Send a Google Chat message to a person or group

You can send messages to people who use Google Chat. If you use a Google Workplace account, you can only chat with someone outside of your organization if they use a personal Google Account or if both of your organizations allow it.

Start a conversation with a person or a group

1. Open the Chat app or Gmail app .
2. On the bottom, tap Chat .
3. Tap a name.
   • If the name isn’t there, tap New chat.
   • Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
4. Enter a message.
5. Tap Send .

Tips:

• If you use a work or school account, suggestions include everyone in your organization, even if they don't have Google Chat.
• To message you back, the recipient of a message may need to accept your request.

Start a group conversation

1. Open the Chat app or Gmail app .
2. On the bottom, tap Chat .
3. Tap an existing group, enter a message, and tap Send .

If the group name isn’t there, tap New chat.

1. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
2. To add more people to the conversation, at the top, tap Add members .
3. Enter names or email addresses. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
4. Tap Done.
5. Enter your message.
6. Tap Send .

Remove people from a group conversation

When you remove someone, they can't participate in the group conversation or check message history.

1. Open the Chat app or Gmail app .
2. At the bottom, tap Chat.
3. Open a group conversation.
4. At the top left, tap the conversation participants  Manage members.
5. Under "Members," next to the person’s name, tap More options   Remove from chat.

Other options

• To add a person to the conversation, type enter a name.
• To add a photo to the message, tap Photo .
• To view other options, tap Action menu . Then:
  • To take a picture and add it to the message, tap Camera .
  • To start a video call, tap Meet link .
  • To schedule a meeting, tap Calendar invite .
  • To share files from Google Drive, tap Drive .
    • If people in a conversation or space don't have access to a Drive file, you may get a request to share the file.
  • To add formatting to text, tap Format .
  • To add a GIF, tap GIF .

Know when someone reads your message

In a 1:1 message, a small avatar of the person you chat with appears to the right of the last message they read. You can't turn these read receipts on or off. Read receipts don’t appear in group conversations or spaces.