How to Start a Group Chat on Skype

Choosing Skype as your chat and telephone Voice Over IP provider allows you to chat for free, save your chats so you can look back on them later, and add as many members to your chat as you like without opening up a free-for-all chat room that strangers can virtually walk into. Once you've opened your Skype application and logged into your account, here's how to start a group chat on Skype.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access
• Skype account

Starting a Group Chat

1. View your groups, located on your "Contacts" tab in the center of your Skype application.

2. Click the "Groups" bar (located above your individual contacts) if you can't view your groups.

3. Right-click the group you wish to start a chat with.

4. Choose "Start Group Chat."

5. Welcome your fellow chatters and enjoy your chat time!

Adding a Person to a Group Chat

1. Start a chat with an individual or group. (Right-click on an individual or group name that you would like to create a chat with, and Select "Start Chat" or "Start Group Chat" from the menu that appears.)

2. Locate the "Add More People to This Chat" button in the lower-right corner of the chat window.

3. Click the "Add More" button.

4. Select the name of the person you want to add. (Hold down the CTRL key while clicking to select multiple names.)

5. Click the "Add" button.

6. Click "OK."

Tips & Warnings

• Another way to add a person to a Skype chat is by clicking the blue "+" in the upper-left corner of the chat window.

• Set a topic for the chat by clicking the icon of the notebook paper and pencil located along the top of the chat window.

• Clicking the red "X" button will close the chat window.

• The button with the pictures of people with a telephone receiver creates a conference call with all participants. If you've created a conference call with the chatters, you'll have to add additional participants to both the conference call and the chat individually.

• Create a new chat with the participants of your current chat by clicking the blue button with words in a talk bubble. This is useful if a chat moderator has left the chat and the other participants would like to continue their conversation.

• To send a file to everyone involved in the chat, click the button with the icon of a piece of paper with arrows on it.

• Hide or view information about people you are chatting with by clicking the left/right-facing arrow along the top of the chat window.

• Call, send an instant hidden message, or send a file to an individual participant at any time by clicking the appropriate icon under the participant's name, located along the right of the chat window.

• Bookmark a chat by clicking the push-pin button located on the menu on the chat window. To access bookmarked chats in the future, from the main Skype window click "Tools" on the horizontal menu, then choose "Bookmarked Chats" from the menu that appears. Use the bookmark feature if you think you might need to reference the chat conversation in the future.