Learn how to use Google Chat

In Google Chat, you can ask quick questions, send direct messages (DMs), collaborate in group chats, create virtual spaces for team projects and more.

Learn about enhancements to Google Chat

Previous Chat experience	Current Chat experience
In Gmail, DMs and spaces are split into the 'Chat' and 'Spaces' tabs.	In Gmail, DMs and spaces are included in the 'Chat' tab. The 'Space' tab is no longer available in Gmail.
There are no shortcuts to find recent conversations, messages that mention you or starred messages in one place.	Use these new shortcuts in Chat to find what you need faster: Home, Mentions and Starred.
On mobile, you can navigate between 'Chat' and 'Spaces'.	On mobile, a navigation bar appears at the bottom when you go to the 'Chat' tab. You can switch between home, DMs, spaces, mentions and starred, or start a new chat.
There are different ways to start a new chat in Chat and Chat in Gmail.	Start a conversation or space with the New chat button.

Navigate around Chat

In the main menu, you can:

Start a new chat, which can be a DM to one or more people or a space to collaborate on projects.
Catch up on your conversations using various shortcuts:
- Home
  - Find all of your spaces and messages.
  - To find threads on your home screen, click Threads.
  - To find all unread messages on your home screen, click Unread.
- Mentions
  - To find all messages in which you're tagged, use '@'.
- Starred
  - View messages that you starred.

Below the shortcuts, you can find all your direct messages (DMs) and spaces.

In the left-hand menu, you can choose from:

Shortcuts

Get quick access to:

Home: Find all of your conversations. Toggle between all or unread conversations or toggle to display all conversations or threads.
Mentions: Find all messages where someone directly mentions you.
Starred: Track important messages that you've starred.

Direct messages

Find all DMs between you and others. You can send a DM to one or more people.

Spaces

Find all spaces that you've created or joined.

Create a DM or space

When you click New chat, you can add one or more people to start a DM or select another option in the menu:

Create a space	Create a focused conversation around a topic, project or shared interest. You can give your space a unique name and avatar.
Browse spaces	Find spaces that your organisation has created. If you use Chat for work, school or another organisation, you can find spaces that others in your organisation create.
Find apps	Look for Chat apps that can help automate your work.
Message requests	Find pending message requests from people outside your organisation. If you use Chat for work, school or another organisation, these may also be people outside your organisation.

Send and reply to messages

When you send or reply to a message, use the reply area in Chat. There are multiple ways to reply to messages in Chat.

An image of a space in Google Chat

When you reply, you can:

Send a message	Send the message that you wrote.
Share files and more	Share Google Drive files, set up a Calendar invite or add apps to a message.
Start a meeting	Start a video call instantly with another person with Google Meet.
Add a video meeting	Add a Google Meet link to a video meeting.
Edit messages	Edit a sent message.
Delete messages	Delete a sent message.
Format messages	Bold or italicise text, use bullet points or add colour.
React to messages	Add an emoji.
Upload a file	Share a file from your computer.
Share a GIF	React with an animated GIF.
Quote a message	To directly respond, quote a previous message in Chat.
Start a thread	In a space with inline threading, create a new thread based on a message.