Messages FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Messages.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Messages Overview.
Setup
Do I need to configure anything before employees can message each other?
No. Once you enable Messages from Admin → Apps → All Apps, its settings start on defaults that let everyone use it: group messages on, attachments on, Ask AI on, everyone with access can start a message, analytics visible to admins only, and retention set to keep forever. Employees can send messages immediately.
Who can access the Messages dashboard and settings?
The Messages app tile opens an admin-only dashboard with usage analytics and governance controls. Only business admins and users with the Messages app-admin role can reach the settings page. The dashboard is also open to anyone named under Who can view messaging analytics. Everyone else is sent to their Messages client.
Permissions and access
I narrowed “Who can start a message” — can everyone else still reply?
Yes. The restriction applies only to starting a new conversation. Replying to a thread you are already part of is always allowed, regardless of this setting.
Why can’t an employee see the “Message” button on someone’s profile?
The “Message” button on the user directory, org chart, and profile panel is hidden when either of two conditions is true: the Messages app is disabled for the business, or the “Who can start a message” setting does not include the viewer (for example it is Managers and above and the viewer is not a manager, or Specific groups only and the viewer is in none of those groups).
Day-to-day
Where do employees actually read and send messages?
Employees use the Messages client, opened from the profile menu at the top right (Messages), or the Messages tab in Communications when your organization has it. They can also start a new message from the user directory, the org chart, a profile side panel, or a performance self-assessment. On a phone, Messages is the row at the top of Notifications. The Messages app tile in the sidebar is an admin dashboard, not a mailbox.
Can employees message a group, and what’s the size limit?
Yes, if the Group messages setting is on (the default). A group thread supports up to 10 participants. The creator can name the group (up to 120 characters), add people later (up to the 10-person cap), and leave when done. One-to-one threads cannot be renamed or left — archive is the way to hide those.
What can employees put in a message?
Rich text with @mentions of other participants, file attachments, and voice notes (recorded on a computer) that are transcribed automatically while your organization has AI credits available. They can also react with your company’s reaction set (the same one used in every app), and edit or delete their own messages after sending.
What happens when someone sends a message?
The message is delivered in real time to every participant. Each recipient gets an in-app notification (throttled to one unread notification per thread so a burst of messages doesn’t stack rows). A mobile push notification fires for every message. Muted threads skip the notification and the push; their new messages still count as unread in the list. Message text is never included in push notifications or on the lock screen.
Will a new message in an archived conversation bring it back?
Yes. Archiving is per-participant — it hides the conversation from your list. When anyone in the thread sends a new message, the conversation resurfaces for all participants who had archived it.
I can’t find a conversation — can I search for it?
Yes. The search in the Messages client matches by participant name, email, or message body text. Results are capped at 50 threads. Search is keyword-based (not semantic).
When something looks wrong
My employee says they’re getting too many message notifications — what controls are available?
Each employee can mute a conversation from the thread menu. Muting stops that conversation’s in-app notifications and pushes until it is unmuted (new messages still show as unread in the list). Separately, employees can manage their notification preferences under the Messages category (Chat has its own, separate categories), which controls in-app, email, and push channels (all default to on).
An employee says their draft disappeared after they sent a message
Drafts are saved automatically per thread. When a message is sent successfully, its draft is cleared on the server immediately so the composer does not still show the text that was just posted. If the send fails, the draft is preserved. A draft is per-thread and per-user — switching between conversations does not lose unsent text.
A group thread shows the wrong name — how do I fix it?
Only group conversations can be renamed (up to 120 characters). One-to-one threads always display the other person’s name and cannot be renamed. To clear a custom group name back to the default participant list, rename it with an empty value.
Why does the thread only show the most recent messages?
The Messages client loads the last 50 messages when you open a conversation. A “Load earlier messages” link appears at the top if there are older messages. Each page loads 50 more.
Licensing and limits
Does Messages require a separate licence?
Messages requires a licence to enable, but it is included with MangoApps Workforce at no additional cost as a platform-included capability. It is not sold as a standalone add-on and is not metered per use. An admin enables it from Admin → Apps → All Apps.
Are there limits I should know about?
- Group size: 10 participants per thread.
- Group name length: 120 characters.
- Messages loaded per view: 50 at a time, with pagination for older messages.
- Search results: capped at 50 threads per query.
- Reaction emoji: your company’s reaction set — the same in every app, chosen by your admin in Communications settings.
- Retention: configurable in whole days; 0 means keep forever. Deleting is permanent and happens in two automatic stages. The daily retention job soft-deletes messages past the window — they drop out of every conversation, unread count, and search result that night, and from Trash too: a message past the window cannot be restored, because the next night’s sweep would only remove it again. Thirty days on, the nightly platform purge destroys the message and its voice notes for good. A message’s effective lifetime is therefore the retention window plus 30 days, and nothing brings it back after that. Files a message carried go with it — to Drive’s trash the same night, then destroyed 30 days later. There is no on-demand purge and no legal hold yet.
More help
- Messages Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Messages questions from these articles, and from your own mail: it can list what is unread, open or search the conversations you are in (never anyone else’s), mark a conversation read, archive it or mute it (for you only, as the buttons in your Messages list do), say what Messages allows in your organization, and send a message or a reply as you after you confirm it. An admin can switch this off under Messages → Settings → Ask AI.