Messaging

Overview

There are two main options for sending/receiving messages within Microsoft Teams:

  • Post messages within a Team Channel. (Note: You must be a member of a team in order to post to one of its channels.)
  • Participate in one-on-one and group chats outside of an existing Team.

Messages within a Team’s Channel are called Posts and can be viewed by anyone in the Channel.

Creating a New Post

  1. Click Teams in the left sidebar.Teams icon
  2. Find the team that you would like to interact with in the left-hand Teams menu and click on the Channel where you would like to post.Select channel
  3. Make sure the Posts tab is selected at the top of the Channel window.posts tab
  4. Click Start a post toward the bottom of the page.Start a post button
  5. Use the text box at the bottom of the window to prepare a new message. If you’d like to tag someone in your message, simply type the @ symbol and their name (e.g. @JohnJumbo) then select them from the popup menu.Composing a post

     

  6. When you're ready, click Post.

Responding to a Post

To respond to someone else’s post, you can simply create a new post using the directions described above. You can also move your mouse over a post and use one of the available emojis or additional options.

Reacting to a post

Threads

If you wish to respond to someone’s post while creating a separate thread within the conversation, click the Reply option under their post and compose your message.

Reply option

As people continue to reply to each other within the thread, it creates a side conversation. The main conversation and any other threads can still continue on as usual. 

example thread


 

Teams allows you to generate an email address for a channel. Emails sent to that address, including attachments, are then posted to the channel! You can also control who is allowed to use that email address to post in this way.

  1. Click on the Options button for the channel and select Get email address.Get email address

     

  2. A window will appear with the channel's email address. From here, you can:
    • Copy the email address so you can use it.copy email address

       

    • Click Advanced settings, where you can manage who can send messages to the channel via that address or Remove email address to disable/delete it. (Note: The old email address will no longer be useable in the future, but a new one can be created by following the previous steps.)Email address settings

       

Finding an Existing Chat

  1. Select Chat from the left sidebar.Chat icon
  2. Click on one of the existing chats in the left-hand Chat menu to view it. This list will include one-on-one and group chats outside of your Teams, as well as chat logs from virtual meetings.filter option for chats

Starting a New Chat

  1. Select Chat from the left sidebar.Chat icon
  2. Click the new message icon toward the top of the Teams panel.new chat option
  3. A new message page will load. In the To field, type the name of a person you’d like to chat with. Suggestions will appear from the Tufts Directory. Multiple people can be added this way.adding people to chat
  4. Use the text box at the bottom of the chat window to prepare a new message. If you’d like to tag someone in your message, simply type the @ symbol and their name (e.g. @JohnJumbo) then select them from the popup menu.
    composing chat

     

  5. When you are ready, click Send (Send button).

Responding to a Chat

To respond to someone else’s chat, you can simply create a new message using the directions described above. You can also move your mouse over a message and use one of the available emojis or additional options.
 

reacting to a chat