Personal Chat With Microsoft Teams On Windows 11

Using Personal Chat With Microsoft Teams On Windows 11

Microsoft is in the process of rolling out a new Windows 11 to users globally that replaces Windows 10. The latest Windows operating system comes with several features to enhance the Teams experience for users. The company recently announced Windows 11 users can now start using Chat from Microsoft Teams on Windows. The feature allows Teams on Windows personal account users to quickly initiate a video call or chat with family and friends. The Chat from Microsoft Teams is pinned to the Taskbar at Windows 11 startup.

Availability of Chat with Microsoft Teams

Notably, there are two apps for Microsoft Teams on Windows 11: work account and personal account. The ability to chat via the Personal Chat feature in the new Teams will only be available in your personal accounts. Microsoft says the Teams Experience on Windows 11 and Chat is purposely designed for personal Microsoft accounts and will only be accessible for users of such accounts.

The Teams app for work purposes is labeled as "work or school" and uses the icon with a blue tile and a white letter "T" inside. If you try to chat with your work or school account, you will be redirected to download the Teams app for work or school.

What Should I Expect After Upgrading to Windows 11?

If Windows Teams is already installed on your device before upgrading to Windows 11, you don't need to worry. Microsoft says users who had Teams prior to the upgrade will continue using Teams for school or work like before the upgrade, meaning the settings of the school or work apps stay in place for such users.

If you were previously leveraging a single Teams app for school, work, or personal accounts, you would now be provided with different apps explicitly designed for each purpose once you upgrade to Windows 11. A user who mistakenly tries to log into the wrong app gets an instant notification from Teams.

How to Use Personal Chat with Microsoft Teams

Chat allows you to easily send and read messages to share information with your teammates seamlessly. Follow the instructions outlined below to send and read messages in Teams:

• Step 1: Select the New Chat icon at the top of the app to start a new conversation
• Step 2: Type the name or names of the team members into the To field at the top of your new chat
• Step 3: Start composing your message in the box at the bottom of the chat. If you want to open formatting options, click on the Format icon under the box.
• Step 4: Once you have composed and reviewed your message, select Send. Immediately, everyone with access to the chat will see your message.

Editing or deleting a send message

There are times you send a wrong message to a chat or channel. To edit or delete the message, go to the message and select More Options, then Edit or Delete and press Enter to save the update.

Saving a message

For the messages that you want to read later, mark them as saved or unread. To do this, locate the three dots at the top of the message and choose More Options. A prompt asking you to "Save this message" or "Mark it as unread" will appear. Take the appropriate action to save your message for later. You can view the list of your saved message by selecting your profile picture on top of Teams before choosing Saved.

Using an emoji reaction

During your chats with colleagues, friends, and family on Teams, you can leverage a set of emojis to say more with fewer words. To access the whole set of emojis, hover your arrow over a message and select the emoji you want to use. The emoji will automatically appear in the upper right corner of the message.

Microsoft's New Features for Personal Chats on Teams

Earlier in the year, Microsoft added new features designed to enhance experiences for Chat users on Teams. These include:

• Together Mode: Microsoft launched Together Mode last July to allow participants in a virtual meeting to gain a single virtual space. Together Mode leverages AI-powered segmentation to place participants in shared backgrounds digitally. Microsoft's updated Together Mode allows smaller meetings of up to 49 participants to take place. Currently, it only becomes available if at least five people join the meeting. However, Microsoft revealed it will soon make the feature available for as few as just two participants. Notably, the Microsoft Support for small meetings in Together Mode is only available to the developer Beta preview at the moment. However, the company revealed it will soon provide support services for everyone, depending on the way your account is set up.
• Polls: Polls is a new polling feature that can be useful in getting instant and varied answers in your regular meetings. Live polls can be a great way to gauge participants' reactions, preferences, and responses during meetings without having to stop for everyone to give their opinion. Ideally, it is only the organizers or presenters of a meeting who can add and manage polls. However, external guests and other attendees have the freedom to respond to Microsoft Teams polls.
• Expanded emoji picker: The new Teams has an expanded emoji picker with more than 800 emojis. The large variety of emojis guarantees a better chatting experience while allowing users to express themselves seamlessly. You can select a category of emoji you need and use the skin tone color to pick an option that better represents you. You can also leverage the shortcut to add emojis directly while composing a chat.
• Immersive reader support for mobile: Microsoft has added a new Immersive Reader to Teams that leverages top-notch customization techniques to support reading across all ages and abilities. The new feature available for Teams iOS and Android apps enables users to hear posts and chat messages being read out aloud via Immersive Reader on the Teams mobile apps. Notably, this functionality was previously only available only on desktop apps and the web.
• Inline message translation: The new Inline message translation available on channels for Android and Ios allows you to translate chats, posts, and replies to a preferred language. To translate a chat, simply press and hold the channel post or reply before selecting Translate. Ideally, your reply or post will be automatically translated to your UI language by default.

Get Help to Maximize Personal Chat with Microsoft

Microsoft announced recently that Windows 11 would be available worldwide through a free upgrade on eligible Windows 10 computers and new PCS coming with pre-installed Windows 11. Windows 11 is a premium operating system explicitly designed for hybrid work. The new OS comes with various redesigns and new features designed to enhance the user's experience. The personal Chat with Microsoft teams is aimed at helping users differentiate between their personal and work-related activities.

If you have further questions or need help to maximize this new feature, don't hesitate to contact Orbis Solutions Inc. Orbis Solutions Inc is a local Microsoft partner in Las Vegas. We are here to help with all your business IT outsourcing and Microsoft support needs. Contact us today for reliable IT Support.

Sean Connery

Orbis Solutions, Inc., in Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin and throughout Nevada, has developed creative, strategic and cost-effective technical solutions for a wide variety of clients. Offering a diverse range of products and services, Orbis provides IT solutions to promote your company’s productivity and profitability, and help you sort through the latest-hyped technology, so you can select the best hardware, software or service for your business needs.