Microsoft Teams’ chat functionality is a vital part of staying connected and productive. But what if you have a message that needs to be delivered at a specific time, when you might be unavailable or the recipient is offline as juggling time zones, managing workloads, and staying mindful of colleagues’ schedules can be tough. That’s where the Schedule Send feature comes in, allowing you to queue up your message for later delivery.
This feature lets you compose messages at your convenience and choose the perfect time for them to land in your recipient’s inbox. No more late-night brainstorming sessions or forgotten reminders – it’s all about delivering information at the right moment.
This guide will walk you through every step of using Schedule Send in Microsoft Teams, from composing your message to choosing the delivery time and managing your scheduled messages.
1. Compose Your Message:
- Desktop App: Compose your message in any chat window. Hover over the “Send” button and right-click. You’ll see a brand new “Schedule send” option.
- Mobile App: Craft your message, then tap and hold the “Send” button. The “Schedule send” option will appear like a secret agent ready for action.
2. Schedule Delivery:
- Once your message is ready, right-click on the “Send” button.
- A pop-up menu/calender will appear with different date and time options.
- Choose the desired date and time from the available options. You can also click “Show more” to see a calendar and pick a specific time.
- Click “Send at scheduled time”.
- You can schedule messages up to two months in advance! Teams also lets you schedule messages on the half-hour mark, ensuring your timing is always on point.
3. Send or Edit the Scheduled Message:
Double-checking and launching:
- Review your message and timing one last time. Are you happy with your secret delivery mission? Click “Send at scheduled time” on desktop or “Send” on mobile, and voila! Your message is now tucked away in the Teams schedule queue, patiently waiting for its big reveal.
- Once scheduled, the message will appear in the chat with a clock icon and the scheduled delivery time.
- You can edit the message before it’s sent by clicking on it and then clicking the clock icon. Make your changes and click “Save”.
- If you need to cancel the scheduled delivery, click on the message and then click the clock icon. Choose “Cancel scheduled time”.
4. Manage Scheduled Messages (Optional):
- To view all your scheduled messages, click the three dots (…) in the top right corner of Teams and select “Settings”.
- Go to “General” and scroll down to “Schedule message send”.
- Here, you can see all your scheduled messages, including the recipient, date and time, and the content of the message.
- You can edit or cancel the scheduled delivery of any message from this list.
Tips and Tricks:
- Schedule Send is currently only available for one-on-one chats, not group chats.
- You can only schedule messages for recipients you’ve previously chatted with.
- Scheduled messages can only be sent within a 24-hour window.
- Make sure your device stays connected to the internet at the scheduled time for the message to be delivered successfully.
Additional Notes:
- Microsoft is constantly adding new features to Teams, so the Schedule Send functionality might change over time.
- This guide is based on the latest version of Teams as of January 29, 2024.
By following these steps and tips, you can easily schedule your chat messages in Microsoft Teams and ensure your message is delivered at the perfect time, even if you’re not available.
Beyond the Basics:
- Viva Insights suggestions: If you have Viva Insights enabled, you might see helpful suggestions to schedule your message based on the recipient’s availability or your past communication patterns.
- Schedule send settings: If you’re not a fan of the scheduling feature, you can disable it from the Teams settings under “General.”
Mastering the art of scheduling chat messages in Microsoft Teams is more than just a time-saving hack, it’s about communication with respect and consideration. So, schedule away, and let your messages land with the perfect impact, every time!