> ## Knowledge Base Index
> Fetch the complete knowledge base index at: https://help.getzendo.io/sitemap.xml
> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
> Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash).

# Message clients outside a request

**Messages** can be used for a direct conversation with a client outside a request: a question, a follow-up, a quick hello. Each request keeps its own conversation about the work in it; **Messages** is for everything else. You open it from **Messages** in the sidebar.

## Send a direct message

![Messages. The numbers match the steps below.](https://getzendo.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb-c7-messages.webp =722x514)

1. Open **Messages** in the sidebar.
2. Find the conversation with the client or client team. Search by client name to find it faster.
3. Choose **Reply** to write to the client, or **Note** to write something only your team sees.
4. Write the message. You can format it with bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, a link, a bulleted list or a numbered list.
5. Attach files if the message needs them.
6. Press Enter to send or Shift + Enter to create a new line.

## Bring more people into the conversation

The **Chat information** panel on the right lists the **Participants**: the people from the client's team and from your team. To add someone from your team, select **Add participants**. A conversation in **Messages** cannot be closed; it stays open for as long as the client is in your workspace.

## Notes and files stay with the conversation

Each client or client team has one conversation in **Messages**. Notes you write there are collected on the **Notes** tab of the conversation, and clients do not see them. Files attached in the conversation are collected on its **Files** tab. Use **View as client** in the conversation to see the client portal as that client sees it.

## Move to Messages when the topic is not the work

When you are on a request and want to say something that is not about the work in it, select **Message client** in the request's **Request Details** panel. It opens your conversation with that client in **Messages**, so you do not reply inside the request.

## Messages and request conversations have separate notifications

In the notification defaults, the **Chats** group covers **Messages**, and the **Requests** group covers the conversations inside requests. You can turn each group on or off separately, for your team and for your clients. See [Set notification defaults for your team and clients](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/set-notification-defaults-for-your-team-and-clients-7uej9f/).

## To reach every client, send an announcement or show a banner

To write to many clients at once instead of one conversation at a time, select **Send announcement** in **Messages**. The **Announcement banner** on **Settings › Workspace › General** does not send a message. It shows a line at the top of the client portal for every client. The banner works well for a notice that should stay visible, and an announcement for a message. See [Announce something to every client at once](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/announce-something-to-every-client-at-once-uwi2yp/).

## Related

- [Announce something to every client at once](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/announce-something-to-every-client-at-once-uwi2yp/)
- [Work a request from arrival to done](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/work-a-request-from-arrival-to-done-jfl1fw/)
- [Set notification defaults for your team and clients](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/set-notification-defaults-for-your-team-and-clients-7uej9f/)
- [Share files with clients](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/share-files-with-clients-bxd3td/)
- [Use the client profile](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/use-the-client-profile-1xp49mx/)