Format and Send a Private Message

Locked lesson.

Upgrade

About this lesson

Have a private conversation with a specific person or multiple people by sending a private message.

Quick reference

Format and Send a Private Message

Create and format a message to send privately to one or more people. 

When to use

We send a private message whenever we want to limit who can see the conversation. 

Instructions

Sometimes we don't want a message to be seen by the entire team or channel members. Instead, we might want to have a private conversation with one or more colleagues. Chat is where private conversations take place. 

  • Click on Chat. 

On the left-hand side, we can find our chat log. This is where we can see previous or current private conversations. Meetings we've attended will appear in Chat also, along with a copy of the attendance report and recording. 

Start a New Private Chat

  • Click the New Chat icon. 
  • In the To field, address the message to the recipient/s. 
  • Type your message into the conversation box. 
  • Click Send. 

Format Messages

We can apply formatting to private and public messages. We can emphasize certain words using bold. We can insert bullet points and links. We can add tables or images and highlight specific phrases. 

  • Click the Format icon underneath the message. 
  • Apply the required formatting. 
  • Click Send. 

We can set Delivery Options on a message. For example, we can mark a message as Important or Urgent.

When we mark a message as Important, it will show with a red exclamation point next to it and will show in the recipient's Activity Feed.

If we mark a message as Urgent, the recipient will be notified about the message every 2 minutes for 20 minutes.

Hints & tips

  • The keyboard shortcut to start a new private chat is CTRL+N. 
Login to download
  • 00:03 So we've already seen how to send messages to channel members and
  • 00:09 also target messages using app Mentions.
  • 00:12 But what about if we just want to send someone a private message?
  • 00:16 Maybe I don't want the message that I'm sending to be visible by the whole team.
  • 00:22 Maybe I just want to have a private conversation with one or more colleagues.
  • 00:27 Well, to do that we need to go to a completely different area in teams.
  • 00:32 We need to come out of that teams area and jump into chats.
  • 00:38 And this is where all of your private conversations will take place.
  • 00:41 On the left hand side, this is where we'll find at chat logs.
  • 00:44 So any private chats that you've had previously will appear in here for
  • 00:49 you to re-access.
  • 00:50 You'll also find any meetings that you've taken part in will appear here as well.
  • 00:55 And you can see here this is a meeting from a little while ago.
  • 00:59 I can see the attendance report and also a recording of the meeting.
  • 01:04 Now we're going to talk more about meetings in the next section and
  • 01:08 I'm going to show you how you can record meetings and
  • 01:10 do things like save the meeting notes.
  • 01:13 But just know that you can revisit and
  • 01:15 even rejoin meetings that have passed from this chat area as well.
  • 01:19 So it's not just simply for messaging other people privately,
  • 01:24 it's also used as a log.
  • 01:25 Now if I want to message Jen privately, for example, and
  • 01:28 speak to her a little bit more about why she's so nervous about tomorrow night.
  • 01:33 All I would need to do here is click on the New Chat icon.
  • 01:37 Notice there is a keyboard shortcut for this off CTRL+N.
  • 01:41 So let's open a new chat and
  • 01:43 all I need to do in the to area is address this to whoever I want to chat with.
  • 01:49 So in this case I want to speak to Jen.
  • 01:52 So I can select her from the list and then I have my chat box at the bottom.
  • 01:58 So Jen has replied to my message.
  • 02:01 And we're the only two people who can see this conversation.
  • 02:06 And much like when we're talking in a team channel,
  • 02:09 if I hover my mouse over Jen's message, I can register a reaction.
  • 02:13 So let's send her a little heart.
  • 02:17 Now another thing to note here and this applies to messages that you're posting
  • 02:22 privately or in a channel, is that you can format the messages that you send through.
  • 02:28 So if we take a look down at the box below, the first icon is Format.
  • 02:34 So if we click on this, it's going to expand that new message area.
  • 02:40 And it opens up a whole bunch of formatting options that I
  • 02:43 can apply to my message.
  • 02:45 So maybe I want to make parts bold or italic, or
  • 02:48 maybe change the color or the alignment.
  • 02:52 I can do all of that kind of stuff here.
  • 02:54 So let's reply to Jen and use some formatting.
  • 02:58 So this is the message I want to send back to Jen.
  • 03:01 I'm going to make sure that I bold the word know, so let's click B.
  • 03:07 And the word amazing, let's really make this stand out.
  • 03:11 I'm going to change the size to large and
  • 03:15 I'm also going to change the font color to red.
  • 03:20 And let's also highlight this word as well.
  • 03:23 So let's select amazing.
  • 03:24 I'm going to use the text highlighter, and
  • 03:27 we'll highlight this in this greeny yellow or Primrose color.
  • 03:32 Another thing I could do here is I could set the delivery options on this message.
  • 03:37 So underneath if we click on the exclamation icon, by default,
  • 03:41 all of our messages will be sent through using a standard delivery option.
  • 03:47 But if this is a particularly important message or if it's urgent,
  • 03:51 we can mark this as well.
  • 03:53 So if I say important notice, I get this important text at the top.
  • 03:58 And when I send this message through,
  • 04:01 it's going to have that exclamation point at the side.
  • 04:04 And that's going to register in Jens teams that this message is of high importance.
  • 04:10 So don't forget about different formatting options and delivery options you have,
  • 04:15 not only when you're having a private conversation in teams, but
  • 04:19 also when you're simply chatting in a team channel.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.

Gift this course