Turn off chat in Docs editors

Users can chat with each other inside the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files they are working on together with classic Hangouts chat. 

G Suite administrators can turn off chat inside Docs, Sheets, and Slides by turning off Google Hangouts. See Turn Hangouts on or off for users.

Note: The Hangouts service is not available in Drive Enterprise edition. Chat is always turned off in Docs editors if you have a Drive Enterprise account. 

Conditions that automatically turn off chat

Chat in Docs, Sheets, and Slides is automatically turned off for your users according to the applicable age in your country.  Also, some chat history and sharing settings automatically disable chat in Docs, Sheets, and Slides. For example, chat is disabled when you:

• Select History is on, and check the Don't allow users to change this setting box. Learn more about chat history settings.
• Uncheck the Sharing option, Users can chat with other users outside your organization. Learn more about chat sharing options.