4. Manage chats

Hide a direct message conversation

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.

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

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 right, click Settings 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 sounds box.
5. (Optional) To get chat notifications in a pop-up window in Gmail, check the Show chat push notifications in Gmail box.
6. (Optional) To set mobile notifications, under Mobile, click the Down arrow and choose an option.
7. (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 right, click Settings See all settings.
3. At the top, click Chat and MeetManage chat settings.
4. 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.
5. (Optional) To hear a sound for incoming chat notifications, check the Play sounds box.
6. (Optional) To get chat notifications in a pop-up window in Gmail, check the Show chat push notifications in Gmail box.
7. (Optional) To receive incoming messages as pop-up windows in Gmail, check the Open chat pop-ups for new messages box.
8. (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. Sign in to Chat or Gmail.
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. Sign in to Chat or Gmail.
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.

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

You can turn your chat history on and off for conversations with another person or a group. If you turn it off, new conversations are deleted after 24 hours. Currently, you can’t turn the conversation history on or off for a room.

Note: Your G Suite admin might have to turn this feature on in the Admin console before you can use it.

Turn history on or off in Chat or Gmail

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.

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

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