Even Windows Central readers don’t use the Chat app on Windows 11

Windows 11 includes a Chat app powered by Microsoft Teams. It’s a lighter version of Teams geared towards personal users. Since Windows 11 has been out for almost a month, we ran a poll over the weekend to see if people use the Chat app. The results don’t look good for the default communication app of Windows 11.

The vast majority of Windows Central readers that voted in the poll stated they never use the Chat app powered by Microsoft Teams. Just under 81% of polled participants never use the app, and an additional 12.7% only use it occasionally. Just over 6% of voters use the Chat app as their main communication app on Windows 11.

Several complained about the fact that the Chat app only supports personal accounts. Rick Mathers said, “I would use it if it supported business accounts. I try to get my friends to use it, but no go.”

Another user known as poddie echoed similar sentiments:

It’s useless because it only supports personal accounts. I would love to use it for business chats. Instead, they force you to install the Teams business version, and then that was very confusing because the icons are nearly identical and the names of the apps aren’t clear at all. Badly mishandled. Love almost everything about windows 11 except this feature.

Others pointed out that many people have already settled on a communication app of choice. ElRodeo stated:

Uninstalled it. Nobody uses it for personal use. We live in a mobile first world and people already have many chat/video call apps on mobile for which there’s a pc version available too. Reality is, people chat and video call on their mobile. The only time you actually use your PC, is for work meetings on Teams or zoom etc.

While only a few people stated that they use the app regularly, one feature came up several times in the comments section: The ability to send SMS messages. This functionality is limited to the United States at this point but is a preferred option for some PC owners. “I use it to send texts, simple SMS. So none of my private contacts really [need] to have windows 11 or teams,” explained leo74.