Teams tip: schedule your messages to send later

Sending a Teams message the moment you write it is not always the best idea. That is especially true for messages just before the end of the day or outside regular working hours.

The good news: in Teams you can schedule messages for later, in chats and now in channels too. Outlook offers the same principle for emails. You will find more automations for your inbox here.

How it works

1. Write your message in the chat or channel as usual.
2. In the message box, select the plus sign, Actions and apps.
3. Select Schedule message.
4. Pick a date and time in the pop-up and select Continue.
5. Select Send. Teams delivers the message automatically at the time you chose.

That way you protect your colleagues’ downtime and you avoid your message landing outside working hours. The steps are in Microsoft’s guides for chats and channels.

Changing or deleting scheduled messages

• Change the text: hover over the scheduled message, select Edit (the pencil), change the text and confirm with Done.
• Change the time: select Edit again, then the arrow next to the date and time. Pick the new time, then Continue and Done.
• Delete: open More options on the message and select Delete.

Good to know

• In a chat you can only schedule a message if you already have a conversation with that person.
• For channel messages, Microsoft recommends a time within the team’s working hours so that most members see it.
• Until the scheduled time you can still edit, reschedule or delete the message.

My practical tip

Scheduled messages work best when your team knows when a reply is expected. Otherwise someone still checks in the evening to see whether anything has come in. How to agree response times together is covered in Team availability: agree response times, not always on.

Conclusion

Scheduled send costs you one extra click and spares your team messages in the evening. Feel free to finish your next message after hours and schedule it for the following morning. Give it a try now.