ProtonChat is a real-time chat room for members โ a single shared
space, in the spirit of Slack, with one important twist:
conversations disappear. Messages live for at most
24 hours, so the room always feels like a conversation happening
now, not an archive.
๐Signing in
Sign in with your Google account โ there is no
new password to create or remember.
Signing in shares only your name, email address, and
profile photo with ProtonChat; nothing else from your
Google account.
Your Google profile photo becomes your chat avatar
automatically.
You stay signed in on a device for up to 90 days, and you can
sign out any time from your account page.
๐ฌThe chat room
Members sidebar (left): every member with their
avatar; a green dot means they're online right now, and the header
counts who's currently in the room.
Messages (right): newest at the bottom, with
day dividers and Slack-style grouping of consecutive messages. The
view sticks to the newest message unless you've scrolled up to
read something.
Typing indicator: โKevin is typingโฆโ appears
under the messages while someone is writing.
The chat works on phones too โ the sidebar tucks away behind the
โฐ button.
โณDisappearing messages
Every message vanishes 24 hours after it is
sent โ for everyone, automatically.
The room also keeps at most the 100 newest
messages; older ones roll off as new ones arrive.
Deletion is real: expired messages are removed from the server's
database, not just hidden.
Don't use the chat to keep anything you'll need
later โ that's the point! Copy anything important somewhere safe
before it expires.
โ๏ธSending messages
Press Enter to send, Shift+Enter
for a new line.
Just start typing โ wherever your focus is, your
keystrokes land in the message box (like Slack).
Paste anywhere: Ctrl/Cmd+V
drops clipboard text into the message box โ and if your clipboard
holds an image, it's uploaded and shared instead.
Links you paste become clickable; links to shared ProtonChat
images display as the picture itself.
๐๏ธFormatting your messages
Type this
To get
*bold*
bold
_italic_
italic
`code`
inline code
```โฆ```
a multi-line code block
/me waves
an italicized action: Kevin waves
๐Emoji & reactions
Shortcodes: type :fire:,
:tada:, :heart: and dozens more. An
autocomplete popup appears as you type โ pick with
โ/โ and Enter or Tab.
Reactions: hover any message and click ๐ to
react with ๐ โค๏ธ ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ข ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ or ๐ฅ.
Reaction chips show the count; click a chip to add or remove
your own reaction, and hover it to see who reacted.
โ๏ธEditing & deleting your messages
Hover one of your messages for โ๏ธ Edit and
๐๏ธ Delete.
Press โ in an empty message box to edit your most
recent message โ Esc cancels.
Edited messages show an (edited) tag; deleting removes
the message for everyone, instantly.
You can only ever edit or delete your own
messages.
โจ๏ธSlash commands
Command
What it does
/shrug
appends ยฏ\_(ใ)_/ยฏ
/tableflip
appends (โฏยฐโกยฐ)โฏ๏ธต โปโโป
/unflip
appends โฌโโฌ ใ( ใ-ใใ)
/me <action>
sends an italicized action line
๐ผ๏ธSharing images
The fast way: paste a screenshot
(Ctrl/Cmd+V) or drag an image file onto the
chat. It uploads, and its link lands in your message box ready to
send โ the room sees the picture inline.
My Images (link in the chat header): your
personal image manager. Upload by click or drag & drop, view
full size, select and delete, and copy any image's link to paste
into the chat.
You can keep up to 16 images; uploading past
that replaces your oldest. PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP up to 15 MB
are accepted.
Every image is converted to WebP and resized to at most
1024ร1024 โ uploads are quick and pages stay fast. Sideways phone
photos are rotated upright automatically.
Images are members-only. Only signed-in
ProtonChat members can view them; the links are useless to
outsiders and invisible to search engines.
A deleted or replaced image shows as โimage no longer
availableโ wherever its link was shared โ an old link never shows
somebody else's picture.
๐Notifications & unread messages
Click the bell in the chat header to turn on
desktop notifications: while the tab is in the background, new
messages notify you with the sender's name and a preview. Click a
notification to jump back to the chat.
While you're away, the tab title shows the unread count, e.g.
(3) ProtonChat.
When you come back, a red โNew messagesโ line
marks where you left off.
โกKeyboard shortcuts
Keys
Action
Enter
send the message
Shift+Enter
new line
โ
edit your last message (in an empty box)
Esc
cancel editing / close popups
โ/โ + Enter/Tab
choose an emoji suggestion
any letter
start typing from anywhere โ focus jumps to the message box
Ctrl/Cmd+V
paste text โ or an image, which uploads and shares
๐ก๏ธPrivacy & your account
The chat and all shared images are visible to
signed-in members only.
Messages self-destruct after 24 hours; images persist only in
your 16-slot library until replaced or deleted.
Your account page shows your profile and
offers permanent account deletion โ it removes
your profile, settings, messages, and images.