# Direct messages and channels

> Start a direct message by @handle or email, join or create your organisation's channels, manage who is in a conversation and choose how it notifies you.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-conversations-and-channels
Section: Communicate > Chat and calls
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-15

A conversation in Chat is either a direct message with one person or a channel your organisation talks in. Direct messages are for one-to-one questions. Channels are for a team, a project or a topic, where everyone who joins sees the whole conversation.

This article shows how to start each kind, how to add and remove people, and how to choose how much a conversation notifies you.

## Before you start

- **Sign in.** Chat needs you to be signed in. See [Create an account and sign in](https://plexiidesk.com/help/account-sign-in).
- **Plans.** Direct messages and channels are part of every plan.
- **Know their @handle.** Every PlexiDesk account has a handle, such as @sam. People see it next to their name when you mention them.
- **For channels, be in an organisation.** Channels belong to an organisation, and only its members see and join them. See [Set up and manage your organisation](https://plexiidesk.com/help/org-manage).
- **Work in the right workspace.** Chat shows the conversations of the workspace you are in, so open the organisation you want to talk in first. See [Organisation settings and switching workspaces](https://plexiidesk.com/help/settings-organisation).

## Start a direct message

1. In the side menu, under **Apps**, click **Chat** in the **Tools** group.
2. Click **New message** (the pencil) at the top of your conversations.
3. In the box marked **@handle or email**, type the person's handle, with or without the @.
4. Press `Enter` or click **Start**.

The conversation opens, ready for your first message. If you already have a direct message with that person, it opens that one.

If the box says **No user with that handle.**, check the spelling of the handle.

### Other ways to start one

- **From the People Map,** click **Message** on the person. See [People Map](https://plexiidesk.com/help/people-map).
- **From your Home dashboard,** a **Pinned conversation** tile for a person starts a direct message the first time you open it. See [Pinned conversation widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/home-widget-pinned-conversation).
- **From a knock,** click **Reply** when someone knocks. See [Video calls and knocking](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calls-and-knock).

## Invite someone by email

When you do not know someone's handle, or they are not on PlexiDesk yet, invite them by email.

1. Click **New message** (the pencil).
2. Type their email address and press `Enter` or click **Start**.

What happens next depends on the person:

| The box says | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Request sent — they can accept it in their inbox.** | They have a PlexiDesk account and you are in an organisation together. They see your request in their Inbox and click **Accept** or **Decline**. |
| **Invite sent — they'll get an email to join PlexiDesk.** | There is no PlexiDesk account for that address. They get an email inviting them to create one, and your request waits in their Inbox. |
| **No user with that email.** | The address belongs to an account you do not share an organisation with. Ask them for their @handle instead. |

When they click **Accept**, a direct message between you opens. See [Inbox: your notifications](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-inbox).

## Answer a contact request

When someone invites you by email, the request appears in your Inbox.

1. Open **Inbox** from the **Tools** group in the side menu.
2. Find the request and click **Accept** to start a direct message with them, or **Decline**.

## Join a channel

1. In Chat, click **Browse and create channels** (the hash sign) at the top of your conversations. The **Channels** window opens.
2. If you belong to more than one workspace, choose your organisation in the list at the top.
3. Each channel shows its name and how many members it has. Click **Join** beside the one you want.

The channel opens, and from now on it is in your list of conversations. Channels you are already in say **Joined**.

> **Note:**
> Every new organisation starts with a **#general** channel. When an admin adds someone who already has a PlexiDesk account to the organisation, they join its channels straight away. See [Set up and manage your organisation](https://plexiidesk.com/help/org-manage).

## Create a channel

1. Click **Browse and create channels** (the hash sign).
2. Check the organisation in the list at the top, if there is one.
3. At the bottom of the **Channels** window, type a name in the box marked **new-channel-name**.
4. Press `Enter` or click **Create**.

The new channel opens with you as its first member. Everyone in the organisation can find it in **Channels** and join it, or you can add people yourself.

## Add or remove people

1. Open the conversation.
2. Click **Members**, the button with the number of people in the conversation.

The list shows everyone in the conversation, with **(you)** after your own name.

- **To add someone,** type their handle in the box marked **@handle to add** and press `Enter`. In a channel, they must belong to the channel's organisation, or the box says **That person is not in this organization.**
- **To remove someone,** click the cross beside their name. Its tooltip reads **Remove**.
- **To leave,** click **Leave conversation** at the bottom. The conversation leaves your list. A conversation always keeps at least one member, so the last person in it cannot leave.

Any member of a conversation can add or remove people.

In a channel, the first line of the list says whether the channel is marked **Public channel** or **Private channel**. Click it to switch.

## Choose how a conversation notifies you

Each conversation has its own notification setting, which only affects you.

1. Open the conversation.
2. Click the bell at the right of the buttons above it. Each click moves to the next setting:

| The button shows | You are notified |
| --- | --- |
| A bell | About every new message. This is where every conversation starts. |
| The @ sign | Only when someone mentions you. |
| A crossed-out bell | Never. The conversation is muted, even for mentions. |

Rest the pointer on the button to see the current setting: its tooltip starts with **Notifications:** and then **all**, **mentions** or **muted**. Unread counts still go up in muted conversations, so you can catch up when you choose.

In the stream view, the same button sits at the top of a conversation in **Focus**. See [PlexiiChat: channels and messages](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-overview#the-stream-view).

## Conversations that appear by themselves

Some conversations start without you creating them:

- **When someone shares something with you** and it arrives in your Inbox, Chat gets a direct message with the person who shared it, and a conversation for everyone it is shared with, marked with a shared-folder icon.
- **When you chat about a desk, room or document,** its own conversation appears in your list with a hash sign and the item's name. See [Chat about a desk, room or document](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-about-desks-and-documents).
- **When someone mentions the AI member** in a channel and it replies, it becomes a member of that channel. See [Set up the AI member in chat](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-ai-member).

## Tips

- **One channel per stream of work.** A channel for each project or client keeps decisions easy to find later. Pin it to the project's desk as a Chat widget. See [Chat widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-chat).
- **Mentions only for busy channels.** Set channels you skim to the @ sign, and keep direct messages on the bell, so a message to you always reaches you.
- **Use #general for the whole team.** Everyone added to the organisation is in it, so it is the place for news everyone needs.

## Common questions

**The Channels window has no channels.** It says **No channels yet. Create the first one below.** when the organisation in the list at the top has none. Check that the list shows the organisation you meant, or create the first channel.

**I created a channel but my team cannot see it in their list.** A channel appears in someone's list once they are in it. Ask them to click **Join** in **Channels**, or add them yourself with **Members**.

**Can I rename a channel?** Not from Chat. Choose the name carefully when you create it.

**Why can I not see a conversation from my other organisation?** Chat shows one workspace at a time. Switch workspace at the top of the side menu. See [Organisation settings and switching workspaces](https://plexiidesk.com/help/settings-organisation).

## Related tasks

- [PlexiiChat: channels and messages](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-overview)
- [Write, react and manage messages](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-writing-messages)
- [Chat about a desk, room or document](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-about-desks-and-documents)
- [Set up and manage your organisation](https://plexiidesk.com/help/org-manage)
- [Inbox: your notifications](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-inbox)
- [People Map](https://plexiidesk.com/help/people-map)