Google Chat has come a long way since its first launch as Hangouts Chat back in March 2017. These days, it’s become a go-to tool for both professional and personal communication.
For ages, people have wished they could just schedule their messages to land when everyone’s actually free—especially across time zones. Until recently, Google Chat didn’t have this, so folks jury-rigged workarounds or third-party apps. But now, they’ve finally rolled out this super-requested feature, letting you draft a message and pick exactly when it sends.
This makes a huge difference for global teams who don’t want 3 AM pings, or anyone trying to keep work respectful. The rollout started in December 2025 and is expected to reach all users by mid-January 2026.
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How Message Scheduling Works on Google Chat
Google Chat’s message scheduling feature works similarly to Gmail’s email scheduling capability. When you draft a message, you’ll notice a new down arrow button placed next to the send icon. This arrow button furnishes the option to schedule your message instead of sending it immediately. You can schedule your messages up to 120 days, which means it allows you an advance planning—covering quarterly milestones, seasonal communications, and long-term follow-ups.
Once you schedule a message, Google Chat displays a confirmation banner above the message compose area in that conversation. This banner serves as a reminder that a scheduled message is pending and provides quick access to manage it. You can also see the recipient’s local time zone when available, ensuring your message arrives at the intended time in their location.
These scheduled messages are centrally managed through a new Drafts shortcut that appears in the left sidebar of your Google Chat interface. From this Drafts section, you can see each scheduled message across different conversations and take different actions without leaving this dedicated area.
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How can you schedule a message on Google Chat?
Follow these straightforward steps to schedule your first message:
- Open Google Chat on your computer or visit chat.google.com (the new web address for faster loading)
- Alternatively, you can access Chat through Gmail by clicking on Chat in the left sidebar
- Select the contact or group where you want to send the message
- Type your message in the compose box
- Click the down arrow next to the send button (not the send button itself)
- A pop-up menu appears with suggested send times, which includes the recipient’s time zone when available
- Select a suggested time from the preset options, or click “Pick a custom time” to set your own specific date and time
- Confirm your choice, and your message will be scheduled for delivery
How can you manage scheduled messages on Google Chat?
As mentioned earlier, Google Chat has a centralised area for managing all your scheduled messages. If you have scheduled a message previously, you’ll see a banner above the compose box with the scheduled delivery time. To access all your scheduled messages you need to go through the following steps: –
- Launch Google Chat and look for the Drafts shortcut on the left navigation panel
- Click on Drafts to open the dedicated management area (this shortcut only appears when you have scheduled messages)
- Browse all your pending scheduled messages in one location
From the Drafts section, you have complete control over your scheduled messages. For each scheduled message, you can do the following activities:
- Edit Your message: You can modify the content of a scheduled message before it sends
- Reschedule: You can also change the scheduled delivery time to a different date or time
- Send them immediately: If you want to send the message right away, you can bypass the scheduled time
- Delete scheduled message: You can also remove a scheduled message entirely if your plans change
A draft icon next to a conversation in your chat list indicates that conversation contains either a draft or a scheduled message. This way, it’s easy to identify which chats have pending scheduled content.
Who Can Use the Google Chat Scheduling Feature?
The message scheduling feature is available to all users without restrictions. You do not need a paid Google Workspace plan to access this feature. Scheduling works for:
- All Google Workspace editions (Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, and Enterprise plans)
- Workspace Individual subscribers
- Personal Google account users
There is no admin configuration required—the feature works automatically for all eligible users.
Where can you access this feature?
- Web: The feature is currently available on the web through chat.google.com or through Gmail’s Chat interface. Google recently moved Chat to its own dedicated web address (chat.google.com) for faster loading and improved reliability.
- Mobile App Availability: As of now, the message scheduling feature is available on desktop and web browsers only. Google has not announced mobile app availability for this feature, though based on historical precedent, mobile support may follow at a later date.
- Desktop App: Users can also access Chat through the Google Chat progressive web app (PWA), which also supports message scheduling.
With the addition of the message scheduling feature, now Google Chat finally catches up with rivals like Slack and Microsoft Teams, which have had message scheduling for years. Better yet, with up to 120 days of scheduling capability, Google Chat now provides more scheduling flexibility than Microsoft Teams, which limits scheduling to 7 days, though it matches Slack’s capabilities.
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