Send a chat message to a person or group

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. If the name isn’t under Chat, click Find people, rooms, bots or click Start a chat .
3. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you type.
   To send a direct message to someone outside of your organization, enter their full email address.
4. Select the person you want to message.
5. Enter a message click Send .
   Suggestions include everyone in your organization, even if they don't have Chat.

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. Under "Chat," click a group name, enter a message, click Send .
3. If the group name isn’t under "Chat":
   • In Chat, click Find people, rooms, bots  Start group conversation.
   • In Gmail, under Chat, click Start a chat  Start group conversation.
4. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you type. 
5. Click Message or Done .
6. Enter a message click Send .
   Suggestions include everyone in your organization, even if they don't have Chat.

 

You can add or remove people to create a new conversation with a different group of people.

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. In Chat, at the top, next to the conversation name, click the Down arrow  Start a new chat.
3. In Gmail, click More options  Start a new chat.
4. Add or remove people from the existing group conversation:
   • To add people, enter their names.
   • To remove people, next to their name, click Remove from room .
5. Click Create.

You can add these options to your message:

• To add a person to the conversation, click enter a name.
• To add emojis to your message, click Emoji .
• To share files from your device, click Upload file . Everyone in a room can view shared files.
• To share files from Google Drive, click Add Google Drive file . Everyone in a room can view shared Drive files.
• To start a video call, click Add video meeting .

You can chat with a bot in a message.

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. In Chat, next to "Bots," click Start a chat .
   In Gmail, next to "Chat," click Start a chat  Find a bot.
3. Type the bot name or select from the suggestions.
4. Enter your message.
5. Tap Send .

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. Open the direct message that contains the bot.
3. In the top right of the conversation window, click More options   Remove.

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. Open a room.
3. Click More options  View members.
4. Next to the bot you want to remove, click More options  Remove from room.

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 aren’t visible in group messages or rooms.

Chat shows the out of office status people set up in Google Calendar. You can still send the person a message while they’re out of office. If a person doesn't have permission to view your out of office status, Chat won't show your status. When you set up your out of office status in Calendar, your Chat messages or notifications aren’t muted.

To show your status:

1. Share your calendar with someone.
2. Create an out of office event that spans all day or past your work hours. Learn how to set your working hours and availability.