1. Rename your group chats

Group chats are a great way to work with a small group of colleagues on short term or one-off tasks. You can create a group chat by simply creating a new chat, and typing in the names of your colleagues. In a group chat, we can chat, share files and have calls without needing to create a whole team.

When creating my group chat, I can rename the chat, so my colleagues and I can easily see what we are working on from our chat history. To do this, start by creating a group chat:

Once I have done this, I need to make sure I have sent at least one chat message for a pencil icon to appear:

I can click on the pencil, and rename my group chat, so my colleagues and I can see we are working on the Core proposal!

 

2. When adding a new participant to your group chat, hide the chat history

When I am working in a group chat, I may need to add some other colleagues so they can join in with the chat and/or files. There may be situations where we have been chatting about something confidential, or just not relevant to the new participant, so in that case I can hide the group chat history.

When I need to add someone to the group chat, I simply need to navigate to the participants pane on the top right and select add people.

From here I can type in the name of the new participant and choose to hide all chat history, chat history from a number of days or include all chat history:

 

When the new person joins the chat, if I choose not to include chat history, it will appear as a blank chat .

 

3. Pin chats to the top of your chat history

As I start using Teams chat more and more, I will have quite a full chat history on my chat tab. I can choose to pin chats to the top of my chat history list, so it’s easier for me to find people I speak to on a daily basis.

To pin a chat, simply click on the 3 dots next to the chat in your history, and select pin:

This will pin the chat to the top, and the rest of your chats will appear in recent underneath:

 

You can then minimize recent so your chat history is easier to manage.

To unpin someone, simply click on the 3 dots next to the chat, and select unpin, which will put the chat back in recent.

 

4. Hide chat history

In Teams chat, there is no way for me to delete my chat history, but I can hide it from my chat history. If there is someone I have not spoken to in a while, I might want to hide the chat history to keep my history clearer and easier to manage.

To hide a chat history, click on the 3 dots next to the chat and select hide:

You can only hide a chat that is not pinned. When you click hide, the chat will be removed from your chat history. You can retrieve this again by simply starting a new chat, and typing in the name of the person of group chat name. This will bring back the chat history:

 

5. Get notified when someone becomes available

In Microsoft Teams chat, I can get notified when someone in my organisation becomes available on their Teams presence. This is useful if you work closely with your Manager or a colleague, and want to get a Teams notification when that person becomes available.

To do this, check your Teams chat history, and click on the 3 dots next to the person you want to be notified for. Then select notify when available.

This means that I will receive a Teams notification when this person becomes available and green on their Teams presence so I know when I can get in contact with them.

If you want to remove the notification, simply click on the 3 dots again and select turn off notifications.