Can you mark a text as unread on your iPhone? This question directly makes it clear that a handful of apple would love to be able to unread messages on their Message app to be able to track and attend to them later.
This feature is available on instant messaging apps like Facebook messenger or WhatsApp, but it isn’t available on iPhone till the iOS 16 was released.
However, there is a way around making a message change to unread after going through it. However, there is a condition to it while there are other tricks you can apply to it if you don’t meet the condition.
Below let’s answer the question “Can you mark a text as unread on iPhone”, while also looking at some interesting tricks you can apply to unread a message you have gone through.
Can you Mark a Text as Unread on iPhone?
If you have an iPhone and you are using an iOS 16 beta version, then changing a message status to unread is possible.
All you have to do is select the message and select “unread message“.
But, if you are using a lower iOS version(lower than iOS 16 beta), you won’t be able to change the message status to unread.
That being said, here is how to unread a text on iPhone iOS
How to unread a Text Message on iOS 16
There are different reasons why you would want to change your message status to unread. It could either be as a reminder so that you can come back to the messages after opening them or maybe you don’t want the sender to know that you have read their messages.
These two scenarios are different but, I will be delving into both of them
If you want to change your message status to unread as a reminder so that you can simply come back to it, You first have to update your iOS version to the iOS16 beta.
Once you’ve done that follow the guidelines below.
- In the Messages app, open the chat thread containing the read message that you want to mark as unread.
- Long press on the read message till you get a drop-down pop up.
- Now, tap Mark as Unread from the pop-up.
How to unread a message Thread on iOS 16
Changing your message status of a thread to unread is possible provided you are running on iOS16.
That being said, here is how to do that.
- In the Messages app, long press the chat thread containing the read message that you want to mark as unread. till you get a drop-down.
- On the drop-down, tap on Mark as Unread from the pop-up.
Now that you have the answers to “Can you mark a text as unread on iPhone”, Below are some tricks you can use if you are using an iOS version lower than iOS 16 beta.
How to mark a text message as unread on iPhone 12
Depending on your intentions, there are two ways you can achieve that.
Firstly, you can decide to turn off the read receipt or you can just view the message without opening it.
Here is how to do both
Turn off the read receipt
“Read Receipt” is a setting on your device that alerts the sender that you have gone through their message.
If you don’t want the sender to be aware of that, you can simply turn off “read receipt” by following the instructions below
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Swipe down and tap on Messages.
- Turn off the toggle for the option Send Read Receipts.
NB: this method of ensuring the sender isn’t notified that you have opened their message is only available on iOS 13 and above. But then this doesn’t put your messages in an unread state until you try out the next method
View the message in an expanded view
Since you cannot unread a text message after opening it unless you are using iOS 16. Here is another trick you can apply if you want to put a message on unread while also stopping any form of notification to the sender that you have opened their message.
- Open the Messages app.
- Scroll to the desired unread message.
- Hold down the unread message from the screen till you see an expanded chat screen.
With this view, you will be able to see the text content in the message without opening it
How to mark a text as unread on iPhone 13
if you are using an iPhone 13 device, it is most likely that your device will e running on iOS 15 but then you can always upgrade it to iOS 16beta
You can check this post to figure out how to update your iPhone 13 device
Once you upgrade your device to iOS 16 beta you will be able to use these steps below to unread a text message
- In the Messages app, open the chat thread containing the read message that you want to mark as unread.
- Long press on the read message till you get a drop-down pop up
- Now, tap Mark as Unread from the pop-up.
NB: if you unread a message the sender would still know that you have read the message unless you toggle off “send message receipt” before the message was sent.
However, if you’ve not upgraded your iOS version, here are a few steps you can take to change the status of the message to unread after reading it.
- Open the Messages app.
- Scroll to the desired unread message.
- Hold down the unread message from the screen till you see an expanded chat screen.
Doing this will show you the message without having to open the chat. Once you release your hands the expanded view would disappear. But the message would still be in an unread state.
How to mark text message as unread on iPhone 11
iPhone 11 comes with iOS 13 pre-installed in it. But it is upgradeable to iOS 16 beta.
To use it, you can simply upgrade your iOS version and then follow the guidelines below if you want to unread a message.
- In the Messages app, open the chat thread containing the read message that you want to mark as unread.
- Long press on the read message till you get a drop-down pop up
- Now, tap Mark as Unread from the pop-up.
This doesn’t stop the sender from being notified that you have read the message.
If you haven’t updated your Phone 11 to iOS16 here is an alternative way around Unreaping a text message you have gone through
- Open the Messages app.
- Scroll to the desired unread message.
- Hold down the unread message from the screen till you see an expanded chat screen.
Now that you have been able to figure out the question to “Can you mark a text as unread on iPhone”, let’s delve into how you can do the same with an iPad
How to mark a Text Message as Unread on iPad
If you have an iPad, you will be able to unread a message you have gone through provided you are running on iPadOS16. This iSO version is only supported on iPad Pro “12.9” (gen 1) and later.
After updating your IPad to IPadOS16 you will be able to use this procedure to unread messages on your device
- Launch the Messages app.
- Open the chat thread containing the read message that you want to mark as unread.
- Tap and hold down the read message till you see pop up below
- Now, tap Mark as Unread from the pop-up.
NB: This doesn’t mean the sender would see the message as unread unless you do that by turning off “send read receipts”.
How to Mark a text as unread on Macbook
If you are using a Macbook, one thing you have to take note of is that you have to be running on macOS 13 Venture for you to be able to access this unread message feature.
Now that you are aware of that here is how you can unread a message on your MacBook
- Open the messages app on your MacBook
- Right-click on the message after going through it
- Now select “mark as unread”.
Since you’ve figured out the answer to the question “Can you mark a text as unread on iPhone”, lets take a look at some commonly asked questions related to the topic.
Can you mark a Text as Unread on Android?
You can do that on Andriod if you are using the chat app. And it is not affected by the android version you are running.
Now that you are aware of that, here is how to do that.
- Open the Chat app or Gmail app.
- At the bottom, tap Chat.
- Now locate the message you want to unread and Swipe left on a Chat message.
Alternatively, you can press and hold the chat and tap Mark as unread to achieve that
Can you unread a Message on iPhone?
This is just the same as the initial question which is “Can you mark a text as unread on iPhone”.
Yes, you can do that, however, you need to be running the iOS 16 beta Operating system version on your iPhone device before you will be able to access this new feature.
Conclusion
By now you should have figured out the answer to the question, “can you mark a text as unread on iPhone” Even if you are not running on the iOS 16 version. if you have any challenges with it feel free to drop your comments below.