Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (2024)

Most Teams meetings includea chat where meeting participants can share info without disrupting the flow of the meeting.

Note:This feature may be disabled in your organization. Check with your IT admin for details.

In this article

View and send messages

Continue the conversation after the meeting

Start the conversation before the meeting

Chat in recurring meetings

Chat in channel meetings

More info about chat access

View and send messages

In your meeting controls, a red dot on the Show conversation icon indicates that someone posted a message.

Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (1)

  • To view the message, select Show conversation Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (2).

The meeting chat window opens to the right of the main screen.

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  • To send a message, compose it in the text box and then select Send Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (4).

You'll havethe same options as other chats in Teams, so you can format your text, send pictures and GIFs, use emojis, attach files, and so on. For details, see Chat help.

If you're part of the Teams public preview program, you'll see chats appear in the main meeting window, without navigating to theShow conversation icon.

Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (5)

Tohide chats from appearing in the main meeting window, select More actions Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (6) and chooseDon’t show chat bubblesfrom the menu options.

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On iOS and Androiddevices, your two most recent messages will appear for a few seconds as previews at the bottom ofthe meeting screen.

To snooze chat bubbles, select the snooze icon in the chat bubble.

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To permanently turn off chat bubbles, select Don't show chat bubblesfrom the menu at the bottom of the screen.

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Note:Chat bubbles areavailable as part of the public preview program and may undergo further changes before being released publicly. To get access to this and other upcoming features, switch to theTeams public preview.

Continue the conversation after the meeting

After the meeting, you can access the chat conversation in several ways:

  • Select Chat on the left side of Teams and choose the meeting in the chat list

    Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (10)

    Note that in the chat list, meeting chats are preceded by themeeting icon

    Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (11)

    and have the same title as the meeting.

  • Select Calendar on the left side of Teams, right-click the meeting event, and then select Chat with participants.

    Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (12)

    Or you can double-click the meeting event and select the Chat tab.

    Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (13)

The following types of meeting attendees with the necessary permissions can continue the conversation they began during the meeting (unless the organizer limited the chat to only during the meeting).

  1. All meeting attendees of scheduled single instance meetings will continue to have post-meeting chat access.

  2. All meeting attendees of scheduled recurring meetings who are included in the meeting invitation will have post-meeting chat access.

Notes:The following meetingattendees are the exceptionto the chat accessibility rule as stated above:

  • Attendees who are forwarded an occurrence of the series or those who get nudged into an occurrence of that series will lose post-meeting chat access.

  • All externalmeeting attendees (i.e.,meeting participants whoarefrom another non-federated tenant or anonymous users who are not managed by an organization) will not have chat access in both of the above cases.

  • If someone has been manually removed from the meeting chat or chooses to leave it, they won't have access to the chat going forward. (For more info, see Leave or remove someone from a group chat.)

Start the conversation before the meeting

You can also prep people for an upcoming meeting through a meeting chat (unless the organizer limited the chat).

  • Right-click the meeting event in your Teams calendar,select Chat with participants, and enter your message.

Note:People who were sent the meeting invitation have access to the meeting chat—before, after, and during the meeting—even if they don’t attend the meeting.

Chat in recurring meetings

For recurring meetings, the chat conversation continues from one meeting to the next. When participants open their chat window, they’ll have access to all the messages that were exchanged in the previous meetings.

Note:If a participant is removed from a recurring meeting series, thatparticipant will lose chat access.

Inviting someone to a single occurrence

People invited to one meeting ofa recurring meeting series can participate in the chat with other attendees. They won’t see chat history from previous meetings in the series, but they'll be able tosend and view chat messages during the meeting.

If you want to invite someone to join one of your recurring meetings but not the rest, make sure you forward the invite for the single instance,not the entire meeting series, to ensure chat privacy.

Tip:If you've invited an external participant to be a guest speaker and you want to further limit their access to the meeting chat, you can schedule their presentation as the meeting's last session. The meeting organizer or moderator can then monitor the participant list during the meeting, and if the speaker joins outside their allocated time, they can manually remove them.

Note:People you add to a meeting after it starts using the Invite someone box on the participant list have access to the chat from the time they are invited to the time the meeting ends.

Chat in channel meetings

For meetings that are held in a channel, all channel members can view and add to the chat conversation, whether they attend the meeting or not. The conversation will be available on the Posts tab of the channel, beneath the meeting title.

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Note:People who are not members of the channel but are invited to a channel meeting won’t have access to the chat.

More info about chat access

  • If you're the organizer of a meeting, you can modify chat settings. Limit chats to take place only during the meeting, not before or after, or turn chat off altogether.

  • Up to1,000 peoplewho receive an invitation to a meeting can access the meeting chat during the meeting, while up to 750 people who receive an invitation to a meeting can access the meeting chat before and after the meeting. The 1,000-person in-meeting limit and 750-person pre and post-meeting limit include people who don’t join the meeting.

  • If you're adding a distribution list (DL) with more than 150 members to a meeting invite, they'll only be able to access the meeting chat during the meeting.If you want everyone to be able to access the chat before and after the meeting, expand the DL before you send the invite.

    Note:If more than 20 peopleattendthe meeting, participants will not see the automated message informing them they've joined the chat.


    If some people in the DL are required attendees and the rest are optional, put those requiredon the Required attendees line of the invite and add the entire DL to the Optional line.

    Note:If adding a DL makes the chat exceed 1,000 people, you won't be able to add the list.

  • Anonymous and external participants have chat access only while attending the meeting (except in channel meetings, where they will have no access to chat).

    Note:If people from federated or non-federated orgsare not invited to the meeting, they can't beadded directly to the meeting chatbefore, during, or after the meetingfor security reason. Adding these external participants to the meeting chatwill prompt the creation of a new group chat.

Want to know more?

Change participant settings for a Teams meeting

Chat in Microsoft Teams meetings (2024)

FAQs

What does "in meeting only chat" mean in Teams? ›

Meeting organizers can specify that the chat only be available while the meeting is in progress. This can also be configured by using a meeting template or sensitivity label if you require this for certain types of meetings.

How to use chat in Microsoft Teams meeting? ›

Join the Meeting. Find “Chat” button at the bottom of the screen. Click to open chat window. Type message & send to all or select individuals.

Why can't I chat in my Teams meeting? ›

Select the meeting policy that's assigned to you. Navigate to the Meeting engagement section. Set Meeting chat to On for everyone or On for everyone but anonymous users. To allow users to use chat in Teams meetings that are hosted by other organizations, make sure that External meeting chat is set to On.

How do I enable Q&A in Teams meeting? ›

From Teams, during the meeting:
  1. Select More actions. at the top of the meeting window.
  2. Select Meeting options.
  3. Go to Enable Q&A and select the Yes toggle.

What is the difference between chat and Teams in Teams? ›

Unlike group chats, which are purely for chatting, a Teams channel allows document collaboration.

What does chat status mean on Microsoft Teams? ›

Microsoft Teams has four presence states: Available, Busy, Do Not Disturb, and Away. Each one communicates something different to your colleagues. Available means you're online and ready to chat or collaborate. Busy means you're occupied with a task and may not be able to respond immediately.

How does team chat work? ›

Find a chat based on a person's name

You'll see their name and any group chats they're a part of with you listed. Select their name to go to your one-on-one chat with them or select a group chat to resume that one.

What is Microsoft chat? ›

Chat lets you connect with others, stay up to date on projects, and express yourself, whether you're in the office, at home, or on the go with the Microsoft Teams app.

Why can't I type in chat on Teams? ›

If you can't send a message in a channel, the owner may have restricted members to chat. Then, if you don't see the Chat icon, the feature may have been disabled in your account or for users in your organization.

What does chat participant only mean in Teams? ›

chat participant only meaning this attendee only has the capability to chat during the meeting, this attendee can't share video, can't remove other attendees and so on..

How do I enable reply options in Teams? ›

When you reply to a specific message, you add clarity to your one-on-one, group, and meeting chats.
  1. Tap Chat. in Teams. Then find the message you want to reply to.
  2. Press and hold onto the message, and then tap Reply.

How does Q&A work in Teams live event? ›

When a live event is created with a Q&A option, attendees can start asking questions even if the event hasn't started. These questions are only visible to moderators until they publish them to the event. Select Q&A on the right side of the screen, then select Open.

What are the different types of chat in Teams? ›

In Teams, you'll see three types of chats: One-on-one chats: to connect with people individually. Group chats: to speak with a group of people at the same time.

How do I turn off meeting chat in Teams? ›

Use these steps to manage meeting chat:
  1. In the Teams admin center, expand Meetings and select Meeting policies.
  2. Select the policy you'd like to edit.
  3. Navigate to the Meeting engagement section.
  4. Set Meeting chat to your chosen value of either On for everyone, On for everyone but anonymous users, or Off for everyone.
Oct 12, 2023

Is chat in channel meetings only available to team members? ›

Chat, recording, and transcripts are visible in the channel for Team members (guest users can also see the recordings but typically need to be given access separately to view/download meeting recordings) Chat is not available for meeting attendees who are not part of the Team.

Can everyone see your Teams chat? ›

Yes an organization can view all chats between organization accounts. If you have a personal Teams account, the organization cannot see anything on that account.

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