Here you'll learn how to use Rocket.Chat as a user.
To access a server you will need to connect to it, register an account and login.
Once logged into a Rocket.Chat server you can manage your account and configure profile, avatar, security, localization and notification settings.
Conversations in Rocket.Chat are organized into channels. Channels are chat rooms with many useful features.
There are three kinds of channels: public channels, private groups, and direct (1-on-1) messages.
Public channels (also called channels for short) are the most important kind. Use channels for conversations that are open to your entire team. A channel can be joined by anyone on your team.
Channels make it easy to find what's going on with your team. New team members can join a channel and read all the information previously shared by other users.
When in doubt, create a channel. Public conversations help you build a knowledge base of your organization with minimal effort. For example, create a channel for a company department or to discuss a certain programming language.
Private groups are closed channels. They are visible only to their members. Use private groups for subjects that are sensitive, confidential, or limited to a small group of team members.
Private groups can be joined by invitation only. The administrator sets the permissions that determine who can invite others to a private group. By default, only administrators, room owners, and moderators can invite others to private rooms.
Direct messages (DMs) are private, 1-on-1 conversation between team members. You can think of a DM as a private group with only two members.
To help you organize and prioritize your communications, we recommend you favorite (or star) channels, private groups, and DMs.
To favorite a channel, click on the star icon in the upper left hand corner of the message area (next to the room name):
Then the star becomes yellow:
and that channel appears under the list of Favorites in the left-hand pane:
Starring helps you to avoid noise and to focus on what's important to you.
Find existing channels by clicking on the 
button on the left-hand pane. Then click on a channel to preview its contents. If you want to join it, click on the 
button.
There are two notions of leaving a channel:
- To hide a channel is to remain a member of the channel but to remove it from your list of channels on the left-hand pane.
- To leave a channel is to remove it from your list of channels and to leave the channel (i.e., no longer be a member of the channel).
Every channel has an owner, and the owner of a channel cannot leave a channel until setting someone else as the owner of that channel. You can do it via right side panel (Flex tab) and "Member list".
To leave a channel, enter the command /part or /leave in the message window. Alternatively, hover your mouse over the channel in the list of channels on the left-hand side and click on the 
button. On the mobile app, pull from the left-hand side to see the list of open channels, hold down on the channel to bring up the buttons, and click on the button.
To hide a channel, hover your mouse over the channel in the list of channels on the left-hand side and click on the 
button. On the mobile app, pull from the left-hand side to see the list of open channels, hold down on the channel to bring up the buttons, and click on the button.