Google’s phasing out Hangouts in favor of Google Chat, which is now the default messaging system in Gmail. While Google Chat has been widely adopted by Google Workspace users, regular Gmail users are gradually getting access. If it’s not yet live for you, here’s a workaround to get it running on any Gmail account.
Essentially, you’ll need a contact who already has Google Chat working to help you out.
If you try to go straight to chat.google.com without previous access, you’ll see the message: “This account doesn’t have access to Google Chat”.
Get Google Chat Working On Your Gmail
Here’s a breakdown of how to activate Google Chat on your Gmail account.
- Open your Gmail. On the left, you’ll see ‘Hangouts’. Find the ‘+’ next to your name and click it to add a new contact.
- In the search bar, type the name or email address of a contact who has Google Chat working. When their name appears in the ‘People on Hangouts’ list, click on it to begin the invite.
- A Google Hangouts chat window will pop up at the bottom right. Click “Send invite” to send a request to your chosen contact.
- A message will confirm the invitation has been sent.
Ask Your Contact To Accept Your Chat Request
Now, you need your contact to help you out.
- Have your contact go to chat.google.com. They should click the ‘Find people and rooms’ search box on the top left, and then select ‘Message requests’.
- They should see your invite. If the ‘Message requests’ panel is empty, they should check the ‘Spam’ folder, as invites from external people can end up there.
- Once they find your invitation, they need to click it, and then hit the ‘Accept’ button at the bottom of the chat window to start chatting.
Get Access to Google Chat
You’re almost there!
- Ask your contact to send you any image file through Google Chat. They just need to click on the ‘Upload file’ icon and select any image.
- The image will appear in their Google Chat window.
- You will receive a message in the Hangouts chat, mentioning “I shared [filename] using the new Google Chat…” along with a link to the Google Chat session.
- Click the link provided, and you will be redirected to the Google Chat welcome page. You can click ‘Next’ or ‘Skip’ here.
- Then, click on ‘Get started’ to continue.
- You may be asked if you want to turn on notifications. You can choose ‘Turn on notifications’, or ‘Not now’ to skip it.
- Google Chat should now open, displaying your conversation history, and ready for you to start using!
Now you have Google Chat on your regular Gmail account. Enjoy chatting!