---
title: Flash messages
description: Send instant on-screen alerts to your whole team or one person during a live show.
order: 5
---

Flash messages are how you get someone's attention while the show is running. A producer types a short message, picks who should see it, and it appears as an unmissable yellow popup on the recipients' screens within the same second — no chat app, no phone, no waving through the glass. Use them for the things that cannot wait: "wrap this segment", "guest is in the lobby", "skip story 4".

## Sending a flash message

Click the yellow **Flash** button — it is available in the [rundown board](/docs/guide/rundown-board) header, the [producer view](/docs/guide/producer-view) header, and the [host view](/docs/guide/host-view-teleprompter) header. A compose panel opens with two choices:

- **All** — everyone connected to this show receives the message.
- A single teammate — pick a name from the dropdown to send only to that person. Their name appears as a chip next to the dropdown; click its **X** to switch back to everyone.

Type your message and click **Send**. Pressing **Enter** also sends; **Shift+Enter** adds a line break. Messages can be up to 500 characters. The panel stays open so you can fire off several in a row, and it closes with the **X** button.

Sending requires the send-flash permission, which your admin can adjust per role under **Settings**, **Team & Access**, **Permissions**.

## Receiving a flash message

When a flash message arrives, a yellow alert pops up at the top center of your screen, on whichever OnAirFlow view you have open — the board, producer view, or host view. It shows:

- The message text
- Who sent it ("From:" and the sender's name)
- A progress bar counting down until it disappears

The alert dismisses itself after 30 seconds. To clear it sooner, click anywhere on the alert or its **X** button.

## Targeting and delivery

Delivery is immediate and precise:

- A message to **All** goes to everyone currently connected to that show.
- A message to one person is delivered only to that person — nobody else sees it, including other producers.

This makes single-recipient flashes safe for things you would not want on every monitor: a private time cue for one host, a correction meant for one producer, a "check your audio" nudge.

## Practical tips

- Keep messages short and imperative — recipients are reading them mid-show, often at a glance.
- Remember the 30-second auto-dismiss: if the instruction matters after the popup is gone, follow up in the story's notes or comments so there is a persistent record.
- Hosts can send too, not just receive — the **Flash** button in host view is a quick way to signal the control room without leaving the on-air screen.
- Flash messages are per-show: recipients see them while connected to that show's board, producer view, or host view.