First, open a conversation tab by selecting someone to chat with. You can do this by clicking the down-arrow on the right end of the Compose button and select Chat, or by clicking the # Online link next to Contacts on the left side of the page.

Click View in the toolbar along the top of the conversation tab, and click Hide Avatars if you’d rather not see them. Now you can always return to this spot and select Show Avatars to start seeing them again.

To create or change your own avatar, take a little stroll through this garden. It’s fun!

Yahoo! Messenger users: Have you set a display image in Messenger? If so, you won’t see it while chatting within Mail – not at the moment, at least. We’re working on that! For now, only avatars are visible while chatting within Mail.