Messages is for talking to colleagues without leaving the system, so the conversation sits alongside the work it is about. This walkthrough opens a conversation, sends a message, and replies to a specific message in it.
A few things worth knowing before you start. Enter sends; the paperclip attaches a photo, a video or a document (images and videos preview in the thread, everything else arrives as a download). Typing @ offers the people in the conversation, and a Notify everyone option that reaches all of them. A tick means your message was sent, and once someone opens it their picture appears beside it — that is the read receipt. Anything you type and do not send is kept as a draft and is still there when you come back to that conversation. The draft lives in that browser, so it will not follow you to another device or survive clearing site data.
Step 1
Open Messages
Go to Messages and find the conversation you want. Starting a new one and adding attachments are separate tasks.
Step 2
Check who you are talking to
Open the conversation and check its name and participants. The first thread in the list is not necessarily the one you want.
Step 3
Write and send
Type your message. Enter sends it; Shift+Enter adds a new line. Read it back, and check the audience, before you press Enter.
Step 4
Check it sent
A tick appears beside the message once it has sent. If it doesn't, check your connection before sending again, so you don't send it twice.
Step 5
Sent is not read
A successful send does not mean it was read. Where read receipts are available, they tell you only once a recipient has read it. For anything urgent, follow your organisation's escalation process rather than waiting for a reply.
Step 6
Starting a conversation, and attachments
This sends into an existing conversation. A new conversation can be started from the same screen. The paperclip takes an image, a video, or a document — PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text or CSV.
Step 7
Reply to a particular message
Hover the message you want to answer and choose Reply. A Replying to… banner appears above the composer so you can see what you are answering, and an × cancels it. Your reply is posted with a quote of the original above it, and that quote is clickable — it jumps back to the message it answers, which is what keeps a long thread readable.
Step 8
What else a conversation can do
Your own messages can be edited or deleted from the controls on the message; an edited one is marked (edited). Any message can be pinned, and pinned messages collect in a bar above the conversation. You can react with an emoji. A conversation can be renamed (for groups), muted, marked unread, or archived from its menu. While someone is typing, their avatar and three dots show under the thread.
Step 9
Finding a conversation
The box above the conversation list filters by conversation name, the people in it, and the last message shown — it is a way to find the right conversation, not a search of every message you have ever sent.
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