Configuring archival settings for meetings and webinars


Archiving settings allow administrators to control which artifacts should be archived for regulated users in their account as well as customize the disclaimers for meetings where regulated users are present. Once enabled, account administrators can manage the archived data through a third-party application of their choice.

Archiving is triggered once a regulated user joins the meeting or webinar. Account owners and admins can archive all content in meetings, webinars, and breakout rooms. Meetings or webinars hosted by a regulated user will start archiving when the host or a regulated user joins the meeting. Account owners and admins can also allow regulated users to archive in-meeting chat.

To indicate that the meeting is being archived and which artifacts are being archived, different types of indicators are present.

This article covers:

Prerequisites for archiving settings for meetings and webinars

How to configure meeting and webinar archiving settings

Archiving can be configured at the account and group levels.

Account

To enable or disable Archive meetings and webinars for all users in the account:

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
  3. Click the Meeting tab.
  4. Under In Meeting (Advanced), click the Archive meetings and webinars
    toggle to enable or disable it.
  5. If a verification dialog box appears, click Enable to verify the change.
  6. Once enabled, choose what to archive:
    • Under Select what to archive, choose whether to archive Meetings, Webinars, or Meetings and Webinars.
    • Under Archive the following content, select what content you want to be archived:
      Note: For archiving to work, you must select at least one content type. 
      • Video and shared screens (.mp4): An audio and video file containing all video and audio feeds.
      • Audio (.m4a): An audio-only file.
      • Messages sent in in-meeting chat (.txt): A text file with chat messages in the webinar or meeting session.
        • Include direct messages: When enabled, private messages are sent or received by participants utilizing the archiving agent.
        • Include sender's email address (or a unique ID if the user has not signed in): When enabled, the sender’s email address will be saved with the metadata for the chat session. If the participant is not logged in or does not have a Zoom account, a unique ID will be used instead.
        Note: You can also choose to use a JSON format instead of TXT. 
      • Captions: A VTT (Video Text Track) file including closed captioning from a meeting. 
  7. Under Set a custom retention period for archived content, by default you can choose between 1 to 30, 45, or 60 days. The default is 7 days.
  8. (Optional) Under When meetings or webinars cannot be archived, select the behavior if the archival agent fails:
    • Participants can stay in the meeting and will receive a notification: Enabled by default, participants using the archiving agent will not be removed from the meeting if the archiving agent fails.
    • Participants cannot join or stay in the meeting: Participants using the archiving agent will be removed from a meeting if the agent fails, and will not be able to join a meeting until the agent can archive successfully.
  9. (Optional) Under Show archiving icon in the participant list, select between All participants or Guest only.
    Note: This option can only be modified at the account level.
  10. Click Save.
  11. (Optional) Customize the archiving disclaimer for the account.
  12. (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing this setting, click the lock icon , and then click Lock to confirm the setting.

Group

To enable or disable Archive meetings and webinars for a group of users:

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit group settings.
  2. In the navigation menu, click User Management then Groups.
  3. Click the applicable group name from the list.
  4. Click the Meeting tab.
  5. Under In Meeting (Advanced), click the Archive meetings and webinars
    toggle to enable it.
  6. If a verification dialog box appears, click Enable to verify the change.
  7. Once enabled, choose what to archive:
    • Under Select what to archive, choose whether to archive Meetings, Webinars, or Meetings and Webinars.
      • Video and shared screens (.mp4): An audio and video file containing all video and audio feeds.
      • Audio (.m4a): An audio-only file.
      • Messages sent in in-meeting chat (.txt): A text file with chat messages in the webinar or meeting session.
        • Include direct messages: When enabled, private messages are sent or received by participants utilizing the archiving agent.
        • Include sender's email address (or a unique ID if the user has not signed in): When enabled, the sender’s email address will be saved with the metadata for the chat session. If the participant is not logged in or does not have a Zoom account, a unique ID will be used instead.
        Note: You can also choose to use a JSON format instead of TXT.
      • Captions or transcripts (.vtt): A VTT (Video Text Track) file including closed captioning and audio transcripts from a meeting. Under Archive the following content, select what content you want to be archived:
        Note: For archiving to work, you must select at least one content type.
  8. Click Save.
  9. (Optional) To prevent all users in the group from changing this setting, click the lock icon , and then click Lock to confirm the setting.

How to customize the archiving disclaimer

Administrators can customize the archiving disclaimer for an account or user group to add information such as terms and conditions for the organization in regards to archiving, or more information including what the organization is archiving.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an account owner or admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.
  3. Click the Meeting tab.
  4. Under In Meeting (Advanced), verify that Archive meetings and webinars is enabled.
  5. Click Customize Archiving Disclaimer.
  6. (Optional) In the top drop-down menu, select the language you would like to customize the disclaimer for.
  7. While the basic message can not be modified, you can customize the following details:
    • Title: The title text at the top of the disclaimer.
    • Additional body Text: By default, includes a link for information regarding archiving but can be customized to include information regarding your organization’s archiving policies. 
    • Link URL: By default, the URL is linked to Zoom’s archiving documentation, however, the link can be changed to another page with your organization’s archiving policies or terms and conditions.
    • Link Text: The text utilized for the hyperlink containing the Link URL.
  8. Click Save.

How to use a JSON format for archiving in-meeting chat

By default, in-meeting chat is archived in a TXT format. Account owners and admins can choose to archive in-meeting chat data in a JSON format for easier parsing and adding future enhancements. To enable JSON Format for In-Meeting Chat Archiving, submit a request to Zoom Support. Users who have in-meeting chat archiving enabled and have opted-in to get the chat file in a JSON format can see the sender and receiver’s user ID as part of the response. Messages sent to everyone will only have the sender’s user ID.

Note for customers: If you are working with a compliance partner, make sure they support this feature before enabling it on your account.

Note for compliance partners: If you support archiving in-meeting chats in a JSON format, let the customers that you work with know to enable it for their accounts.

TXT vs. JSON comparison chart for archiving in-meeting chat features

FeatureTXTJSON
Public messagesEnabledEnabled
Direct messages (1:1)EnabledEnabled
Deleted messagesDisabledEnabled
Waiting room chat messagesDisabledEnabled
Breakout room chat messagesDisabledEnabled
Emojis and non-verbal feedbackDisabledEnabled
Archiving in-meeting chat on external meetingsDisabledEnabled

JSON schema

1 {
2  "uuid": {
3    "type": "string",
4    "description": "The meeting or webinar's universally unique ID (UUID). Each meeting or webinar instance generates its own UUID."
5  },
6  "messages": {
7    "type": "array",
8    "items": {
9      "msg_type": {
10        "type": "integer",
11        "enum": [1,2,3,4,5],
12        "description": "Text Message Type. 1: public chat, 2: private chat, 3: deleted chat, 4: emoji reaction, 5: nonverbal feedback."
13      },
14      "e_time": {
15        "type": "string",
16        "format": "HH:MM:SS, H:hour, M:minute, S:second",
17        "description": "The elapsed time after the meeting or webinar started."
18      },
19      "s_id": {
20        "type": "string",
21        "description": "The sender's ID for the text message in the meeting or webinar. If the user did not choose to display email and node_id, the value is an empty string."
22      },
23      "s_name": {
24        "type": "string",
25        "format": "base64 string",
26        "description": "The sender's name for the text message in the meeting or webinar."
27      },
28      "s_email": {
29        "type": "string",
30        "format": "email, base64 string",
31        "description": "The sender's email for the text message in the meeting or webinar. If the user did not choose to display email and node_id, the value is an empty string."
32      },
33      "allOf": [
34        {
35          "if": {
36            "msg_type": {
37              "const": "1 or 2 or 3"
38            }
39          },
40          "then": {
41            "msg_id": {
42              "type": "string",
43              "format": "base64 string",
44              "description": "The text message's unique ID of the meeting or webinar or the unique ID of the deleted text messages of the meeting or webinar."
45            },
46            "msg_extended_type": {
47              "type": "string",
48              "pattern": "[00-99][00-99][00-99][00-99][00-99][00-99]",
49              "description": "The format XX XX XX XX XX XX of this message type from      
     					the left to right has 2-digit pair numbers which    
                              indicates the type of the message. 
The information for each pair is listed here:- 
1st XX pair(Sender Location): 01-Meeting, 02-Webinar, 03-Breakout Room, 04-Waiting Room 
2nd XX pair(Receiver Location) 01-Meeting, 02-Webinar, 03-Breakout Room, 04-Waiting Room
3rd XX pair(Message Type): 01-Sent, 02-Deleted 
4th XX pair: 00
5th XX pair(Receiver): 01- Everyone in meeting, 02-(Webinar)Host and Panelists, 03-(Webinar)Attendee CC to Panelists, 04-Direct message to User, 05-Waiting Room Participants, 06 - To All Hosts (from Waiting Room). 
6th XX pair: 00”,
50            }
51          }
52        },
53        {
54          "if": {
55            "msg_type": {
56              "const": "1 or 2 or 4"
57            }
58          },
59          "then": {
60            "msg_content": {
61              "type": "string",
62              "format": "base64 string",
63              "description": "The content of this text message in the meeting or webinar or the command of the emoji reaction in the meeting or webinar."
64            }
65          }
66        },
67        {
68          "if": {
69            "msg_type": {
70              "const": 5
71            }
72          },
73          "then": {
74            "msg_content": {
75              "type": "string",
76              "format": "string of integer",
77              "description": "The command of the nonverbal feedback in the meeting or webinar. 0: Lower Non-Verbal Feedback, 1: Raise Hand, 2: Yes, 3: No, 4: Fast, 5: Slow, 9: Coffee Cup (I’m Away)"
78            }
79          }
80        }
81      ]
82    }
83  }
84}