If you use Gmail, Chat is the built-in instant messaging service that you can use to instantly talk to people on your contacts list. It’s a nifty and convenient feature, but there are ways to make it more interesting and useful .
Chat’s format is pretty straightforward, but you can add emphasis to your text in order to get your point across easily. For instance, you can bold, italicize, and even strikethrough your text.
To make your text bold, put an asterisk on either side of the desired text. Simple!
*This would all be bold* if I entered it into Chat, since all of those words are within asterisks.
You can bold only *single* words or different words in the same sentence, such as : *This* is *TOTALLY* the best thing *ever!* . Whatever words are inside the asterisks will be bold.
You can also italicize words following the principles above, but using the underscore key in lieu of the asterisks.
_This would all be italicized_ if I entered it into Google Chat, because all of those words are within the underscores.
You can italicize a _single_ word or _multiple words_ in a _single_ sentence. The choice is yours!
To make a strikethrough, just add a hyphen before and after the desired word(s).
- This would all have a strike running through it - because all of those words are contained within the hyphen.
You –can’t- CAN do this with – a billion words- a single word or with multiple –pictures- words in a single sentence!
Easy, right? And of course you could combo those formatting codes.
*_This would be bold and italicized_*
*-_This would be bold, italicized, and strikethrough_-*
-_This would be italicized and strikethrough_-
*-This would be bold and strikethrough-*
Unfortunately, there is not yet a way to underline your text in Google Chat in Gmail.
You can also go “off record” when using Google Chat. “Off record” simply means Google won’t store any of the conversation. Google by default saves your chat history. If you want to discuss something that you’d rather not have saved, make sure to go off record first.
To do this, open a chat window with the person you wish to speak with, and then click on the “Actions” tab in the upper right hand corner of the google chat window. Click on “Go off the Record”
To go back on the record, click on the “Actions” tab again and then click on “Stop chatting off the record”. All of your text would then be saved.
If you want to look up your past chat conversations, simply go up to the search bar in Gmail and type in the code is:chat
A list of your past conversations will appear for you to peruse. This is extremely helpful if you know you have discussed something in the past but can’t remember specific information.
All of these tips are easy implement and make Gmail’s Chat more dynamic very quickly. Enjoy!
