Group chats are different to communities, as they're meant to unite smaller groups of people or be centred around specific topics. For more information about group chats, see [Understand group chats](./understand-group-chats.md).
- You can invite up to 20 members to your group chat. If you need more, consider [creating a community](../status-communities/create-a-status-community.md).
- Once you create your group chat, you can [customize it](./customize-a-group-chat.md) and [add members](./add-members-to-a-group-chat.md), as well as [remove them](./remove-members-from-a-group-chat.md).
- Group chats are always end-to-end [encrypted](./about-status-messages#privacy-and-security.md) with secure cryptographic keys. Only the group chat members will have access to the messages in it. Status doesn't have the keys and can't access any messages by design.
1. From the tab bar, tap :mobile-messages: **Messages**.
2. Tap :mobile-add: **Plus**.
3. Select **New chat**.
4. Check the boxes next to the contacts you want to invite to your chat. Tap **Setup group chat**.
5. Choose a name and highlight colour for your group chat. All members will be able to see both the name and the colour. Once you're finished, tap **Create group chat**.
=== "Desktop"
1. From the navigation sidebar, click :desktop-chat: **Chat**.
2. Click :desktop-start-chat: **Start chat**.
3. From your contact list, select those you want to add to this group chat.
4. Optionally, type a message in the Message text field to start the group chat with. You can also leave it blank.
5. Click **Confirm** or press ++return++ to create your group chat.
