Chat

Chat is for text: a quick question to one colleague, or an ongoing conversation with a small group. It works in the office and in the company workspace, and it keeps working when voice and video are unavailable.

What chat includes#

• Direct messages. A one-to-one conversation with any member of your company.
• Group conversations. A named conversation you create and add colleagues to.
• Visitor messages. Office visitors with a guest link can write to their host and to the members in the office with them, and you can reply.

Messages are text only. See Limits for what chat does not do yet.

Who can use chat#

Owners, admins, managers and employees can send direct messages and create groups. Restricted members do not have chat. Guests visiting your office have a separate Messages window that reaches only their host and the members in the office with them — see Messages from office visitors.

Open your chats#

In the office, open More › Meetings & calls and select the Chats tab. The tab shows a badge with your unread count.

In the company workspace, choose Open chats on Home, or open Meetings, choose Open meetings and select Chats.

Each conversation in the list shows whether it is a Group or a direct chat and how many messages are unread. If you have none yet, you see "No chats yet. Message a colleague from People, or start a group."

Send a direct message#

A direct chat always stays between the same two people. You cannot add others to it or leave it.

Create a group conversation#

Inside a group:

• Add members adds more colleagues. Only the person who created the group, an owner or an admin can add members.
• Leave group removes you from the group. The others keep the conversation.

Read and reply#

• Select a conversation to open it. All chats takes you back to the list.
• New messages appear while the conversation is open. Opening a conversation marks it as read.
• Load earlier messages shows older history.
• If a message cannot be delivered, it is marked "Not sent. Tap to retry." Select it to send it again.

Messages from office visitors#

When a visitor enters your office with a guest link, they get a Messages window. It lists Your host — the person who created the link — and the members who are In the office with them. They can write to any of them.

Their messages arrive in your Chats like a direct message. You can also start the conversation: click the visitor's nameplate and choose Message. Visitors cannot create groups and cannot see your other conversations. See Guests.

Meeting chat is separate#

Each meeting has its own Chat tab. Those messages are saved with the meeting and visible only to its participants; they do not appear in Chats. See Meetings.

Limits#

Chat is in Beta. Today:

• A message can be up to 8,000 characters of text.
• You cannot attach files, react to messages, or edit or delete a message after sending it.
• There is no search inside chats, and no open channels that anyone can join.
• You can message members of your own company only, and visitors who are in your office.

Permissions#

Only the people in a conversation can read it. Company permissions are checked by the server on every request.

Status and what is next#