message.

Edit

Note: You can't edit messages if your admin enabled advanced encryption for chat.

Edit the content of a message that you have already sent, and click Save.A picture containing application Description automatically generated

Zoom will now show the edited message, and indicate that it has been edited for all chat participants.

Background pattern Description automatically generated with low confidence

Tip: You can also click in the chat message box and press the up arrow key (↑) to edit the last message you sent.

Open Image / Open File

Note: This option is only available on images and files.

Open the image or file using your system's image viewer or default application for the file type.

Tip: You can also click the image to open it directly in Zoom.

Open File Location

Note: This option is only available on images and files.

Open the local directory where the image or file is stored.

Copy

Copy the message (text), file, or image.

Tip: If the message contains a URL, right-click the URL then click Copy to only copy the URL.

Add to Emoji

Note: This option is only available on images and GIFs.

Add the image or animated GIF to your saved emojis.

Delete

Delete any item you have sent. Recipients will not be able to see deleted items in Zoom.
Zoom will show You deleted a message, but other participants will not see that notification.

Note: If you delete a message that has replies, recipients will see This message has been deleted, and replies will not be deleted.