Adding or removing people from a chat

Need to bring one more person into a conversation — or take someone out of a group chat? This article walks through how.

Who can change participants

In a one-to-one conversation, either person can add someone. That turns the conversation into a group chat, and the person who added someone becomes the group creator.

After a conversation is a group chat, only the person who created the group chat can add or remove people. Anyone else in the chat can leave at any time, but can't add or remove others.

Adding someone

Open the conversation. In a one-to-one chat, use the header's Add people action. On small screens, open the three-dot More actions menu first, then pick Add people. The dialog warns you that adding someone will turn the conversation into a group chat and that the new person can see earlier messages.

In an existing group chat, the creator can use the Add people chip in the member row under the header. A pop-up titled Add people to this group opens with a search box.

Type a name to find someone, then click their result to add them to the picker. You can add several at once — up to 19 people in a single batch (the chat itself caps at 20 members total). Click the Add person button at the bottom of the pop-up; if you've picked several people, the button changes to show how many will be added. They'll see the conversation appear in their inbox, including all earlier messages.

Removing someone

In the same row of member chips, click the chip for the person you want to remove (creators see a small minus icon on each removable chip). Confirm in the box that pops up. They'll stop receiving new messages, but they keep the earlier messages they've already seen in their inbox.

Leaving a chat yourself

Anyone in a group chat can leave. Click the three-dot More actions menu in the conversation header (top right), then pick Leave group. Confirm in the dialog that appears. New messages stop arriving, but past messages stay in your inbox for reference.

When the creator leaves

If the person who created the chat leaves, the chat continues for everyone else — but nobody can add or remove members after that. (The Leave dialog warns the creator about this before they confirm.) If your group needs to add a new person and the creator has left, start a fresh group chat with the people you want.

Group chats vs. groups

Group chats are casual, small, and private. If you're trying to reach an entire city group, you probably want to post inside the group instead.