In a group chat with twenty colleagues, an important message disappears quickly between the jokes and the thumbs-ups. If you want to be sure everyone sees it, type @everyone. Teams then sends every participant a notification, just as if you had mentioned each of them separately. This article explains how it works, how it differs from mentions in channels, and when you'd better not use it.
How to mention everyone in a group chat
- Open the group chat in Teams. This works in chats with three or more people, including a meeting chat.
- Type
@everyonein the message box. Teams suggests Everyone: pick it. - Type your message and send it.
Every participant gets a notification in their Activity feed and, depending on their settings, a banner or a notification on their phone. In the chat itself the mention is highlighted, so anyone scrolling back later sees right away that the message was meant for everyone.
And in channels and teams?
@everyone doesn't work in a channel, but there are other mentions that do the same job:
- @channelname notifies everyone who follows the channel or has it in their list. Ideal for news that only matters for that topic.
- @teamname notifies all members of the team. A team owner can decide in the team settings who may use it.
- Tags notify a group within the team, such as @Sales or @NightShift. That way you reach exactly the people concerned. Read tags in Microsoft Teams.
Rule of thumb: in a chat use @everyone, in a channel @channel or @team, and for part of the people a tag.
What recipients see and can change
Everyone decides for themselves how loudly Teams alerts them. Under Settings > Notifications and activity you choose, for mentions, between a banner and a feed notification, or the feed only. Someone who mutes a chat no longer gets notifications for normal messages, but a mention with their name or @everyone can still come through, depending on their settings. That's why @everyone is the right tool for something that really must not be missed.
Good examples
- "@everyone tomorrow's meeting moves to 2 pm, same link."
- "@everyone the client signed the quote, we start on Monday."
- "@everyone who hasn't sent their schedule yet? By Friday, please."
Each time a short message with a clear action or a clear change. Put the key point in the first sentence, because that's what people read in the notification.
Use it sparingly
A notification for everyone only works as long as it's the exception. People who get @everyone every day for small things will mute the chat, and then miss the one message that matters. A few habits that help:
- Use a normal @mention when it's only for one or two people.
- Mark a message as important (the exclamation mark below the message box) when it should stand out without disturbing everyone.
- Send really urgent news in a one-to-one chat, or just call.
- If a group chat turns into a permanent group, make it a team with channels. Read chatting in Microsoft Teams.
Someone missing from the chat?
@everyone only reaches people who are already in the chat. If someone still needs to join, type a mention with their name: Teams offers to add them straight away. Read add people to a group chat with an @mention.
Frequently asked questions
I don't see @everyone as a suggestion.
Check that you're in a group chat and not in a one-to-one chat or a channel. Also update Teams to the latest version.
Do external participants get the notification too?
Yes, everyone in the group chat, including guests and external people, is mentioned.