Get started with Hangouts Chat

2. Create direct messages and rooms

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Chat

In Chat, you can send a direct message (DM) to individuals or groups. Direct messages are private conversations between you and other people. Once you create a direct message, you can't add people, so the conversation remains private.
 

In this section:

2.1 Send a direct message
2.2 Edit conversations
2.3 Create a room
2.4 Add or remove people in a room
2.5 Join or leave a room
2.6 Start multiple conversations in a room

2.1 Send a direct message

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Send a direct message to someone:

  1. Open Chat.
  2. On the left, click Find people, rooms, bots.
  3. Enter a name or email address or select a contact from the suggestions.
  4. Enter your direct message and click Send .

Message someone directly

Send a direct message to a group:

  1. On the left, click Find people, rooms, botsand thenGroup Message.
  2. Enter names or email addresses or select contacts from the suggestions.
  3. After you add your contacts, click Message.
  4. Enter your DM and click Send  .
  5. (Optional) To hide a group DM, on the left, point to the direct message and click More Moreand thenHide conversation Remove.

2.2 Edit conversations

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You can edit text in your conversation or add an emoji.

Update conversation text

Feature Description
Edit text Point to your conversation and click Edit Edit. Make your change and click Update.
Delete a conversation Point to your conversation and click Delete Deleteand thenDelete.
Add an emoji Click Emoji Emoji and select the emoji you want to add.
Bold text Add an asterisk (*) before and after the text you want to bold.
Italicize text Add an underscore (_) before and after the text you want to italicize.

 2.3 Create a room

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With Chat, you can meet and brainstorm ideas with your team in rooms. Chat with your co-workers, share files and other online resources, and work together on team projects.

Conversations are organized into different conversation threads in rooms, so you and your team can discuss multiple subjects at the same time.

  1. On the left, click Find people, rooms, botsand thenCreate room.

  2. Enter a room name and click Create.

Select the create room option on the left

2.4 Add or remove people in a room

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You can add people to a room in 2 ways:

  • Invite people to a room—Invite people to join a room by email.
  • Mention someone in a conversation—Enter @johns to automatically add them to the room
1

Invite people to a room:

  1. In the room, click Add people & bots.
  2. Enter a name, email address, or Google Groups address. Or, select a person from one of the suggestions.
    • If you want to notify the people you’re adding, make sure the Notify people via email box is checked and click Send.
    • If you don’t want to notify the people you’re adding, uncheck the Notify people via email box and click Add.
  3. To start a new conversation with the group, scroll to the bottom of the room and click New thread in name of room.

    Note: Anyone added to the room can see the entire conversation history.
2

Add someone by mentioning them:

  1. To add someone to a room in a conversation, enter @ and then their email alias, for example, @johns.
  2. Select the person and click Send .
  3. Click Add to room to confirm.
3

See members of a room:

  1. On the left, select the room.
  2. At the top, click the Down arrow Down Arrowand thenView members Contacts.
  3. (Optional) To add more members to the room, click Add Add.
4

Remove a person from a room:

  1. Select the room name and at the top, click the Down arrow Down Arrowand thenView members Contacts.
  2. Point to the person you want to remove and click More Moreand thenRemove from room Remove.

Add and see members, or remove someone from a room

2.5 Join or leave a room

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Individuals are added to rooms automatically, whereas groups have the option to join a room. Both individuals and group members can leave a room.

Note: You can add up to 8,000 people to a room.

1

Browse your rooms:

All your rooms are listed on the left of the page. You can find a room you’re invited to join.

  1. Click Find people, rooms, bots.
  2. Click Browse rooms Browse rooms.

2

Join a room:

You can preview the room before you join it.

  1. Point to the room name and click Preview.
  2. At this point, you can read conversations, but you can't participate in the discussion or receive notifications.
  3. Click Join if you decide to join the room.
  4. After joining, you can participate in a discussion, receive notifications, and see the room in your room list.

3

Remove yourself from a room:

  1. Select the room name and at the top, click the Down arrow Down Arrowand thenLeave Leave.
  2. Click Leave Room.

Browse, join, exit rooms

2.6 Start multiple conversations in a room

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If you’re collaborating on a large project with your team, you might need to chat about different topics. Having multiple ongoing conversations helps everyone share information and ideas faster.

Start a different conversation in a room:

  1. On the left, select your room name.
  2. Scroll down to the end of the page and click Plus New thread in name of room.
  3. Under New thread, enter your message and click Send .
  4. You can create as many new conversations in the room as you like.

Send a direct message to someone in a room:

  1. Select the room name and at the top, click the Down arrow Down Arrowand thenView members Contacts.
  2. Point to the person you want to send a direct message to and click More Moreand thenMessage Message.
  3. Enter a message and click Send .

Discuss different topics and converse with different people

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