First things to know about chats in Microsoft Teams

Chat is at the center of everything you do in Microsoft Teams. From individual chats with just one other person, to group chats and conversations in channels—chat has you covered.

Here are some of the first things to know:

1. Chats can be one-on-one or in a group

Sometimes, you’ll want to talk one-on-one with someone. Other times, you’ll want to have a small group chat. In Chat, you can do either.

You start one-on-one and group chats the same way: by selecting New chat Chat icon in Teams. at the top of your chat list. Once in a chat, you can send messages that include files, links, emoji, stickers, and GIFs—whatever you need to get your point across.

The following are more details about each kind of chat:

One-on-one chat

Once you’ve selected New chat Chat icon in Teams. and entered the person’s name, compose your message in the text box and then select Send Send a message icon. or press Enter. This starts the chat.

Chat with yourself

For times when you want to draft messages, send files from one device to another, or get to know features a little better, you can start a chat with yourself. Everything you do in a regular chat you can also do in a chat with yourself. You’ll see it pinned to the top of your chat list by default.

If you unpin the chat with yourself and want to find it again, select New chat Chat icon in Teams. and enter your name into the To field.

Group chat

Use a group chat when you need to talk to a small group of people. Start one the same way you start a one-on-one chat: select New chat New chat button in Teams at the top of your chat list. Select the down arrow to the far right of the To field and type a name for the chat in the Group name field. Next, type the names of the people you’d like to add in the To field.

Once the chat has begun (whether group or one-on-one), just choose it in the chat list to resume the conversation and send more messages.

2. Press Shift+Enter to start a new line

If you keep pressing Enter to start a new line, which sends the message before you’re ready, try the following:

When you want to start a new paragraph, press Shift+Enter to insert the line break. If you’ve opened your formatting options (see step 3 for details), just press Enter to start a new line of text, then select Send Send a message icon. to send it.

3. Select Format to see all your formatting options

There are many formatting options for messages.

To open your formatting options, select Format Format button in Teams beneath the box where you type your message. In this expanded view, select the text that you want to format, then choose an option like B, I, or U to bold, italicize, or underline the text. There are also options for highlighting, font size, font color, lists, and more.

At the bottom, you'll also find options for including emoji, GIFs and stickers. Select Actions and apps Cross icon at top of the screen to schedule a meeting, attach a file, select delivery options and more.

4. Chat happens in channels, too

When you go to any channel in Teams the very first tab is Posts. Think of this as one big group chat. Everyone who has access to the channel can see messages in Posts.

Based on your organization and culture, you'll need to decide which messages are suitable for the Posts tab in a particular channel.

Another important thing to know is that replies to a channel message stay attached to the original message. This way, the whole thread of the conversation can be easily followed by anyone reading it. This is what's great about threaded conversations.

To reply to a channel message, be sure to use the Reply link underneath the message.

5. There are several ways to search for and find messages

Depending on what you remember about the sender of the message or the characteristics of the message, a different way of searching might make more sense. Below are some ways to search for a message. For all of your searching options, see Search for messages and more in Microsoft Teams.

Find a chat based on a person’s name

Enter the person’s name in the search box at the top of Teams. 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.

Find a message that has a keyword that you remember

Start typing a keyword into the search box and press Enter. You’ll see a list of results that include the keyword.

Filter to show certain types of messages

From the Activity feed, select Filter Teams filter icon to only show unread messages, or @Mentions.

6. Delete, hide, or mute chats to keep them out of your way

You can delete an entire chat conversation, hide the chat from the chat list, or mute it so you stop getting notifications. For details, see Delete a chat thread in Teams and Hide, mute, or pin a chat in Teams.

You can also delete individual messages you've sent.