Chat in Gmail
Love your Gmail profile but don't always want to take the time to write a long, involved email when you're getting in touch with someone? Try Gmail's built-in chat features, which allow you to instantly strike up conversations with your contacts, making them perfect for short messages and quick requests. Best of all, there are three different ways to chat: text, video, and phone.
Contents
Steps
Text Chat
- Log in to your Gmail account. To use Gmail's chat options, you need to be logged into your Gmail account. If you aren't logged in already, visit gmail.com or mail.google.com and log in.
- During a chat, you'll need to stay logged into your account to send and receive messages. If you want to do something else while you're chatting, a good idea is to open a new tab in your web browser and leave Gmail running in the first tab.
- Check the contacts tab for people you want to talk to. In the bottom left corner of the inbox, you should see a short list of your most frequently-talked-to Gmail contacts. The icon next to each person's name represents their status. Specifically:
- A green dot means the person is online.
- A yellow dot that looks like a clock means the person is online, but idle (in other words, they may not be at their computer).
- A red dot with a line through it means the person is online but too busy to chat.
- A grey dot that is crossed out means the person is either offline or doesn't want to be bothered.
- Click the name you want to chat with. This will open a chat window if the person is online. Look for the small box that pops up in the bottom right.
- If the person is not online and you click his or her name, Gmail will automatically open a blank email to that person.
- Type in your message. In the chat box, click the blue square at the bottom and start typing whatever you want to say. When you're finished with your message, click enter to send it. Now, just wait for your contact to respond — you should receive a notification when they see your message and start typing.
- You can add emoticons (small smiley faces) to your message by clicking the smiley face icon in the bottom right of the text box and selecting the emoticon you want from the list that pops up. You can also make emoticons by typing them in manually. Click here for a list.
- Continue reading and responding to messages. When the person you're chatting with finishes her message and presses enter, it will display in the chat box underneath yours. Type your response the same way as before and hit enter to send it. Congratulations — you've just mastered the basics of Gmail chatting!
- Change your online status if you don't want messages. Text-chatting on Gmail is fun, but if you don't want to be bothered, sometimes it's not best to get messages from friends. To change your status so that your contacts can see that you can't talk right now, click the small downward arrow next to the silhouette icon at the top of the contacts box. Then, select the status you want from the options. Your choices are:
- Available: People can chat with you as normal.
- Busy: People will see the red "busy" icon next to your name. Others can still message you, but they'll see a message that says "(your name) is busy. You may be interrupting."
- Sign out: Logs you out. Other people will see you as offline.
- Invisible: Keeps you logged-in, but other people will see you as offline.
- Try inviting new people to chat. Don't see anyone in the contacts box that you want to chat with? You can invite people to chat with you at any time by following these steps:
- Type your friend's Google username in the text area at the top of the contacts box. If they're already in your contacts, you'll see their information automatically pop up. Click "send chat" to start chatting (it will say "send offline chat" if the person is offline). You can also click "Show in chat list" to add the person's name to the list below.
- If a person isn't in your contacts, type his or her complete username and click "invite to chat." The person will receive an invitation the next time they log into Gmail.
- Alternatively, you can also invite new contacts to chat by clicking the downward arrow at the top of the chat box you use to change your status. Select "Add contact" from the options and follow the instructions in the pop-up window to invite new people.
Video Chat
- Click the movie camera icon at the top of the contacts box. This will launch a video chat in a new window. Don't worry — you won't be talking to anyone yet and no one will be able to see you until you're ready. If your computer asks you for permission to use your camera, click "Yes" or "OK."
- You'll need a computer with a camera installed in the monitor (or a separate webcam peripheral) to have a video chat. Most laptops sold today come with a webcam pre-installed in the monitor.
- Use the options in the pop-up window to invite people to your chat. In the new window, you'll see a white box with several options for getting people to video chat with you. You may also see live footage of yourself behind this. Don't worry — no one can see you until you're ready. To invite people to your video chat, use the following options:
- Copy the link in the "Share the permanent link" box (Ctrl+C on Windows, Command+C on Macs). Send this link to the people you want to video chat with any way you want (Ctrl+V to paste on Windows, Command+V on Macs). For instance, you can send them an email with the link, send it in a Skype conversation, or even use Gmail text chat to send it. When they click on the link, they'll join the call.
- Alternatively, type in the names or email addresses of people you want to join the call in the lower box. If they're in your contacts, Gmail will automatically display them. If not, you can still send a video chat invite by typing their entire name or email address and clicking the name when you're done.
- Click "Invite" to finalize your invitations. When you've prepared all your invitations, click this button to send them. You don't need to do this if you shared the permanent link, which lets people join automatically. When you send your invitations, you can also use the check boxes in the menu to do the following:
- Require your guests to be over 18 before joining the call.
- Offer a "silent invitation" — this will make the recipient's computer not make an audible ring with the notification.
- Click "Join" when you're ready to chat. As people receive your invitations, they will join your video call. When you're ready to join yourself, click the green "join" button at the bottom of the window.
- You should be able to speak with your friends and see their faces in the bottom right corner. Click on a person's face to switch the larger video feed to that person.
- Alternatively, click the movie camera button in a text chat box. Another way to start a video chat in Gmail is via the normal text chat. First, start a text chat with one of your contacts (see section above) and then click the video camera button in the top left of the chat box. This will call the person immediately, so be ready to chat right away.
Voice Chat
- Click the phone button at the top of the contacts box. Believe it or not, Gmail also allows voice chat — just like Skype or a telephone. Clicking this button (right next to the video chat button) will open a box with phone dial pad.
- Download the Google Voice plugin. Before you can use the Gmail phone feature, you'll need to install this plugin, which should only take a few moments. The plugin is completely free. Use the following steps to install it:
- Click the "download the voice plugin" link in the phone box.
- On the next page, click the blue "try it now" button. You'll be taken back to your inbox.
- When the "allow Google to run Google talk?" message appears in your browser, click "Allow." If you don't see it, look for a thin bar that pops down from the top of the screen. The plugin will install automatically.
- Type in the phone number or search for a contact. Now, the message about downloading the plugin should have disappeared from the phone box. Click the buttons or use the numbers on your keyboard to type in the phone number you want to call. You can also search for people in your contacts by typing their name in instead.
- Domestic calls in the U.S. are free. International calls cost money based on their length. However, this can be as low as one cent per minute depending on the country. Click here for information on Google Voice's calling rates.
- Click "Call." This will dial the number you have given. If the person on the other end picks up, you'll be connected within a few moments and you can start talking just like on a phone.
- If you are making an international call, the price of your call will display in the top right corner of the phone box.
- Alternatively, click the phone button in a text chat box. Just like with video chat, you can also call someone that you're currently text chatting with just a few clicks. To do this, first click the phone icon at the top of the text box (it's right next to the movie camera icon). This will create a link in the chat box that says "Invite (your friend's username) to voice/video chat. Click here." Click the link to send the invitation to voice chat!
- Note that your recipient will need to choose to accept the call before it can begin.
Tips
- Try experimenting with the options on the left side of the screen during video chat. Here, you'll find options to take screen captures, add effects to your video feed, and even screenshare (show the people in your chat what's on your computer screen).
- Text-chatting about something you don't want other people to see? Use the "Go off the record" option from the "More" drop-down menu. This makes Gmail not save your chat history — once you stop chatting, it's gone.
