Create and respond to conversations

Modified on Thu, 7 Aug at 10:46 AM


In this section, you learn how to:

  • Search for conversations and messages
  • Star important conversations
  • Respond to a conversation
  • Start a new conversation
  • Delete a post in a conversation


Search for conversations and messages 

Search for conversations in a group

  1. Sign in to Google Groups.
  2. Click the group.
  3. In the search field, enter your search criteriaand thenpress Return or Enter.
  4. To see advanced search options, in the search field, click the Down arrow. Enter your search criteriaand thenclick Search. Note the following:
    • Certain search options, such a whether conversations are marked as duplicate or assigned to anyone, are available for Collaborative Inbox groups only.
    • For Collaborative Inboxes, the Whether the conversation is or isn’t resolved option searches for conversations that have been marked as either duplicate, complete, or no action.
    • For the Label applied to conversations option, you can enter multiple labels separated by commas. The search results include any conversations that match all of the labels you enter.

Search for messages across groups

  1. Sign in to Google Groups.
  2. In the search bar’s left drop-down menu, select All groups and messages.
  3. In the search field, enter your search criteriaand thenpress Return or Enter.
  4. To see advanced search options, in the search field, click the Down arrow. Enter your search criteriaand thenclick Search.

  5. To quickly revise your search, click an option above the search results. For example:
    • To switch to results from outside your organization, click Outside my org
    • To exclude groups from the results, click Conversations.

Star important conversations

You can star conversations that are important to you, so you can quickly find them again. Open a group and on the left, click Conversations. Click the star next to the conversation.



Respond to a conversation

  1. Sign in to Google Groups.
  2. Click the name of a group.
  3. Click the message you want to read.
  4. To reply to the group, choose an option:
    • For the last message in the conversation— Below the message text, click Reply all. Compose your replyand thenclick Post Message.
    • For any message—Click More and thenReply all.  Compose your replyand thenclick Post Message.
  5. To reply only to the person who posted, choose an option:
    • For the last message in the conversation—Below the message text, click Reply to author. Your browser opens your configured email client to the message compose screen. Compose your replyand thenclick Send. 
    • For any message—Click More and thenReply to author. Your browser opens your configured email client to the message compose screen. Compose your replyand thenclick Send. 
  6. This option is only available if:

    • You’re using a Google Account.
    • You have browser configured to open mailto links.
    • You have the Who can reply to author and Who can view member email addresses permissions.
  7. If this option isn’t available, try to Make Gmail your default email program.

  8. To forward a message, choose an option:
    • For the last message in the conversation— Below the message text, click Forward. Compose your replyand thenclick Send.
    • For any message—Click More and thenForward.  Compose your replyand thenclick Send.

Respond via email

  1. Click the post in your email inbox. You can select any email in the conversation thread to reply to.
  2. To respond only to the person who posted, select Reply. To respond to the whole group, select Reply all.

Start a new conversation

  1. Sign in to Google Groups.
  2. Click the name of a group.
  3. Choose an option:
    • If there are no conversations in the group, click Start a conversation.
    • If you want to start a new discussion thread, at the top left, click New conversation.
  4. Enter a subject. Your email subject becomes the conversation subject.
  5. Enter a message.
  6. Click Post message.

Delete a message in a conversation

If you posted a message, you can remove it. If you have the Who can moderate content permission, you can remove any message.

  1. Sign in to Google Groups.
  2. Open the message you want to delete.
  3. In the message on the right, click Moreand thenDelete.
  4. In the confirmation box, click OK.

Note: If a message is inappropriate, you can delete it and report it as abuse.



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