Can you pin more than 9 contacts on iPhone?

Text messages can be incredibly convenient, but if you’re constantly texting countless people and dozens of group chats, it can be hard to find specific conversations when you need them.

Apple’s built-in Messages app on iOS offers the ability to pin your most important chats at the top of the app, sticking them there for quick access no matter when the last message was sent. It’s an easy-to-use function that’s equally easy to overlook, and there are three ways to get the job done.

How to pin a conversation in iOS’s Messages app

The easiest way to pin a conversation on iOS 14 or later is to open the Messages app, find the chat you want to save (but don’t open it), and swipe across it from left to right to unveil a yellow pin button. Keep swiping all the way across the screen to activate it, or tap on it if you stopped swiping part-way.

You can also pin a conversation from the main list of chats by long-pressing on it and choosing Pin from the menu that appears.

The third option is most useful if you want to pin a bunch of conversations at once. From the main Messages screen, tap Edit in the top left, then Edit Pins. Yellow pin icons will appear next to each conversation, and you can tap them to put chats at the top of the list—you can save a maximum of nine.

How to unpin a Messages conversation on an iPhone

There’s no way to quickly swipe to unpin a chat, so you’ll have to choose from one of two options if you want to drop a conversation from your starting roster.

The fastest method here starts with the Edit button in the top left corner of the main Messages screen. Tap that, and in addition to the yellow pin icons next to unpinned conversations, you’ll see minus icons next to pinned ones. Tap a minus icon to unpin a chat. Again, this is most useful for bulk editing because you can add and subtract pinned discussions at will as you go.

The other choice is to long press on a pinned chat and select Unpin. You can only edit conversations one at a time this way, and you won’t be able to immediately replace an unpinned one with a new one. And watch out: your brain may trick you into thinking the bright red Delete button is the one you want—it’s not. That will, of course, trash the whole conversation for good.

How to edit pinned Messages conversations

Beyond pinning and unpinning conversations, you can edit the order of pinned chats. To do so, go back to the Edit button, choose Edit Pins, and you’ll be able to press and drag your pinned chats around to place them in whatever order you please.

You can also rearrange them by long pressing on any pinned chat from the main screen. This will bring up the pinning options menu and display a preview of the chat. Ignore all that and drag your finger across the screen. Everything else will disappear and you’ll be able to drop the conversation where you want it. Not exactly the most convenient approach but hey, you do you.

Can you pin more than 9 contacts on iPhone?

John Kennedy

John Kennedy is PopSci's DIY editor. He previously covered legal news for Law360 and, before that, local news at the Journal Inquirer in Connecticut. He has also built and remodeled houses, worked as a fencing coach, and shelved books at a library. When he's not taking things apart or putting them back together, he's playing sports, cooking, baking, or immersed in a video game. Contact the author here.

A really useful new feature included in iOS 14 is the ability to favorite conversations for easy access at the top of the Messages app. Follow along for how to pin text messages on iPhone and iPad.

The Messages app gets a few notable upgrades with this year’s major iOS update including mentions, an emoji search bar, the ability to pin conversations, and also add a photo for the icon of group messages.

The pin message feature is quick and easy to use and places your favorited conversations at the top of the Messages app with large icons. You can pin up to 9 messages on iPhone and iPad.

iOS 14: How to pin text messages on iPhone and iPad

  1. Open the Messages app
  2. Find a conversation you want to pin, long-press on it
  3. Tap Pin ____________
  4. Now you’ll see the pinned message at the top of the app
  5. To undo a pin, long-press on a message or the pinned icon and tap Unpin ___________

Here’s how the process looks:

Can you pin more than 9 contacts on iPhone?

You can add up to 9 pinned messages, including both iMessages and standard text messages and messages to individuals or groups.

How to unpin messages on iPhone and iPad

Once you’ve hit the maximum of 9, you’ll see an alert to unpin a conversation to add a new one.

Can you pin more than 9 contacts on iPhone?

Here’s what it looks like to unpin a message:

  • Long-press the pinned message icon or the message thread from the list below

Can you pin more than 9 contacts on iPhone?

Read more 9to5Mac tutorials:

  • Hands-on with the top 10 iOS 14 features for iPhone [Video]
  • iPadOS 14 – 50+ Top Features and Changes! [Video]
  • iOS 14: Here’s how to use the new iPhone home screen widgets
  • Hands-on: Widgetsmith brings ultra-customizable widgets to your iOS 14 home screen
  • iOS 14: How to do Picture in Picture video multitasking on iPhone
  • iOS 14: How to watch 4K YouTube videos on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV
  • iOS 14: How the compact call interface works on iPhone

Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  Google Newsgoogle-news

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Can you pin more than 9 contacts on iPhone?


Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Guides

Can you pin more than 9 contacts on iPhone?

iPhone

Introduced in 2007 by Steve Jobs, iPhone is Apple's flagship iOS device and easily its most popular product around the world. The iPhone runs iOS and includes a large collection of mobile apps through the App Store.

Can you pin more than 9 contacts on iPhone?

How To

A collection of tutorials, tips, and tricks from the 9to5Mac team helping you fix and get the most out of your favorite gear.

iOS 14 Basics

About the Author

Michael Potuck

@michaelpotuck

Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.

How many contacts can you pin on Iphone?

You can also touch and hold a conversation to pin it. In iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 and later, you can pin up to nine conversations.

Can you pin more than 9 Messages on Iphone?

Once you've hit the maximum of 9, you'll see an alert to unpin a conversation to add a new one. Here's what it looks like to unpin a message: Long-press the pinned message icon or the message thread from the list below.

How many contacts can you have pinned?

You can “Pin” important conversations so they stay at the top of your text feed inside a circle. Swipe right or long-press on any text to pin up to nine conversations. You'll see previews of any unread message in that text thread in a little conversation bubble on top of the contact's photo.

Can you add more than 10 people to a group text on Iphone?

For iMessage (blue message bubbles), the limit is 32 people. For iMessage (blue message bubbles), the limit is 32 people.