Messages

Type @. The list starts with people in this conversation. Keep typing to find other people in the organization.

• A person in the conversation is notified.

• In a direct message, someone who is not the other person is marked Won't be notified. A direct message cannot grow, so they are not added and they do not get the message.

• In a group or feed, someone who is not a member is marked Not in this chat. When you send, Chats asks if you want to add them.

Choose the people to add, then Add to chat, so they are members and get the notification. Choose Don't add to send the mention without notifying them. They will not see the message.

The @ list also includes groups, @everyone, and @here.

• A group shows how many people are in it, and how many are not in this conversation yet. If some are missing, Chats asks you to add them before the message goes out. Add everyone brings in the people who are not here. You can uncheck anyone you want to leave out. Mention anyway sends the message without adding them. People who are not in the conversation do not see it.

• @everyone notifies everyone in the conversation, including people who muted it.

• @here notifies people who are online right now.

These choices are for groups and feeds. A direct message stays between the two people in it.

Open Mentions. Each row shows who sent it, which conversation it is in, and when. Open the conversation name to jump to that message.

You can reply or add a reaction without leaving the list. The reply box is on that row. The smile button uses thumbs-up, heart, laugh, surprised, and thank-you. Select one you already added to remove it.

If nobody has mentioned you, the page says No mentions yet.

If the other person in a direct message is out of office, a note appears above the message box: Heads up, their name is out of office, and the date they return when one is set.

The same note appears when you @mention someone who is out of office, in any conversation.

On a computer, right-click the message and choose Reply. On a phone, press and hold the message, then choose Reply. The message box quotes that message until you send or cancel the quote.

You can also reply from the Mentions tab. The reply is posted in the original conversation, under that message.

The message menu includes Quick Reactions and More Reactions. Select an emoji to add it. Select it again to remove yours. Open a reaction on the message to see who used it, and to remove yours from that list.

On a phone, double-tap a message to add or remove a thumbs-up.

Right-click or press and hold a message, then choose Pin. A bar appears under the header with who sent a pinned message and a preview. Select the bar to jump to it when it is the only pin. When there are more, the number on the bar opens the list. Unpin from the X on the bar, from the message menu, or from Pinned messages in the conversation menu.

Anyone in the conversation can pin or unpin. Notes about people joining or leaving cannot be pinned.

Copy puts the message text on your clipboard.

Edit opens your message in the message box, labeled Editing message. Saving replaces the text in the conversation. Editing does not send another notification. Cancel puts the original text back.

Delete removes the message for everyone in the conversation, including its files.

You cannot edit or delete someone else's message from the thread. Someone who manages chats can remove any message from Chat admin.

On messages you sent, small photos appear next to the time once other people have read up to that message. Hover or focus them to see Read by and their names.

The photos stay on the latest message each person has reached. Earlier messages stay unmarked once they catch up. Notes about people joining or leaving do not show readers.

• Upload Files picks files from your computer or phone.

• Send Photo takes or chooses a photo.

• Record Audio Message records a voice message. Allow the microphone when asked. A timer runs while you record. Stop and attach to add the recording, or cancel to discard it. Then send the message.

• Links & Media opens the Files tab for this conversation.

• Share Conversation Link copies a link to this conversation.

• Incoming Webhooks lets another app post into this conversation. That is covered below.

A voice recording plays in the thread. Photos and other files show on the message. Open Files to see everything that has been attached, and preview a file from there.

Drag files onto the thread. The page says Drop files to attach. They wait in the message box until you send, with an optional caption.

A folder is skipped. A file larger than 10 MB is skipped, and Chats tells you it can't be attached. A message can include up to 10 files.

Type / and choose Start a meeting, or type /meet. Chats creates a Meet link and puts it in the message box. Send the message so the other people can open it.

In a group or feed, the meeting uses that conversation's name. In a direct message, the meeting is named Meet.

Type / and choose Create a task, or type /task followed by the task name. For example:

/task Order the badges

Send the message. Chats creates the task, assigns the people in the conversation, and replaces your text with a link to the task. The link text is the task name.

The task needs a name. If you only type /task, Chats asks you to add one.

Open the + menu and choose Incoming Webhooks. Choose Add webhook, then give it an app name, such as Deploy Bot. That name is what people see on its messages, with an APP label. You can upload a logo. The image can be up to 2 MB.

Copy the URL into the other app. Treat the URL like a password. Anyone who has it can post here.

The other app sends a message as JSON:

{
  "text": "Deploy finished."
}

You can send content instead of text. An optional username replaces the app name for that one message:

{
  "text": "Deploy finished.",
  "username": "Deploy Bot"
}

From the webhook's page you can rename it, replace the logo, or choose Regenerate URL. Regenerating stops the old URL immediately. Update any app that still uses it. Delete stops new posts. Messages it already sent stay in the conversation.

Some other messages are posted for you, for example from a project. Those show as an automated message, or under another name that was set for that post.