4. Manage chats

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You can hide chats that you no longer want to see, and you can delete your chat history. You can also set up notifications to receive alerts when new chats appear.

4.1 Hide or delete direct message conversations

Hide a direct message conversation

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. On the left, next to the person's name or group, click More Hide conversation .

Note: If you hide a chat and then chat with that person or group again, your chat history reappears (if it's turned on).

Delete a direct message conversation

You can delete all your history of a conversation you had with someone. You can't delete your history for group conversations with 2 or more people.

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. On the left, next to the person's name, click More Delete conversation.
3. Click Delete to confirm.

To delete only a single message you sent, see edit or delete a message.

4.2 Turn Chat notifications on or off

You can choose whether to receive notifications for conversations, or just for @mentions and direct messages. And, if you haven’t read a conversation in 12 hours, you can get an email notification sent to you.

For messages in Chat

1. Open Chat.
2. At the top, click your statusNotification settings.
3. Under Desktop, click the Down arrow and choose an option:
   • All Messages—Get a notification for all direct messages and all messages in rooms.
   • New threads, threads I’m following and direct messages—Get a notification for all direct messages, the first message of every new thread, and all threads you’re following.
   • Threads I’m following and direct messages—Get a notification for all direct messages and threads you’re following.
   • Only @mentions and direct messages—Get a notification for direct messages and @mentions in Rooms.
   • Off—Turn off all notifications.
4. (Optional) To hear a sound for incoming notifications, check the Play notification sounds box.
5. (Optional) To set mobile notifications, under Mobile, click the Down arrow and choose an option.
6. (Optional) To turn email notifications for unread messages on or off, under Email, select Only @mentions & direct messages or Off.

   Email reminders apply to messages that you haven't read after 12 hours. They are not sent for @mentions.

For Chat messages in Gmail

1. Open Gmail.
2. At the top, click your statusChat notification settings.
3. Under Desktop, click the Down arrow and choose an option:
   • All Messages—Get a notification for all direct messages and all messages in rooms.
   • New threads, threads I’m following and direct messages—Get a notification for all direct messages, the first message of every new thread, and all threads you’re following.
   • Threads I’m following and direct messages—Get a notification for all direct messages and threads you’re following.
   • Only @mentions and direct messages—Get a notification for direct messages and @mentions in Rooms.
   • Off—Turn off all notifications.
4. (Optional) To hear a sound for incoming chat notifications, check the Play notification sounds box.
5. (Optional) To receive incoming messages as pop-up windows in Gmail, check the Open chat pop-ups for new messages box.
6. (Optional) To turn email notifications for unread messages on or off, under Email, select Only @mentions & direct messages or Off.

   Email reminders apply to messages that you haven't read after 12 hours. They are not sent for @mentions.

For a specific room or conversation

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. Select the name of the person or room.
3. At the top, next to the name of the person or room, click the Down arrow Turn off notifications or Turn on notifications.

For a specific thread in a room

When you follow a thread, the number of new messages appears next to the person or room. You automatically follow threads you start, reply to, or are @mentioned in.

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. Select the room.
3. Point to the thread, and at the top right, click Follow.
4. (Optional) To stop getting notifications about the thread, next to the thread, click Following.

When you follow a thread, the number of new messages appears next to the person or room. You automatically follow threads you start, reply to, or are @mentioned in.

4.3 Do not disturb (mute notifications)

If you want to work uninterrupted you can temporarily hide notifications.

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. At the top, click your status.
3. Under Mute Notifications, select a time period to mute notifications.
   Notifications automatically turn back on after the mute period expires.
4. (Optional) To stop muting, click your status Turn off Do not disturb.

4.4 Manage chat history

In Chat, if your organization allows it, you can use the history setting to change whether chats are saved. If history is turned off, messages are deleted after 24 hours.

When anyone in the chat turns history on or off, all chat members see:

• A note in the message stream that history was turned on or off
• A History on or History off prompt in the compose box

Note: History is always on in threaded rooms. If you turn history off in an unthreaded room, shared files won't appear under Files. If you want people to view shared files, turn on room history and then share files.

Messages you forward to your Gmail inbox remain in your email, even if chat history is turned off.

Turn history on or off in Chat

1. Go to Google Chat.
2. Select a conversation.
3. On the top, next to the contact or conversation name, click the Down arrow .
4. Click Turn on history or Turn off history.

Turn chat history on or off in Gmail

1. Go to Gmail.
2. Select a conversation.
3. Click More options   Turn on history or Turn off history. 

4.5 Block and report someone

If you don't want to chat with someone in Chat, you can block them. You can block direct messages, but you can't block people in group messages or in rooms.

When you block someone:

• If the person you blocked is in your organization, they can still see when you're online.
• The person you blocked can see that they can't send you messages.
• Neither you or the person you blocked can edit your messages to one another.
• The person you blocked is also blocked in certain other Google services.

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. At the bottom, under Chat, point to someone’s name and click MoreBlock & Report .

   If the person is in your organization, this option is Block.

3. (Optional) To report the person for abuse, check the Also report box. You can only do this for people outside of your organization.
4. Click Block to confirm.

Links or attachments the person sent before you blocked them are still active. To send the person a message, you need to unblock them.

When you report someone for abuse, a copy of the last 10 messages of your conversation is sent to Google for review.

Unblock someone

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. Choose an option:
   • In Chat, at the top, click Settings SettingsManage accounts you have blocked. 
   • In Gmail, at the top, click Settings See all settingsChat and MeetManage chat settingsManage accounts you have blocked.
3. Select the person from the suggestions.
4. Click Unblock .

Tip: You can also unblock someone in Chat by going to SettingsBlockedManage accounts you have blocked. Click Removenext to the person that you blocked.