Turn history on or off in Google Chat

When you message a person or group in Google Chat, you can choose to save your conversation or have it automatically deleted after 24 hours.

When anyone in the chat turns history on or off:

  • A note appears in the message stream that says history was turned on or off.
  • A prompt appears in the compose box that says “History is on” or “History is off.”

Learn who can control conversation history

  • If you use Google Chat with a work or school account: Your organization determines if you can use the history setting to save your chats.
  • If you use Google Chat with a personal account: You can choose whether to turn history on or off.

Manage conversation history

  1. On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
    • In Gmail: On the left, click Chat.
  2. Open a conversation.
  3. At the top, click the conversation name and then Turn on history or Turn off history.

About history in spaces

When history is on

  • History is always on in spaces grouped by topic.
  • History is on by default in spaces with in-line threading. If you have a workspace account, your administrator may change the default history setting.
  • When history is on, people added to a space can view past messages from before they joined the space.

When history is off

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