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Frequently Asked Questions

collapse | the above section is quoted for convenience from the full FAQ, below.

Chat is a real-time conversations space for the Stack Overflow community. Think of Chat as a dynamic extension of Stack Overflow that allows users to interact in a less formal way beyond the traditional question-and-answer format. This space offers an open environment where you can instantly connect with fellow members to forge new connections and engage in real-time.

To participate in Chat you must be a registered user of Stack Overflow. After logging into your account, select the “Chat” button on the left side navigation toolbar or click directly into this link to see the rooms list.

Users with any reputation can enter and read the conversation in any chat room.

The Stack Overflow Lobby is a chat room open to all users, regardless of reputation. It’s a beginner-friendly space to start chatting.

All other chat rooms on Stack Overflow require at least 20 reputation to participate.

We value a welcoming and supportive community. While engaging in Chat, please remember to be kind, considerate, and respectful of your fellow members. Messages that are abusive or spam can be reported and deleted by a Moderator.

We support a limited subset of Markdown styling in chat, similar to comment formatting on Stack Overflow:

                *italic* or _italic_
                **bold** or __bold__
                `code`
                ---strikeout---
                [link text](https://example.com "optional title")

Sound Notifications: Customize sound alerts at the top of each room. Choose to be notified only when mentioned @username, for new messages in visible rooms, in any room you're in, or disable sounds entirely.

Mentioning Users: To get someone's attention, type @ followed by their name (e.g., @username). This highlights your message for them, even if they're in another room. You can only mention users who have previously been in the current room. To invite someone, use their chat profile or the user card that appears when you click their avatar.

Hiding/Ignoring Users: Temporarily hide someone's posts by clicking their avatar and selecting "hide posts." To see them again, reload the page. To permanently stop seeing their messages, choose "ignore this user." Manage your ignored users in your profile preferences.

Star rooms and messages you want to easily find later by clicking the star icon. Your starred rooms will appear in the "Favorites" tab, giving you quick access to your preferred spaces.

Click the menu button on any message and you will see the "permalink" option.

permalink

This gives you a link directly to that message, highlighting that message for clarity. If you want to create a link to a group of messages, you can bookmark a block of conversation by choosing "create new bookmark" from the room menu.

Active users in a room have brighter avatars that appear at the top of the active participants list. Quieter users' avatars become more transparent, indicating less recent activity.

active room users

A dotted line in the chat marks the first unread message. Everything below it is new. The page title also shows the number of new messages and a * if you've been mentioned.

Rooms will exist indefinitely as long as there is at least one person actively talking in the room. A room is considered worth retaining if it has more than 15 messages by at least 2 users.

Chat rooms are typically public and open to all users. However, a gallery chat room allows anyone to enter, but only specific users may talk in the room, as determined by the room owner. Learn more about gallery chat rooms and privileges here.