Welcome to Google Talk
Getting Started with Google Talk
Welcome to Google Talk - Google's approach to instant communications. This guide will introduce you to all the different ways you can use Google Talk.
Downloading Google Talk
The Google Talk downloadable application for Windows offers many features for communicating with your friends and family.
Instant messaging — Chat with all of your Google Talk and Gmail contacts in real time.
Free PC-to-PC voice chat — You can talk to anyone else for free who's online and has the Google Talk client.
Send and receive voicemails— If the person you're calling isn't available, you can leave a voicemail. Learn more
Unlimited file transfers — Send files to your contacts. There are no file size or bandwidth restrictions.
Gmail notifications on your desktop — When you're signed into Google Talk, you'll be notified of new messages in your Gmail inbox.
Gmail Chat
Gmail, Google's free email service, offers built-in chat using the Google Talk network.
Built-in chat — Gmail has chat built right in, so you can easily switch between emailing and instant messaging with your contacts.
Video chat — See and hear your friends with high quality video. Get the plugin.
Voice chat — Free PC-to-PC voice calls to any of your Gmail contacts. Get the plugin
Invisible mode — Appear to be offline when you don't want to be interrupted.
Group chat — Invite multiple people to chat with you in a group.
Chat history — If you use Google Talk with a Gmail account and all of your chats are saved to a searchable archive in Gmail.
Reply by chat — When the contact who sent you an email is online (in Google Talk or Gmail), you have the option to reply to that person by chat.
Other ways to connect through Google Talk
Google Talk uses open standards for instant messaging and voice calling. That means anyone can build applications for the Google Talk network.
Other IM clients — Explore other applications that connect to the Google Talk network. Learn more