Start a conversation

Start chatting in a few steps: open a direct chat or create a group, invite people, and reply, mention and react. The steps are for the iPhone, Android and web apps, with desktop differences noted.

Start a direct chat

In Chats, select New Chat, then Direct Chat.
Pick someone you follow, or type at least 2 characters in Search name or @username to find someone else.
Select the person. If you already have a chat with them, it opens.

You can also select Message on someone’s profile. In the desktop app, press ⌘N (Ctrl+N on Linux), choose Direct message and click a person.

Create a group

In Chats, select New Chat, then New Group Chat.
Enter a Chat title and, if you like, a Description (optional).
Select Create group chat. You’re the group’s owner.

Add people after you create the group, as described in the next section. In the desktop app, choose Group in the ⌘N dialog, where you can also add up to 49 people while creating the group.

Invite people

As the group’s owner or a manager, you can share an invite link or a QR code:

Open the group and select Chat info, then Manage chat.
Under Group Management, select Invite Links, then Create Invite Link (or + if the group already has links).
Optionally give the link a name, then select Create.
Select Copy or Share to send the link, or QR code to show a code that people can scan with their phone’s camera.

To add people who follow you, select Invite in Chat info and choose them. They’re added to the group and get a notification. In the desktop app, open the chat’s Details and use Invites > Create invite; the desktop app doesn’t show QR codes.

Send a message

Type in the message box and select Send. To add photos, files or a poll, select + first. In the desktop app, press Enter to send and Shift+Enter for a new line.

Reply in a thread

Long-press a message and select Reply in thread, or swipe the message from right to left. Replies stay together under the original message, which shows how many replies it has; select that count to open the thread. The iPhone, Android and desktop apps notify you about new replies in threads you take part in.

In the desktop app, hover over a message and click Reply in thread. The thread opens next to the conversation.

Mention someone

Type @ in the message box and choose a person from the list, or keep typing their username. On iPhone and Android, they’re notified even if they’ve muted the chat, and the mention appears in their Activity. To reach the whole group, use @everyone (“Notify all members”) or @here (“Notify online members”).

React to a message

Long-press a message and choose an emoji, or select More reactions to pick any emoji. Double-tap a message to add or remove 👍. Select a reaction under a message to add or remove yours, and long-press it to see Who reacted. In the desktop app, hover over a message to react.