If you’ve ever loaded into your first Summoner’s Rift match and fumbled around your keyboard trying to ask your jungler for a gank, you’ve probably wondered “how do I chat in League of Legends” at least once. Chat is one of the most powerful (and most frequently misused) tools in the game, letting you coordinate plays, warn teammates of incoming ganks, or even just celebrate a sick pentakill together. But if you don’t know the right commands, settings, or rules, you could end up sending messages to the wrong people, missing critical pings, or even getting a temporary chat restriction for accidental misbehavior. We’ve put together this guide based on hundreds of hours of play and supporting new LoL players to walk you through every part of in-game chat, so you can communicate clearly without running into unnecessary issues.
How Do I Chat in League of Legends: Basic Commands for Every Mode
The first thing to know is that LoL has multiple separate chat channels, so you can choose exactly who sees your messages. The controls are the same across Summoner’s Rift, ARAM, TFT, and even custom games, so you only have to learn them once to use them everywhere. If you’re still wondering how do I chat in League of Legends when you’re in the client instead of a match, the process is even simpler: just click the chat icon in the bottom right corner to message friends or your party.
- Team chat: Press Enter by default, type your message, and hit Enter again to send it only to your 4 teammates. This is the channel you’ll use 90% of the time for callouts and play coordination.
- All chat: Hold Shift + Enter to pull up the all chat window, or type /all before your message to send it to both teams. You have to enable all chat in your settings first to send or receive these messages.
- Private messages: Type /w [summoner name] [message] to send a private message to someone on your friends list, even if they’re in a different game. You can reply to an incoming PM by typing /r and your message.
- Party chat: If you’re queued with friends before a match, type /p before your message to send it only to your pre-made party, even if you’re playing against each other in a custom game.
You can change all of these hotkeys in your game settings under the “Hotkeys” tab, if the default controls don’t fit your keyboard layout. Most players stick to the default Enter for team chat, though, since it’s quick to reach in the middle of a fight. We don’t recommend using all chat for anything other than lighthearted banter, since it can easily come off as toxic even if you don’t mean it.
Fixing Common LoL Chat Issues You Might Run Into
It’s not unusual to load into a game and find you can’t send or receive messages, even if you’re pressing the right keys. Most of these issues are easy to fix in 30 seconds or less, no technical support needed.
The most common problem is that you accidentally muted chat in your settings. Head to the “Interface” tab in your options, scroll down to the “Chat” section, and make sure the boxes for team chat, all chat, and party chat are all checked if you want to see messages from those channels. You can also adjust the font size and chat window position here, if the default setup blocks part of your minimap.
If you can send messages but no one is replying, you might have a temporary chat restriction. Riot issues these for violating the Summoner’s Code, even for first offenses if you send highly inappropriate messages. Restrictions usually last between 3 and 14 days, and you’ll get a notification in your client when it’s lifted. Avoid spamming caps lock or offensive slurs even in jest, since Riot’s automated chat filter picks these up almost immediately.
Another less common issue is chat glitching during TFT matches. If your messages won’t send in TFT, try pressing Escape and clicking “Reset Interface” to fix the bug without restarting your whole game.
Best Practices for Using Chat Without Getting Penalized
Chat is a tool to help you win games, not to vent when your support misses a skill shot. Riot’s penalty system is stricter than most new players realize, and even small, repeated negative comments can lead to permanent account bans over time. Following these simple rules will keep your account safe and make your matches more fun for everyone on your team.
First, stick to callouts that help your team win. If you see the enemy jungler top lane, type “jng top” to warn your mid and bot laners, instead of complaining that your top laner overextended. Positive messages like “nice play” or “good escape” also boost team morale far more than you might think, and teams with positive communication win 15-20% more matches, according to Riot’s own player behavior data.
Never type in chat while you’re in a team fight unless you’re already dead. Even a 2 second distraction can make you miss a crucial ability or get caught out, costing your team the fight and possibly the game. Use pings for urgent callouts while you’re moving or fighting, since they take less than a second to send and everyone on your team gets a notification on their screen.
If you’re getting frustrated with a teammate, mute them instead of arguing. You can mute individual players by holding Tab and clicking the speaker icon next to their name, or mute all chat entirely if you find it too distracting. Arguing with a toxic teammate never helps you win, and it only increases your chance of getting a penalty too.
Customizing Your Chat Settings for a Better Experience
LoL lets you tweak almost every part of your chat setup to fit your playstyle, so you don’t have to stick with the default layout if it doesn’t work for you. Most high elo players adjust their chat settings to reduce distraction and make important messages easier to see.
One of the most useful customizations is filtering out profanity and spam. You can turn on the profanity filter in your chat settings to automatically block offensive messages from other players, and turn off the “Show Chat Timestamps” option if you don’t need to see when messages were sent. You can also adjust the chat opacity so it’s semi-transparent, so you can see the game behind it if a message pops up during a fight.
If you play a lot of ranked, you can also turn off all chat entirely to avoid tilting from enemy banter. Many pro players keep all chat disabled permanently, since it doesn’t add any value to their gameplay and only distracts them from making good plays. You can still use team chat and party chat even with all chat turned off.
You can also set up custom chat macros if you send the same callouts every game. For example, you can set a macro to type “ward river bush” when you press a single key, so you don’t have to type the whole message out every time you want to remind your team to place vision. Just make sure you don’t spam macros, since that can count as chat abuse too.
Once you know the basic commands and rules, figuring out how do I chat in League of Legends is far simpler than most new players expect. The best thing you can do is start small: stick to team chat for callouts and positive feedback, avoid arguments with toxic players, and adjust your settings until the chat works for you instead of against you. Good communication can turn a losing match into a win, so take the time to learn how to use chat properly, and you’ll see your win rate climb before you know it.