Notifications and settings in chat

Chat in meil shows unread messages in the conversation list, can notify you in the browser while Chat is open, and lets you mute single conversations and show a status.

Unread messages

Every conversation in the list shows a count of unread messages. The count resets when you open the conversation and stays at zero for as long as you keep it open. Within Rooms and Direct messages, the conversation with the most recent activity comes first, so new messages end up near the top of the list.

Browser notifications

When Chat is open in a tab on a computer, the browser can show a system notification for new messages in conversations other than the one you're looking at. The first time you open Chat, the browser asks for permission to show notifications. If you say no, you can change it later in the browser's settings for the site.

You get no notification for:

• the conversation you have open, as long as the tab is visible
• conversations you have muted
• your own messages

Click the notification to jump straight to the conversation.

Browser notifications for chat apply only in the browser on a computer, not in the installed app (PWA) or on mobile. Push notifications for email are described under Notifications.

How much the notification shows

The level of detail follows the Detail level setting under Settings → Notifications:

Detail level	The chat notification shows
Private	Only “New message”
Sender	The name of the person or the room
Sender + subject	The name and the start of the message

Shared screens

Use Private if other people can see your screen. The notification then gives away neither who is writing nor what.

Mute a conversation

Click ⋯ (Actions) on the conversation in the list and choose Mute notifications. You get the confirmation Notifications muted, and the conversation gets a muted icon in the list. You still receive the messages; they simply produce no notifications. Choose Unmute to turn them back on.

The muting is stored on your account and applies on all your devices.

Status

At the bottom of the conversation list, under Status, you choose what is shown for you:

Button	Status
Available	Available
Busy	Busy
In meeting	In a meeting
Focus	Focus mode

The status is sent to the chat service as your presence. It doesn't change which notifications you get — use Mute notifications for that. The choice is remembered in the browser where you set it.

Find people

The search in New conversation and Add people finds active meil accounts, not messages. Type at least two characters:

• A name gives a list of matches, colleagues first
• A full email address looks up one particular account

See Chat with external people for who shows up in the search.

If you need to find something from a conversation again later, you can create a task from the message; the task gets the source attached, and Open source takes you back to the message.

When Chat won't start

Message	What to do
“Chat is open in another tab”	Close the other tab or window, then click Try again.
“Chat sign-in was briefly rate-limited.”	Wait a moment and click Try again.
“We cannot refresh your sign-in right now.”	Your session is preserved. Click Try again in a little while.
“Chat isn't available for this account.”	An administrator has restricted access to Chat. See Chat with external people.
“Sync failed — retrying…”	Chat reconnects by itself; messages are sent once the connection is back.