Chat with Others

Using Chat, you can easily communicate with the people working on your projects and others in your contacts list.

Note: One-to-one chat messages are deleted after 90 days. Project chat messages are kept for the life of the project.

The Chat view keeps track of your conversations.

Click a contact's picture to open the conversation for review or to continue the discussion. In this example, the conversation with the David_2016 Project team is open. The picture for the project has focus, and the project name displays at the top of the window, along with the pictures and status of the project members.

With chat messages from a conversation displayed in the top window, use the scrollbar to see all of the messages. The most recent message is at the bottom of the chat history.

Enter your message in the bottom window. You can also share an image, screen capture, or file during chat.

Click the history icon to close the current chat, and display all current chat contacts, with the most recent contact at the top.

If you want to...	Then...
Start an online chat	From the Contact view , double-click a contact name, or expand the contact information, and click . The Chat view opens, and displays the picture and name of the current contact. In the bottom window, type your message, and press Enter to send it. Your message displays in the top window, and your contact is notified of your message. When your contact replies to you, the reply displays below your message.
Send an image	Click . Browse to the location of the image file, and click Open. The image displays in the bottom window. (Right-click the image to access options for Cut, Copy, or Paste.) Press Enter.
Send a screen capture	Click . The screen dims and a crosshair icon displays for the cursor. Drag a box around the area of the screen to capture, and click Capture. The image displays in the bottom window. (Right-click the image to access options for Cut, Copy, or Paste.) Press Enter.
Send a file	Click . Browse to the location of the file, and click Open. The file is automatically sent to the contact, and the file icon and file name display in the chat window. Note: You can also select a file in Windows Explorer, drag and drop it to the chat window, and click Enter to send the file.
Export chat history	Click . Browse to the location where you want to save the chat history as a text file, and click Save. Note: Communicator exports a maximum of 3000 chat messages, starting from the most recent chat messages. Any additional messages are not exported. Since one-to-one chat messages are deleted after 90 days, you may not be able to export the entire chat history.
Respond to a chat notification	When a contact starts a chat and sends you a message, a notification badge displays on the Chat view icon to indicate how many chat messages are waiting for your response. Click the Chat view icon . The Chat view opens. If more than one contact has initiated a chat, click a contact's picture to open that conversation. Type your message in the chat window, and press Enter.
Send an e-mail message	From the Contact view , expand a contact, and click . A new e-mail message opens in your default e-mail application, and the contact's e-mail address displays in the To field. Type your message, and click Send.
Receive a file	When a contact sends you a file, right-click the file icon in the chat window, and click Open or Save.