You can use rooms or group conversations in Google Chat to communicate with one or more people.
- Rooms: A central place where people can share files, assign tasks and stay connected.
- Group conversations: Chat directly with a group. For example, use group conversations to have a quick discussion after a meeting.
Should I use a room or group message?
Rooms | Group conversations | |
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Purpose | Team or project collaboration and communication. | Direct message with two or more people. |
Who can chat | Add or remove people at any time. | Add or remove people at any time from the same organisation. |
Conversations | Choose between multiple, threaded conversations, or a single stream of unthreaded messages. | Unthreaded messages. |
Message history |
Threaded rooms: History is always on and is kept based on your organisation’s policy. Unthreaded rooms: History can be turned on or off:
|
History depends on your organisation's settings. History can be:
|
Name | The room creator chooses a room name. |
Members’ names are listed. For new group conversations, a name can be added at any time. If you name a group conversation, it turns into a room. If you turn a group conversation into a room, it can’t be changed back to a group conversation. |
Default notifications |
Members are notified for conversations that they're in or when @mentioned. These are default settings and can be changed. |
Members are notified for every message. These are default settings and can be changed. |
Membership | Members can leave and rejoin. |
Members can leave and rejoin. Tip: For group conversations created before December 2020, members may not be able to leave. |
Multiple chat spaces with the same users | Can have two or more rooms with the same group. | Can have two or more conversations with the same group. |
Create and assign tasks | Can create and assign tasks to other room members. | If you name a group conversation and turn it into a room, you can create and assign tasks to other room members. Unnamed group conversations don’t have task features. |
Shared files | View a list of files shared with the room. |
You can share files but can't view a list of the files. If you name a group conversation and turn it into a room, you can view a list of files shared with the room. |