Native Messaging: search, forwarding, inline translation, and more

Overview

Messaging now includes ad-hoc group conversations, self-messaging, message forwarding, in-conversation search, and inline translation with a quick toggle. These additions make it faster to organize conversations, easier to reference past content, and more inclusive across languages, all without leaving the flow of work.

Key benefits

• Move work forward quickly with ad-hoc groups and message forwarding

• Reduce context switching with in-thread search and inline translation

• Capture personal notes and reminders by messaging yourself

Unnamed (ad-hoc) group conversations

Start a quick group conversation without naming it up front. Adhoc groups are ideal for short-lived collaboration and can be named later if they become ongoing threads.

How to start an ad-hoc group

1. Open Messaging and select New conversation.

2. Add two or more participants.

3. Leave the name blank to start an unnamed thread. You can add a title later from Conversation details.

Managing participants

Add or remove participants from Conversation details. Permissions may limit who can modify membership. You can also convert an ad-hoc group to a named conversation at any time to make it easier to find and reference.

Self-messaging for personal notes

Use self-messaging for quick notes, to-dos, files, or links you want to keep handy. Everything stays in a single, personal thread.

How to message yourself

1. Start a New conversation and select your own name.

2. Send text, files, images, or voice notes as usual.

3. Star important messages to revisit later.

Best practice: Pin your self-message thread to keep personal notes and reminders one tap away.

Forward messages across conversations

Share important updates or files without copy and paste. Forwarding preserves the original content and attribution for clarity.

How to forward a message

1. Long-press the message on mobile, or hover and select More on web.

2. Choose Forward.

3. Select one or more target conversations or recipients.

4. Optionally add context before sending.

What gets included in a forwarded message

• Original text and attachments

• Original sender name and timestamp

• A link back to the source message for quick reference (recipients need permission to open it)

Forwarding respects permissions. Recipients see a placeholder if they do not have access to the source conversation.

Search within a conversation

Find messages, files, or links quickly without leaving the thread. Search is scoped to the open conversation, so results stay relevant.

How to search inside a conversation

1. Open the conversation you want to search.

2. Tap the Search icon.

3. Enter a keyword, participant, or file name.

4. Use Next and Previous to navigate between matches.

What search covers

• Message text and replies

• Sender names and mentions

• File names and link titles

Use quotes around an exact phrase for precise results, for example "offsite agenda."

Inline translation with quick toggle

Translate messages inline and switch between original and translated text on demand. This reduces context switching and keeps multilingual teams in sync.

How to translate a message

1. Long-press the message on mobile, or open the message menu on web.

2. Select Translate.

3. View the translated text inline beneath the original.

4. Use Show original or Show translation to toggle either view.

Language, detection, and privacy

• Automatic language detection chooses a translation target based on your profile language settings.

• You can change the target language from Settings when needed.

• Translations respect data handling standards. Only the minimal text required for translation is processed.

• Some specialized terms and acronyms may remain untranslated to preserve meaning.

Examples

Forwarding example:

Original message: "Final deck attached for review." Action: Forward to the "Marketing leadership" conversation and add the note "Please review slide 8 by EOD." Outcome: The message appears in the target conversation with attribution, attachment, and a backlink to the source.

Translation example:

Original: "¿Puedes confirmar la hora de la reunión?" Action: Translate to English. Outcome: Displays "Can you confirm the meeting time?" with a toggle to switch back to the original.

Notifications and activity

• Forwarding: Recipients receive a standard message notification with a "Forwarded" label.

• Translation: Translating a message does not notify others. The translation is visible only to you.

• Ad-hoc group creation: Participants are notified when they are added to the conversation.

Administration and security

• Retention and export: Forwarded messages follow the target conversation's retention policy.

• Permissions: Users can only forward into conversations they have access to or are permitted to create.

• Data handling: Translation requests follow the organisational data governance settings configured by your administrator.

Troubleshooting

Cannot create an unnamed group conversation

What happened: Group messaging may not be enabled for your organisation, or your administrator may require all conversations to have a name at creation.

What to do: Confirm with your administrator that group messaging is enabled. If your organisation requires named conversations, provide a title when creating the group.

Forward option is missing or fails when used

What happened: You may not have permission to forward from the source conversation or into the target conversation.

What to do: Try forwarding to a one-to-one thread first to confirm the action is available. If forwarding is still blocked, contact your administrator to check whether forwarding permissions need to be enabled for your role or the target conversation.

In-conversation search is not returning expected results

What happened: Search is scoped to the open conversation only and does not cover other conversations or channels. A spelling variation or loose phrasing may also be missing the match.

What to do: Check the spelling of your query and try an exact phrase in quotes, for example "offsite agenda." To look across multiple conversations and channels, use global search instead.

Translate option is not available or some languages are missing

What happened: Inline translation may be disabled by your administrator, or specific languages may be restricted by your organisation's policy. Your profile language settings also influence the available target language.

What to do: Check your profile language settings and adjust the target language from Settings if needed. If the Translate option is missing entirely or the language you need is unavailable, contact your administrator to confirm whether inline translation is enabled and which languages are supported.

Recipient cannot open the link back to the source of a forwarded message

What happened: Forwarding respects permissions. If the recipient does not have access to the source conversation, the backlink is shown as a placeholder.

What to do: Confirm that the recipient has permission to view the source conversation. If access is not appropriate, share the necessary content directly in the target conversation instead of relying on the backlink.

FAQs

Can I name an adhoc group conversation later?

Yes. Open Conversation details and add a title. The existing history remains intact.

Can I forward files and attachments?

Yes. Files are forwarded along with the message. Access to those files follows the permissions of the target conversation and the underlying storage location.

Which languages are supported for inline translation?

Most major languages are supported. The available set depends on the translation service configured by your administrator.

Who can see the translated version of a message?

Only you. Translation is a client-side view preference and does not alter the original message for other participants.