How to send a direct message

A direct message is a private conversation between two people in What is chat?. Direct messages are listed under Direct Messages, the last section of the chat list.

How do you start one?

Press New message under Direct Messages, type a name in Search people, and pick the person. The conversation opens straight away.

The list holds every active teammate, online or not. Picking someone you already have a conversation with opens that conversation.

Your existing conversations sit under Direct Messages, each with a green dot when that person is online. Click one to pick up where you left off.

What does "online" mean?

Somebody with Chat open in a browser right now, shown with a green dot on their avatar.

A tab left open in the background still counts. Somebody stays online for about a minute after closing it, so read the dot as "around in the last minute".

Does a direct message work like a channel?

Yes. Formatting, editing, tags, files, replies and threads all work the same way, so everything in How to send, format and edit a message and How to tag people, tasks, documents and products applies here.

The conversation is titled with the other person's name rather than a channel name. Its unread messages count toward the number on the Chat icon in the menu.

Will the other person be alerted?

Only if you tag them, reply to one of their messages, or they have chosen to hear about every message. A direct message follows the same alert setting as any channel, and that setting starts at Mentions & replies.

To be alerted about every message in a conversation, open it, click the bell in its header and pick Every message. Default for channels, under What buzzes you in User menu › Account settings, sets the starting point for every conversation you have not set yourself. See How to mute or follow a channel.

When you need a quick answer, tag the person: write @ and their name in the message.

Who can read a direct message?

The two of you, and nobody else. Being an admin or the workspace's owner does not open someone else's direct messages.

That includes a direct message with Agent: only you read it.

When should something go in a channel instead?

Most of the time. A decision reached in a direct message is invisible to everyone else and hard to find in three months.

A decision reached in a channel is visible and findable. It can become a task, an outreach or a recorded decision straight from the message, per How to turn a conversation into work.

Use a direct message for what is genuinely between two people, and a channel for the work. Direct messages stay out of the channel list, so start a conversation the team should find in a channel.

How do you reach a colleague from the iPhone app?

Tag them in a channel: tap Tag someone or something beside the message box and pick their name. Direct messages themselves live in the web app, on a computer or a phone browser. See How to use chat and tasks on your phone.