Messaging yourself in Chat
Everyone has one conversation in Chat that only they are in. It is titled with
your name and “(you)” — Dana Reyes (you), say — and it works like any
one-to-one chat, except that nobody else is in it. Use it for things you want to
keep for yourself: a draft, a link, a file, a message to come back to.
It is in the OneMango Desktop app. The web and phone apps don’t list it yet.
Opening it
It is made the first time you open it, and pinned to the top of your
conversations. You can unpin it like any other conversation, and it stays
unpinned.
Any of these opens it:
- Direct messages — until you have used it, the first row is your name with
“(you)” and “Jot things down for yourself”. - People — your own row, which reads “Message yourself”.
- Your profile card — choose Message yourself.
- Search — type your name.
- The quick switcher — ⌘K on a Mac, Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux, then your
name.
Good uses
- Try a message out before you send it. Write and format an announcement
here, see exactly how it reads, then post it where it belongs. - Collect things in one place. Choose Forward on a message in any
conversation, pick your own name, and add a note of your own if you like. - Be reminded later. Choose Remind me about this on a message and pick a
time. Nothing you send yourself notifies you, so a reminder is how you get
told. - Move a file between your computers. Drop it in on one computer and download
it on another where you use the desktop app. - Think out loud with Ask AI. Mention @Ask AI here, and the exchange stays
in your own conversation. From the Ask AI sidebar, Ask AI can also find this
conversation and search what you’ve kept in it.
What it leaves out
Because nobody else is in it:
- There are no read ticks, no “Seen by”, no typing indicator and no online
status. “Sending…” and a failed send still show. - Important messages and read receipt requests aren’t offered: nobody else is in
this conversation to acknowledge a message. - You can’t start a huddle in it.
- You can’t add people to it, rename it, or leave it.
Your company’s rules still apply
It is a one-to-one conversation underneath, so it follows the same rules:
- How long messages are kept. Your company sets how long one-to-one messages
are kept, and this conversation follows that setting. If messages older than
that disappear from it, that is why. - Exports and legal holds. A company admin’s Chat Export includes it, like
every conversation you are in, and it can be put on legal hold. Don’t keep
anything here you wouldn’t put in a work chat. - Your company can turn it off. If it does, you can still read what is
there, but you can’t send anything new in it.
When another tool fits better
| To… | Use |
|---|---|
| Keep notes you edit, organize and turn into tasks | Personal Notes, at /notes |
| Find a message again in the conversation it came from | Save for later on the message; it is listed under Saved |
| See or change what Ask AI remembers about you | Personal Memory, at /apps/ask-ai/memory |
| Keep passwords and other secrets | Password Manager — never this conversation |
For admins
It is switched by Conversation with yourself under Chat → Settings →
Messaging, and it is on by default. The Chat FAQ covers
what turning it off does, and how retention and exports treat it.