Salesforce Chat, a formerly integral tool for customer service teams, is set to be retired in February 2026.
The retirement will include the farewell to all the legacy Chat products, including LiveAgent, Salesforce Chat, Embedded Chat, and Service Chat across numerous Salesforce editions.
What is Salesforce Chat?
Salesforce Chat (which was previously known as “Salesforce Live Agent”), is a native tool that enables customer service teams to chat to customers in real-time. We’ve all used a chatbot on a website, right? Well, Chat is one of the tools that makes that happen.
Designed as a tool to handle smaller, quick issues that can easily be solved with one person in a single interaction, Chat helps customer service teams manage their query/complaint pipelines by expanding a customer’s point of contact with a company; instead of always emailing and calling, they have another (quicker) avenue to utilize.
Some of Chat’s top features include:
- Auto Greetings and Quick Text: In the Chat Button configuration, you can set an auto-greeting message to send automatically when a customer starts the chat. You can also use quick text in a chat, saving you time with pre-defined common responses.
- Sneak Peek: Sneak peek allows agents to see what the customer is typing before they actually click submit. It can also allow managers to see what agents are typing, which allows them to intervene with whisper messages if necessary.
- Whisper Messages: Whisper messages are secret messages to the agent only and can be a great way to give feedback, remind agents about certain promos or knowledge articles, and give encouragement for a job well done!
- Assistant Flag: With Assistant Flag, managers don’t need to worry about every chat, just the ones agents need help with. Assistant Flag is a handy way for agents to flag a chat and alert a manager that they need help.
Why is Salesforce Retiring Chat?
According to Salesforce, Chat’s retirement is due to the release of the new first-party chat product and feature set in Summer ‘22. Messaging for In-App and Web, the new product is built on Hyperforce and offers many of the Chat features that customers love whilst supporting asynchronous and persistent conversations that can be picked back up at any time.
What Does This Mean?
Salesforce have announced that the following editions will be affected by this retirement:
- Service Cloud Unlimited + Edition
- Service Cloud – Unlimited Edition
- Service Cloud – Performance Edition
- Service Cloud – Performance Edition 1
- Service Cloud – Einstein 1 Edition
- Sales and Service Cloud Unlimited Edition
- All Industry Cloud Unlimited Edition
- Service Cloud Enterprise Edition + Digital Engagement
- Sales Cloud Enterprise Edition + Digital Engagement
- Sales Cloud Unlimited Edition + Digital Engagement
- Sales and Service Cloud Enterprise Edition Edition + Digital Engagement
This means that from February 14, 2026, you will no longer be able to access legacy Chat. Additionally, legacy Chat will no longer receive new features leading up to the retirement date but we will continue to deliver critical trust updates until the retirement date.
In terms of actions to take, you can work with either Salesforce or a Professional Services company to start planning for migration to Messaging for In-App and Web by reviewing help documents included in the resources section at the bottom of this post.
As with any retirement, your Account Manager will be able to provide you with more information as well if needed.
Resources
- Chat & Live Agent Retirement: Salesforce Help
- Considerations when Replacing Chat with Messaging for In-App and Web
- Compare Messaging for In-App and Web Capabilities to Chat Capabilities
- Alternative Solutions for Chat Features That Aren’t Available in Messaging for In-App and Web
- Optimize Messaging for In-App and Web
Summary
February 2026 will mark the end of an era with Chat, but there is plenty of potential to be experienced with Messaging for In-App and Web.
Be sure to check out the resources below to get ready for the retirement – it’s never too early to be prepared!
