Add formatting to your Google Chat messages

To change the appearance of your Chat messages, you can use the format menu, use markdown formatting, or add block quotes.

Format Google Chat messages

On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail .
- In Gmail:On the left, click Chat.
Go to a conversation.
Enter a message.
Highlight the text you want to format.
Click Formator select one of the formatting options on the floating toolbar.
Select an option:
- To strikethrough:Click Strikethrough.
- To bold:Click Bold.
- To italicize:Click Italic.
- To underline:Click Underline.
- To change the text color:Click Text color.
- To add a bullet point before the text:Click Bulleted list.
- To highlight a text or citation:Click Block quote.
- To insert a link:
  1. Click Insert link.
  2. Enter the link.
- To add inline code:Click Code.
- To add multi-line code block:Click Code block.
Tip:You can also use markdown formatting to add styling to your messages. Learn more about how to use markdown formatting in Google Chat .
Click Send.

Tip: To remove a text format, highlight the text and repeat steps 5 and 6.

You can use markdown formatting to add styling to your messages using special characters.

Tips:

An inline code block wraps the text.
After a multi-line code block is sent, you can use a toggle to turn the line wrapping on or off.
You can choose to have live markdown on or off. If you turn off live markdown, after you send the message, the text converts to the format.

On your computer, open Google Chat .
At the top right, click Settings.
On the left, click Message & Media.
Turn Live Markdownon or off.
If you turn off this setting, you can include special characters in the text. After you send the message, the text converts to the format.

To highlight key text or citations in your Chat messages, use block quotes.

On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail .
- In Gmail:On the left, click Chat.
Go to a conversation.
Enter a message.
To format the text, highlight it.
To use a block quote, click Formatting optionsBlock quoteenter a message.
- Or, you can:
  1. Enter a message.
  2. Highlight the text you want to format.
  3. Click Formatting optionsBlock quote.
Click Send.