Invite Someone to Chat in Gmail
To chat with a contact on Gmail, you'll first have to invite them to chat with you! You can do this from the Chat bar on Gmail's website; as of October 2016, there is no way to invite users to chat with the Gmail mobile app or the mobile site.
Contents
Steps
Sending an Invitation
- Open the Gmail website. If you haven't done so already, log in with your Gmail email address and password.
- Click "Hangouts Conversations". This is the quotation mark icon in the bottom left corner of your page.
- Skip this step if your Chat bar is already on the Hangouts Conversations menu.
- Click the magnifying glass icon. This is on the left side of your screen next to your name in the Chat bar.
- If you don't have any current chats, you can also click the "Start a new one" link.
- Search for the user you want to invite. Type the name of the user in the search bar which must be same as the one used for creating their account. You can also type in a known email or the phone number which they used to create their Google account.
- Click your contact's card.
- Click Send Invite. Your invite has been sent! To chat with your selected contact, they will have to accept this invite.
Responding to an Invitation
- Open the Gmail website. If you aren't already logged in, do so with your Gmail email address and password.
- Click "Hangouts Conversations". This is the quotation mark icon in the bottom left corner of your page.
- Skip this step if you're already in the Hangouts Conversations tab.
- Click your invitation. It should say "Sender Name" in bold, followed by "Sent you a message".
- Click Accept or Ignore. You have successfully responded to a chat invitation!
Tips
- You can invite and respond to Gmail chats in any web browser.
Warnings
- Don't send invitations to email address with which you aren't familiar.
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Sources and Citations
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