This Microsoft Teams tutorial will demonstrate how you can schedule chat messages in Microsoft Teams. There are currently two different ways that you can schedule a chat message in Microsoft Teams. One method leverages an app called “Workflows” that Microsoft added to Teams to grant users the ability to send delayed messages in Microsoft Teams. The Workflows app is just an interface to Microsoft Power Automate. It essentially provides a form that can be accessed in Teams that passes information to Power Automate to execute a flow to send a message at a later time. One of the advantages of using this method to schedule chat messages in Teams, is that it allows you to send a message at any-time (whereas the second method only allows messages to be sent every thirty minutes). In my testing of this method however, I did notice that the app would not appear consistently when trying to schedule messages.
The second method to schedule a chat message in Teams leverages out-of-the-box functionality that was added to the Microsoft Teams public preview program at the time of authoring this article. If you haven’t opted-in to the Microsoft Teams public preview program, you should as it allows you to gain access to new Microsoft Teams features before they are released into generally availability. You can learn how to opt-in to the public preview program here. This method to scheduling Teams chat messages is simple and easy to use and can be accessed right from the chat window in any individual or group chat.
To schedule a chat message in Microsoft Teams using either method, follow the steps outline in the sections below.
How To Schedule A Message In Microsoft Teams Using The Workflow App
Step 1: Navigate to the chat where you want to send the scheduled message. Note that this works with both individual and group chats. Click on the “Messaging Extensions” button (the “…”) below the compose box.
Step 2: Search for and select “Workflows”.
Step 3: Review the Microsoft Teams workflow app information and click “Add”.
Step 4: Search for and select “Schedule a message”.
Step 5: Complete the schedule a Microsoft Teams message card. Specifically select the date and time that the message should be delivered. Note that if you would like to enter a custom time, simply place your cursor in the time field and type the desired time. Enter the content of your message in the message field. Select the individuals that you would like to at-mention in the @mention field. Note this will ensure the individual receives a notification in their Microsoft Teams activity feed. Check the “Notify myself when the message is posted” box to receive an activity feed notification once the message is posted. Click “Submit” once ready to send the scheduled Microsoft Teams chat message.
Note that after you submit the message, it will not be displayed in the chat. In order to cancel the message, follow the instructions below. You can also learn how to use this method to schedule a Microsoft Teams chat message by reviewing the video tutorial below.
How To Cancel Or Edit A Microsoft Teams Chat Message That Was Scheduled Using The Workflow App
Note that there is no easy way to view scheduled Microsoft Teams chat messages sent using the Workflow App. You can cancel Microsoft Teams chat messages that were scheduled using the Workflow App from the Microsoft Power Automate app accessible in Teams. Unfortunately, based on my testing, you cannot edit scheduled messages. To cancel a scheduled message, follow the instructions below.
Step 1: Click on the “More added apps” button in the app rail.
Step 2: Search for and select “Microsoft Power Automate”.
Step 3: Click into the “Schedule a message” flow.
Step 4: In the 28-day run history menu, find the flow you scheduled. Note you can do this by looking for flows that have a status of “running” and you can also look at the start date.
Step 5: In the flow menu, click “Cancel”. This will cancel the instance of the Microsoft Teams Workflow app schedule a chat message flow.
How To Schedule A Microsoft Teams Chat Message Using Out-Of-The-Box Functionality
Step 1: Start by navigating to the chat where you want to send the message. Enter your message in the compose box.
Step 2: Right click on the “Send” button. This will bring up the schedule a message card. Select the date and time and then click “Send at scheduled time”.
Step 3: This will add a purple note above the message indicating when it will be sent. Click the “Send” button.
Step 4: You will see the message in the chat window with a note on when it will be delivered. You’ll also see a clock icon to the right of the message.
Step 5: To edit a scheduled message hover your cursor over the message and click on the “…”. then click on “Edit” or “Delete”. Doing so will allow you to edit the message. Click on the purple text that displays the date-time to edit the scheduled send date.
Note that there are two notable limitations when using this approach. First, you can only schedule messages to be sent every 30 minutes. You cannot schedule messages to be sent at a custom time. Second, you cannot schedule messages to be sent greater than seven days from the current date. If you would like to learn more about using this feature, check out the video tutorial below.
