How do I use the Chat feature in Microsoft Teams?


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 can start one-on-one and group chats by selecting New chat new chat icon at the top of your chat list.

picture showing where button for new chat is

 

One-on-one chat

Once you’ve selected New chat and entered the persons name, compose your message in the box and select Send send message logo. This starts the chat.

new message box


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 next 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.

group name picture

Once the chat begins (whether group or one-on-one), just click it in the chat list to dip back into it and send more messages.

group chats1

Hide or mute chats to keep them out of your way

While you can't delete a chat in Teams, you can hide it from your chat list or mute it so you stop getting notifications. 

Hide a chat

While you can't delete an entire chat, you can hide a chat from your chat list if it's not relevant to you anymore. To hide a chat, select chat chat logo to open the chat list. Next to the chat you want to hide, select More options> more options logo> Hide.

hide or mute a chat

The chat will be hidden until someone posts a new message to it. (And you can always resume an old conversation that you've hidden as well.)
You are able to delete individual messages that you've sent.

Mute a chat

When you mute a chat, you'll still be included in the conversation, but will not get notifications from it.

Select Chat to open the chat list. Find the name of the chat you want to mute. Then, select More options > Mute. If you change your mind, just select it again and unmute it.

An icon appears next to the names of the participants to remind you that the chat has been muted.

Pin a chat

You can pin frequent conversations to the top of your chat list.

Select Chat to open the chat list. Find the name of the conversation you want to pin. Then, select More options > Pin. This ensures that the chat stays at the top of your list. If you change your mind, just select it again and unpin it.

pin a chat button

Further Information

More information about the Chat function in Microsoft Teams can be found on the Microsoft Website.