Marking a text as unread on your iPhone is a great way to remind yourself of important messages that need to be replied to. Starting with iOS 16, Apple is adding the feature to the Messages app.
This will add a blue dot to your conversations thread and a notification badge on the Messages icon. This will make it easy to see which texts need to be responded to soon, so your loved ones can still reach you when they need to.
1. Open the Messages App
If you’ve been on the go for a while and can’t remember to check your iPhone or iPad for new messages, it’s easy to mark them as unread. The Messages App makes it possible to do this by simply long-pressing a conversation or thread.
You can also pin up to nine conversations to the top of your list for easier access and you can keep them pinned to make it quicker to find them again.
There’s also a handy topic field in the Messages app that will show as a distinct line in bold above your primary message content.
If you can’t locate the Messages app, it’s probably somewhere on your Home screen or in an App folder together with other apps. You can use Siri Search to try and find it, or you could reset the Home screen layout on your iPhone and bring everything back to its original place.
2. Tap the Messages icon with a notification badge
In iOS 16, Apple has added a welcome feature to the Messages app. The new ability to mark text threads as unread means you can flag a conversation for later when you don’t have time to read it right away.
There are a few ways to do it: The first involves tapping and holding the conversation to open a preview window, then choosing “Mark as Unread” from quick actions.
Another method is to swipe the conversation to the right. If you swipe it all the way, you’ll automatically mark it as unread; if you swipe it part way, release and tap the “Mark as Unread” button on the left.
If you’re not a fan of using swipe gestures, there are also two more methods that involve long-pressing on the message thread and tapping “Mark as Unread”. You can mark up to three messages at once by doing this.
3. Swipe from left to right
If you swipe from left to right, the iPhone will often mark text messages as unread. That’s especially helpful if you’re in a situation where you have no data connection, such as on an airplane or when traveling to a different country.
Apple doesn’t mention this in its guide to iPhone gestures, but it is an incredibly useful feature. It works in many apps, including Mail, Safari, Reminders, and Notes.
It’s a useful gesture when you need to read a message quickly and don’t want to wait for it to load. It’s also handy when you have multiple apps open, as it allows you to easily switch to a different app.
4. Tap the Messages icon with a notification badge
In iOS 16, Apple is finally adding a long-requested feature that will help you keep track of messages that you don’t want to respond to right away. Marking text messages as unread will put a small blue dot beside the message and increment the notification badge on the Messages app icon, so you’ll be reminded to go back and reply later.
This is a great way to stay on top of your messaging without forgetting about important conversations that you’ve missed. It also helps prevent the unread tally from getting too high, which can be a nightmare.
5. Tap Unread
After years of user requests, Apple has finally added a new feature that lets you mark text messages as unread on your iPhone. This will help you avoid accidentally forgetting to respond to a text message later on.
You can mark text messages as unread by swiping right on them or dragging and tapping them. You can also mark multiple messages at once by long-pressing on them and tapping Unread.
