how to chat in a teams meeting

Usually, teams meetings contain a chat feature with which members can have a free-flowing discussion without disturbing the flow of the meeting or disrupting the process in any way.

View and send messages

The Show conversation icon on the meeting controls displays a red dot as a result of someone posting their message to the meeting.

• Please select Show conversation in order to view the message.

On the right side of the main screen, you will find the meeting chat window.

• Please complete the text box below in order to compose your message and then select Send once it is completed.

In this Teams chat, you’ll be able to use a variety of features that you’re used to, so you can format your text, send pictures and GIFs, use emojis, attach files, and more. All of these features will be available to you just like they are in other Teams chats.

There is an option to show bot chats in the main meeting window if you are a part of the Teams public preview program, without the need to navigate to the Show bot conversation icon.

Click on the More actions menu option and opt for the option that says “Don’t display chat bubbles” from the options that you can choose from the menu. The main meeting window will be hidden from all discussions as a result of this setting.

As you scroll down the screen of the meeting, you will be able to see a preview of the two most recent messages that you have sent during the meeting on iOS and Android devices.

If you want to snooze a chat bubble, you can do so by selecting the snooze icon at the top of the bubble.

It is possible to permanently turn off the chat bubbles by selecting the option at the bottom of the screen entitled Don’t show chat bubbles if you wish to do so.

Continue the conversation after the meeting

The chat conversation can be accessed in several ways after the meeting has ended:

• The meeting can be found in the chat list on the left hand side of Teams by selecting Chat.

  

  As part of the meeting, meeting chats are displayed in the Chat list before the meeting icon, as well as being titled in the same way as the meeting that they are part of as the meeting title with which the chat is associated.

• From the left-hand side of the Teams window, you will find the Calendar. From the Calendar, you will need to select the setting that interests you, right-click the setting and then select Chat with participants from the drop-down menu that appears.

  

  In addition, you can click on the Chat tab under the meeting event when you double-click the meeting event.

  

When it comes to the continuation of a conversation that started during the course of the meeting, an attendee with the necessary permissions may be required (if the meeting organizer hasn’t restricted the conversation to only take place in the meeting).

Start the conversation before the meeting

There are also examples where a meeting chat can be used to prep people for a coming meeting (unless the meeting organizer limits access to the chat).

• Select Chat with participants from the right-click menu on your Teams calendar, then type your message into the boxes that appear.

Chat in recurring meetings

A chat conversation that has taken place in a previous meeting will continue in a subsequent meeting if the meeting is recurring. All of the messages that were exchanged within the previous meetings will be accessible to participants when they open their chat window.

Invite someone to a single occurrence

In cases where recurring meetings are taking place, there are chat rooms available so that attendees can interact with other attendees during the meeting while they are in one meeting. There will be no chance for meeting participants to view their chat history from earlier meetings in the series, but they will still be able to send and view their chat messages during the meeting, just as they are doing during other meetings in the series.

Please make sure to forward the invite only for the specific instance of your recurring meetings, not for the whole series of meetings, if you want to invite someone to join one of them, but not the rest, so that the chat conversation is as private as possible.

Chat in channel meetings

The chat conversation during a meeting that is held in a channel can be seen by all channel members, regardless of whether they are attending the meeting or not, so all channel members can add to the conversation. In the channel, under the title of the meeting, you will see a list of posts containing the conversation.

More info about chat access

• Organizers of a meeting have the option to modify the chat settings for that meeting. You should only allow chats during the meeting rather than before or after. If you are uncomfortable with this, you can disable the chats totally if you like.
• The number of participants in a meeting can reach as high as 1,000. The meeting chat can be accessed by members before, during, and after the event if they have received an invitation for it. A maximum of 1,000 people may attend a meeting, even if they do not attend.
• In this situation, the meeting chat will only be accessible to the members of the distribution list (DL) in the meeting if there are more than 150 members on the DL and they have been invited to the meeting. You might want to expand the DL before you send the invite to everyone, so that all of them can have access to the chat before and after the meeting.

  Note: If more than 20 people attend the meeting, participants will not see the automated message informing them they’ve joined the chat. 

  If some people in the DL are required attendees and the rest are optional, put those required on the Required attendees line of the invite and add the entire DL to the Optional line.

  People in a nested DL (a list within a list) can view the chat but not participate.

  Note: There will not be a way to add a DL if adding the list will result in the chat exceeding 1,000 people.

   

• During meetings in which anonymous or external participants participate, them only have access to the chat room while they are present in the meeting (unless it is in a channel meeting where they will be unable to do so).

  Note: Before, during, and after the meeting, members of federated organizations can access the chat room.

   

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why can’t I use chat in a Teams meeting?