How to Get a Zoom Attendance Report After a Meeting: A Deep Dive

Getting a Zoom attendance report after a meeting is crucial for tracking participation, managing Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or simply understanding meeting engagement. Here’s how you do it: Zoom automatically generates these reports, but you need to enable the feature before the meeting starts and then access the report from the Zoom web portal after the meeting has concluded. Log into your Zoom account, navigate to the “Reports” section, select “Meeting,” specify the date range, and then generate the report. The resulting CSV file will contain details such as participant names, email addresses, join and leave times, and total duration.

Understanding Zoom Attendance Reporting

Zoom’s reporting features are surprisingly robust, offering more than just a simple list of attendees. Knowing how to leverage these features can significantly improve your meeting analytics and provide valuable insights. Let’s dissect the process.

Enabling Reporting: The Crucial First Step

The most critical thing to remember is that attendance reporting is not enabled by default. If you neglect this step, you’ll be left empty-handed after your meeting.

1. Log in to the Zoom web portal: Head over to zoom.us and sign in with your account credentials. This must be done on the web browser; the desktop app won’t suffice.
2. Navigate to Settings: In the left-hand navigation menu, find and click on “Settings.”
3. Find the Reporting Section: Use the search bar within the settings page or scroll down to locate the “In Meeting (Advanced)” section.
4. Enable Attendance Reports: Look for the setting labeled “Attendance Reports.” Toggle the switch to the “On” position. You may also see an option for “Show meeting attendee details.” Make sure that is selected.
5. Schedule the Meeting (If You Haven’t Already): Now, schedule your meeting as usual. This setting will now apply to all future meetings (unless you disable it).

Generating the Report: Post-Meeting Analysis

Once your meeting has ended, the report is not instantly available. It takes a little processing time on Zoom’s end. Here’s how to retrieve it:

1. Log back into the Zoom web portal: Same as before, head to zoom.us and sign in.
2. Go to the Reports Section: On the left-hand navigation, click on “Reports.”
3. Select Meeting: In the “Reports” section, choose the “Meeting” option. This section provides reports for various types of meetings, webinars, and so on.
4. Specify the Date Range: Use the date range filters to narrow down your search. Select the date on which your meeting occurred. You can also specify a broader range if you are unsure of the exact date.
5. Generate the Report: You’ll see a list of past meetings within the specified date range. Find the meeting for which you want the attendance report. Click on the “Generate” button next to that meeting.
6. Download the CSV File: Zoom will generate the report and provide a download link. The report is typically in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format. This is a standard file format that can be opened in spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.
7. Analyze the Data: Open the CSV file in your preferred spreadsheet program. You’ll see columns containing information such as:
   • User Name: The name the participant used when joining the meeting.
   • User Email: The email address associated with the participant’s Zoom account.
   • Join Time: The exact time the participant joined the meeting.
   • Leave Time: The exact time the participant left the meeting.
   • Duration: The total amount of time the participant was in the meeting.
   • Attention Tracking: Whether the participant had the Zoom window in focus or not. (Needs to be enabled separately under Settings -> Tracking)

Beyond the Basics: Enhancing Your Reporting

• Custom Registration: If you require participants to register for your meeting beforehand, the attendance report will include the information they provided during registration. This can be incredibly valuable for gathering additional data, such as job titles, company names, or specific areas of interest.
• Polling Data: If you used polling during your meeting, you can generate a separate report that shows how each participant responded to the poll questions. This can provide valuable insights into audience understanding and engagement.
• Automated Reporting: While Zoom doesn’t natively offer fully automated report delivery, you can explore third-party integrations and APIs to schedule reports and have them sent to you automatically.
• Attention Tracking: In settings, you can also enable “Attention Tracking,” this feature allows you to see if attendees have the Zoom meeting window in focus during screen sharing.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some frequently asked questions to address common issues and clarify aspects of Zoom attendance reporting:

1. Why can’t I see the “Reports” option in my Zoom account?

This usually happens if you are not logged in as an account owner or administrator. Standard users may not have access to the reporting features. Ensure you are logged in with the correct account credentials and have the necessary permissions. If you are unsure, contact your organization’s Zoom administrator.

2. I enabled attendance reports, but the report is still empty. What happened?

Double-check that the meeting has actually ended. Zoom only generates the report after the meeting has concluded. Additionally, verify that participants actually joined the meeting. If everyone joined by phone only, there might not be enough data to generate a complete report.

3. How can I track attendance for recurring meetings?

For recurring meetings, Zoom generates a separate report for each instance of the meeting. When generating the report, make sure to select the specific date range for the meeting you want to analyze. Each report for each instance of the recurring meeting will be there, and it is a matter of selecting and downloading each report.

4. Can I customize the information included in the attendance report?

While you can’t directly customize the columns in the standard attendance report, you can use custom registration fields to gather additional information from participants. This information will then be included in the report. Enabling “attention tracking” is also another way to provide you with additional information.

5. How long does Zoom store attendance reports?

Zoom’s data retention policies vary depending on your account type and settings. Generally, Zoom stores meeting reports for a certain period. Check Zoom’s official documentation or contact their support to get exact information related to your account.

6. Is it possible to get real-time attendance information during a meeting?

No, Zoom does not provide a real-time attendance report feature. You can, however, see a list of current participants in the meeting window. The detailed attendance report is only available after the meeting ends.

7. What if a participant joins the meeting multiple times?

The attendance report will show each instance of the participant joining and leaving the meeting. This means you’ll see multiple entries for the same person if they disconnected and rejoined or joined using different devices.

8. How accurate is the attendance report if someone joins via phone?

If someone joins via phone, the report will typically show their phone number instead of a name and email address. The accuracy depends on whether the participant has associated their phone number with their Zoom account.

9. Can I generate an attendance report for a webinar?

Yes, the process for generating attendance reports for webinars is very similar to that for meetings. Just select “Webinar” instead of “Meeting” in the “Reports” section of the Zoom web portal.

10. I want to schedule an automatic attendance report generation. How can I do that?

Zoom doesn’t natively offer automatic report generation and delivery. However, you can use third-party integrations and APIs to accomplish this. Explore services like Zapier or the Zoom API to automate this process.

11. What is the difference between “userid” and “participantid” in the Zoom Report?

The user_id is a unique identifier of a Zoom account. While the participant_id is a unique identifier of a participant in a particular meeting. The user_id helps uniquely identify a registered user across different meetings, while the participant_id is specific to a meeting.

12. How can I use the Zoom report to calculate Continuing Education Units (CEUs)? The Zoom report provides the duration each participant was in the meeting. You can use this information to track attendance for CEU purposes. Calculate the number of hours attended based on the “Duration” column. Ensure your calculation method aligns with the specific requirements of your CEU accrediting organization.

By understanding these steps and addressing common questions, you can effectively leverage Zoom’s attendance reporting features to gain valuable insights into your meetings and webinars.