# Inbox channel is grayed out, cannot activate it

**URL:** <https://community.hubspot.com/t/inbox-channel-is-grayed-out-cannot-activate-it/95674>\
**Category:** Tips, Tricks & Best Practices\
**Tags:** free\
**Created:** [December 8, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/inbox-channel-is-grayed-out-cannot-activate-it/95674 "2023-12-08T12:41:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JCat95](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/jcat95/32/200842_2.png) [@JCat95](https://community.hubspot.com/u/JCat95)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/inbox-channel-is-grayed-out-cannot-activate-it/95674/1 "2023-12-08T12:41:30Z")

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I’m on Hubspot free. I went through the steps to activate the chat channel. Afterwards, when listing all the inbox channels available, I wanted to actually turn the channel on, activate it. But it’s grayed out and shows a red-circle-with-line symbol when I hover my cursor over the Status button for it. I can edit the chat channel, but can’t see an error message or other help that would show me why this is grayed out or what I need to do next to make it functional.

 ![2023-12-08 14_23_59-Greenshot.png](https://d2qpr2jzcazej7.cloudfront.net/original/3X/a/c/ace65b9fa672b23f5bf6f28baa456e029d7cbbe3.png)

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**Author:** ![PamCotton](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/pamcotton/32/47916_2.png) [@PamCotton](https://community.hubspot.com/u/PamCotton)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/inbox-channel-is-grayed-out-cannot-activate-it/95674/2 "2023-12-08T17:21:46Z")

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Hi @JCat95, Happy Friday!

Thank you for posting in our Community and sharing a screenshot.

It looks like that is on your chat. Because it’s to the right side, when it’s off, it should be to the left side. This is normal that you cannot turn off/on the chat from the inbox settings, however, you should be able to disable this chat from the chat flow setting by following the steps:

- On your account click
- Conversations
- Chatflow
- Turn off the chat:

 ![Screenshot 2023-12-08 at 12.20.59 PM.png](https://d2qpr2jzcazej7.cloudfront.net/original/3X/9/7/977f81b41c9c8310d774e7c5bb439e28643eb4f8.png)

I hope this information helps, please check this[knowledge base here about our chatflows](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/chatflows/create-a-live-chat).

Kindly,

Pam

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JCat95](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/jcat95/32/200842_2.png) [@JCat95](https://community.hubspot.com/u/JCat95)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 11:55am UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/inbox-channel-is-grayed-out-cannot-activate-it/95674/3 "2023-12-10T11:55:42Z")

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Hi Pam,

Thanks for your reply. I’m trying to activate it, or turn it on. In Inbox settings it is set to ‘off’. In Conversation-\>Chatflow, it is turned to ‘on’. I believe that I need both of them to ‘on’ for the chat to work.

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**Author:** ![PamCotton](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/pamcotton/32/47916_2.png) [@PamCotton](https://community.hubspot.com/u/PamCotton)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/inbox-channel-is-grayed-out-cannot-activate-it/95674/4 "2023-12-11T21:57:39Z")

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Hi @JCat95, the color on the screenshot view you shared with us is expected to be grey. It’s turned to the right, meaning it’s on.

I think you should be all set if you followed the steps in my previous reply, and it’s on the chat under our chat flow. Are you not able to see the chat on your website?

Thank you,

Pam