Things to Know about Chat in Microsoft Teams
Chats can be one-on-one or in a group.
Sometimes you’ll want to talk one-on-one with someone. Other times, you’ll want to have a
small group chat. In Chat, you can do either.
You start one-on-one and group chats the same way: by selecting
New chat at the top of your chat list. Once in a chat, you’ll be able to send messages
that include files, links, emojis, stickers, and GIFs—whatever you need to get your point across!
Here are some more details about each kind of chat.
One-on-one chat
Once you’ve selected
New chat and entered the person’s name, compose your message in the box and select
Send. This starts the chat.
Group chat
Use a group chat when you need to talk to a small group of people. Start one the same way
you start a one-on-one chat: select
New chat at the top of your chat list. Select the down arrow to the far right of the
To field and type a name for the chat in the
Group name field. Next, type the names of the people you’d like to add in the
To field.
Once the chat has begun (whether group or one-on-one), just click it in
the chat list to dip back into it and send more messages.
Press Shift+Enter to start a new line.
- If you keep hitting Enter to start a new line, which goes ahead and sends the message
before you’re ready, try this tip:
- When you want to start a new paragraph, press Shift+Enter to insert the line break, and
you’re done. FYI—If you’ve opened-up all your formatting options (see step 3 for details),
you can press Enter to start a new line of text.
Select Format to see all your formatting options
-
There are lots of formatting options for messages.
-
To open your formatting options, select
Format beneath the box where you type your message. In this expanded view,
select the text you want to format, then choose an option like B, I, or U to bold, italicize, or
underline the text.
-
There are also options for highlighting, font size, lists, and more. Check
out More options for additional formatting options, and the buttons below the box for attaching a
file or inserting fun stuff like emoji.
Chat happens in channels, too.
-
When you go to any channel in Teams the very first tab is Posts. Think of
this as one big group chat. Everyone who has access to the channel can see the messages on the
Posts tab.
-
You’ll have to judge based on your organization and culture what
messages are suitable for the
Posts tab in a particular channel.
-
The other important thing to know about messages in a channel is that
replies to a channel message stay attached to the original message. This way,
the whole thread of the conversation can be easily followed by anyone reading it. This is the
beauty of threaded conversations!
-
To reply to a channel message, be sure to use the little Reply link
underneath the message.
There are a few ways to search for and find messages.
-
Depending on what you remember about the sender of the message or the
characteristics of the message, a different way of looking for it might make the most
sense.
-
You can Find a chat based on a person’s name or a keyword that you remember.
Type the person’s name in the
command box at the top of the app. You’ll see their name and any group chats they're a part of
with you listed. Select their name to go to your one-on-one chat with them, or a group chat to
resume that one.
-
Find a message that has a keyword that you remember: Start typing a keyword into the command
box at the top of the app and press Enter. You’ll see a list of results that include the keyword.
-
Filter to show certain types of messages: From the Activity feed, select Filter to show
certain types of messages such as unread messages, @mentions, replies, and likes. For a more specific
search, go to the Feed menu and select My Activity.
-
Find your saved messages: To save a message, select Save message just to the right of the
text.
To see a list of your saved messages, select your
profile picture at the top of the app, then choose
Saved. Or just type /saved in the command box at the top of the
app.
Hide or mute chats to keep them out of your
way.
While you can't delete an entire chat conversation in Teams, you can hide the chat
from the chat list, or mute it so you stop getting notifications, or pin messages.
Send a message to a channel in Teams
-
When you go to any channel in Teams the very first tab is
Posts. Think of this as one big group chat. Everyone who has
access to the channel can see the messages on the
Posts tab.
-
The other important thing to know about
messages in a channel is that replies to a channel message stay attached to
the original message. This way, the whole thread of the conversation can be
easily followed by anyone reading it. This is the beauty of threaded
conversations!
-
To reply to a channel message, select the little
Reply link underneath the message.
-
To send a message to everyone in a particular channel (the whole
team), follow these steps:
-
First, select the channel you want. Then, click
Reply to respond to an existing thread or go to the compose
box at the bottom of the Posts tab to start a new one.
Next, type your message in the box and select
Send . Voila! Your message is now live in the channel.
Share your screen in a chat in Teams
-
When you're chatting with one or more people in Teams, you can instantly share your screen.
-
Choose a window to share that specific program and
its content, or select
Desktop to share everything on your screen.
-
The other participants in the chat will receive a
notification asking them to accept your screen share. Once they do,
they'll be able to see your screen and continue the chat.
-
When you're done sharing, go to your
meeting controls and select
Stop sharing.
Note: Linux users can't share screens in a Teams chat at this time.