Set general options

You can set up formatting for instant messages and choose other general Lync settings from the General options window.

Note:  If you came to this page looking for general information about Lync, click the appropriate links in this topic.

• Basic tasks in Lync 2013

• Frequently asked questions about Skype for Business (Lync) (Lync Basic 2013 users, click here.)

Set your Conversation window preferences

When you open General options, the selections you make determine how text and emoticons appear in your instant messages, whether your conversations will all appear in a single window, and whether Lync will preserve your conversation display between sessions.

• To turn spellchecking on or off, select or clear the Check spelling as I type check box.

• To show emoticons in instant messages, select the Show emoticons in messages check box. To display the typographical equivalents instead of emoticons, clear the check box.

• To use tabbed conversations, select Enable tabbed conversations. (The tabbed conversation option lets you keep track of several instant messaging conversations, and topic feeds at once in an economical way. When you have more than one conversation going at the same time, you'll see a tab for each in the upper-left corner of the Conversation window. Just click the tabs to move back and forth among conversations.)

• To keep the display of each tabbed conversation to one line, select Make tabs one line only.

• To have Lync remember which conversations are in the tabbed display whenever you sign out and automatically reinstate that display the next time you sign in, select Reopen my conversations when I sign in to Lync.

• To change the default font size, style, and color of the instant messages you send, click Change Font and make your selections in the dialog box. To apply those font preferences to the instant messages you receive, select the Apply settings to incoming messages check box.

Select options to help improve Lync

If your organization has turned on the feature, you can decide to participate in the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). When you participate, your computer or device automatically will send information to Microsoft about how you use certain products. Information from your computer is combined with other CEIP data to help Microsoft solve problems and improve the products and features that customers use most often. To learn more about CEIP, see Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program.

• To participate in the CEIP, open General options, select Sign up for the Customer Experience Improvement Program.

You can also choose to automatically send error information to Microsoft specifically about Lync sign-in and Lync Meeting connection issues. This information helps get to the underlying cause of the problem.

• To contribute sign-in and Lync Meeting error information, on the General options window, select Automatically send Lync Improvement Program info to Microsoft.

Set your logging options to help your support team solve problems

System logs are sometimes used to analyze system problems. Your support team may occasionally ask you to collect logs to help with troubleshooting. If you're not asked, you usually don't need to be concerned about this. If you're asked to change or confirm the logging settings, do the following:

• Open General options, select a logging level (Full, Light, or Off) from the Logging in Lync drop-down menu, following your support team's guidance.

• Select or clear Also turn on Windows Event logging for Lync to collect troubleshooting info, again based on your support team's guidance.

For more info about using Lync logging, see About logging in Skype for Business (Lync).

Set your application window option

In Lync, when you click the Close (X) button in the upper right corner of the main window, Lync keeps running so you get notifications of incoming calls or messages. By default, clicking the Close button minimizes Lync to the taskbar. But you can choose to have the Lync window minimized to the notification area (located at the far right of the taskbar) instead of the taskbar by selecting the check box under Application Window.

• Open General options and under Application Window, select Minimize to the notification area instead of the taskbar.

• Click File (from the menu or from the drop-down arrow beside the Options button), click Exit, and sign back in to Lync for this setting to take effect. Now the following actions can be taken, with these results:

  • Click the Minimize button in the upper right corner to minimize Lync to the taskbar.

  • Click the Close (X) button in the upper right corner to minimize Lync to the notification area.

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