Chatting on Teams

To access the full Teams Training for Business Use Manual, please visit Inside.Sierra. 

Microsoft Teams chat is a powerful tool for collaboration, making communication in the workplace efficient and organized. This guide walks you through essential features—like pinning chats, muting conversations, urgent messaging, and more—to help you manage your conversations and boost productivity.

Mastering these Microsoft Teams chat features can make your workday smoother, help you stay organized, and ensure you never miss important messages. Use these tools to manage conversations efficiently and collaborate better with your colleagues.

Start a New Chat

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

One-on-one chat

Once you’ve selected New chat and entered the person’s name, compose your message in the text box and then select Send. This starts the chat.

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 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.

Start a new line

When you want to start a new paragraph, press Shift+Enter to insert the line break. If you’ve opened up all your formatting options, just select Enter to start a new line of text.

Format your chat message with the Text Editor

To open format a chat message, your formatting options, select the Show Formatting Options icon 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.

Pin Chats

Pinning chats keeps important conversations at the top of your chat list, making them easy to find.

  1. Open Teams and go to the Chat tab
  2. Find the conversation you want to pin
  3. Right-click on the chat, then select Pin
  4. The chat now appears at the top of your list
  5. To unpin, right-click the pinned chat and select Unpin

Muting Chat Conversations

Mute chats to stop notifications from conversations that aren’t urgent.

  1. Go to the Chat tab
  2. Right-click the conversation you want to mute
  3. Select Mute
  4. To unmute, right-click again and select Unmute

Marking Messages as Important or Urgent

Use the Important or Urgent options to ensure your message stands out.

  1. Start a new message in a chat
  2. Click the + button for Actions and Apps, then select Set delivery options
    • Select Important to highlight the message
    • Select Urgent to send repeated notifications every 2 minutes for 20 minutes – use with caution!

Using @Mentions and Tags

@Mentions and tags are helpful for grabbing attention in group chats.

  1. In the message box, type @ followed by a person’s name to mention them
  2. For group chats, type @everyone to tag each chat group member

Getting Notifications When Someone Becomes Available

Set up notifications to alert you when a colleague is online.

  1. Click on the 3-dot icon for More Chat Options next to their name on your chat list
  2. Select Notify when available
  3. You’ll get a notification when their status changes to “Available”

Using Filters (Unread, Meeting, and More)

Filters help you quickly find specific chats or messages.

  1. Go to the Chat tab
  2. Click the Magnifying glass icon at the top
  3. Select filters like Unread or Meeting to narrow your list, or type in a name in the search bar

Customizing Chat Names

Rename group chats for easy identification.

  1. Open the group chat
  2. Click on the pencil icon next to the chat name at the top
  3. Enter a new name
  4. Click Save to update

Enabling Compact Chat

Compact chat view lets you see more conversations at once.

  1. Click on the 3-dot icon next to your profile picture in Teams
  2. Select Settings
  3. Go to Chats and Channels
  4. Choose Compact under Chat

Replying to Previous Messages

Reply directly to specific messages to keep conversations organized.

  1. Hover over the message you want to reply to
  2. Click the quotation icon
  3. Type your response and send
  4. A brief preview will appear at the top of your message to reference what you are replying to

 

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