First things to know about chats in Microsoft Teams

Using Microsoft Teams, you will be able to communicate with your colleagues through chat. There are a number of different ways to chat, from individual conversations with one person to group conversations, to conversations in channels.

There are a few things you should know before you begin:

1. Chats can be one-on-one or in a group

The need for a one-on-one conversation is something that you might feel at times. In other instances, a small group chat might be a better option for you. It is possible to do either of these things in Chat.

The process of starting a one-to-one chat and a group chat is the same: simply select New chat at the top of your chat list from the drop-down menu. Messages can include files, links, emojis, stickers, and GIFs once you’re in a chat.

Each kind of chat can be described in more detail as follows:

One-on-one chat

Upon selecting New chat and entering the person’s name, you can compose your message in the text box, and then select Send or press Enter. The chat will begin.

Chat with yourself

Note: There is now a possibility for you to chat with yourself in the public preview program. Depending on the number of changes that are made to it, it might be publicly available in the future. Switch to the Teams public preview in order to be able to access this and other upcoming features from Microsoft.

You can start a chat with yourself if you want to draft messages or send files from one device to another, or if you would like to get a feel for the features a little better. In a chat with yourself, you can do everything you do in a regular chat. The chat list will default to showing it at the top.

To repin a chat you unpinned, select New chat and fill in To with your name.

Group chat

If you want to communicate with a small group of people, then use a group chat. Getting started with one-to-one chat is the same process as starting one one-to-one chat: simply click on New chat at the top of the list of chats. By selecting the down arrow to the right of the To field, you are able to type a name for your chat in the field to the right of the To field. In the To field, you will be able to type the names of the people whom you would like to include in your message.

To continue the conversation and send more messages, simply select a chat from the chat list once it has begun (either group or one-on-one).

2. Press Shift+Enter to start a new line

It is possible to send a message before you are ready if you keep pressing Enter to start a new line. Here is what you can do:

You can insert a line break at the beginning of a new paragraph by pressing Shift+Enter when you want to insert a new paragraph. It is quite easy to start a new line of text once you have opened your formatting options (see step 3 for details), then choose Send to send the text once you have started a new line of text by pressing Enter.

3. Select Format to see all your formatting options

It is possible to format messages in a variety of ways.

Click the Format icon beneath the box where you are typing your message to open the options for formatting your message. Selecting the text you want to format in the expanded view, you will be able to choose an option such as B, I, or U to make the text bold, italicized, or underlined. You can also highlight, change font size, change font color, add lists, and make a variety of other changes.

The box also includes delivery options, file attachments, emojis, giphys, stickers, and meeting scheduling. You can find more apps by selecting More options.

4. Chat happens in channels, too

It is the very first tab that you see when you open any channel in Teams, and it is called Posts. Think of this as a big group chat that everyone can participate in. Posts are visible to all members of the channel who have access to it.

It is important to determine which messages should be placed in the Posts tab in a particular channel based on your organization and culture.

Another important fact to keep in mind is the fact that replies to chain messages will remain attached to their originals. By doing this, anyone reading the conversation will be able to follow the entire thread of the conversation easily. Having threaded conversations is one of the great things about them.

Please make sure that you use the Reply link under a channel message if you wish to reply to it.

5. There are several ways to search for and find messages

As a result of what you remember about the message sender or the characteristics of the message, a different method of searching might be more appropriate depending on what you remember about the message.

Find a chat based on a person’s name

At the top of Teams, you will find a command box where you can type the name of the person. You will be able to see their name as well as any group chats that they are a part of with you. To initiate a one-on-one chat with them, simply click on their name or select a group chat to resume your current group chat with them.

Find a message that has a keyword that you remember

In the command box at the top of Teams, type a keyword that describes what you want to say and press Enter to execute it. As a result, you will see a list of results containing the keyword you entered.

Filter to show certain types of messages

When you select Filter and then More options from the Activity feed, you will see a list of various types of messages you may wish to view such as unread messages, @mentions, replies, and reactions.

Alternatively, you can select the drop-down arrow as well as My Activity if you want to conduct a more specific search through the Feed menu.

Find your saved messages

You can save a message by hovering over it, selecting More optionsand then selecting Save message.

In Teams, select your profile picture and choose Saved to see your saved messages. You can also type /saved in Teams’ command box.

6. Hide or mute chats to keep them out of your way

Although you cannot delete entire chat conversations in Teams, you are able to hide them from the chat list, as well as muffle them so you are not notified when they are active. Learn more about hiding, muting, and pinning conversations.

Messages that you have sent can be deleted individually.

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Frequently Asked Questions

6 Ways to Improve Chat in Teams

Formatting. Make any chat, post, or conversation engaging and easier to read with formatting. …
Delivery Options. …
Post in multiple channels. …
Group Tags. …
Manage Chat and Post Notifications. …
Search.

When the Show conversation icon appears in your meeting controls, a red dot indicates that a message has been posted by someone else. There is a chat window that appears on the right-hand side of the screen when you open the meeting. You will be able to use all the same options as you can in other Teams chats, such as formatting your text, sending pictures and GIFs, using emojis, attaching files, etc.

The same way you would start a one-on-one chat is by selecting ‘New Chat’ at the top of your chat list, just as you would with a group chat. Enter a name for the chat in the Group name field by selecting the down arrow to the right of the To field. If you would like to add people to the list, type their names in the To field of the email. The conversation will begin anew when you click on this.

To start a new conversation, click on the search bar next to your search bar to open up a new window where you can send a private message. If you want to chat with someone or more, you will need to enter their name in the field provided. Afterwards, simply type the message you want to send, then hit the Enter key.

We’ve compiled a list of what each Team status indicator means, so you’re able to understand what they mean: A green dot represents – Available. When a yellow dot appears, it means that the person is away from the computer. If a red dot appears on a status bar, it means – Busy, In a meeting, On a call, Presenting, or Do not disturb.

A Wink of an Eye

The Teams system displays an eye icon (Seen) alongside a message as a signal that someone has read the message instead of sending an explicit notification through email.

Files. Group chats and channels in Microsoft Teams are differentiated by the files tab. Teams channels allow document collaboration, as opposed to group chats, which are strictly for chatting.

Renaming a Microsoft Teams Group Chat

You will be able to rename or rename a group chat within Microsoft Teams by selecting the chat from the list of group chats within Microsoft Teams.
At the top of the chat window, click the pencil icon next to the names of the people you are chatting with.
In the Group Name text field, type the new chat name.
Save the changes.

If you decide to leave a group chat in Teams, do the following:

Click on Chat. Click here to view the chat list.
Leave the group by finding its name.
Click on More options. > Leave. You can re-invite yourself if you change your mind.

Do Teams chats get deleted?

Chat messages and channel messages become eligible for automatic deletion when a retention policy is configured to delete them after a certain amount of time. In the event that the messages are still visible in the Teams app, they will disappear from there and users will be notified that the messages have been deleted due to a retention policy.

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First things to know about chats in Microsoft Teams