Understanding the Interface
- Activity: All your notifications in one feed
- Chat: Direct messages to individuals or small groups — private conversations
- Teams: Workspaces for groups (your whole department, a project team, a class)
- Calendar: Your meetings and scheduled calls
- Calls: Make audio and video calls
Sending Messages
- 1
Direct message someone
Click Chat in the left sidebar → click the pencil/compose icon → type the person's name → select them from the list → type your message in the box at the bottom → press Enter or click Send. Direct messages are private between you and the recipient.
- 2
Post in a channel
Click Teams → select your team → click a channel → type in the message box at the bottom → Send. Channel posts are visible to everyone in that team. Use @mentions (@name) to notify specific people within the post.
- 3
Reply to a message (not a new post)
Hover over any channel message → click Reply. This keeps the conversation threaded under the original message rather than creating a new post. Using Reply keeps channels organised — avoid posting a new message when you mean to reply to an existing one.
Joining and Starting Meetings
- 4
Join a scheduled meeting
Click Calendar in the left sidebar. Find the meeting and click Join. Or click the meeting link sent in an email or chat. Before entering, you can preview your camera and microphone, choose your devices and turn video on or off.
- 5
Start an instant meeting
In a chat conversation: click the camera icon at the bottom to start a video call with that person immediately. Or in a channel: click the camera icon for a meet now call with everyone in that channel.
- 6
Key meeting controls
Mute/unmute microphone: click the microphone icon or press Ctrl+Shift+M (Windows) / Cmd+Shift+M (Mac). Turn camera on/off: click the camera icon. Share screen: click the share content icon → choose a window or your whole desktop. Raise hand: click the hand icon to indicate you want to speak without interrupting.