Keep track of messages on Mac
You can pin and unpin conversations to prioritize messages in the conversation list, catch up on or summarize text messages you missed, and mark messages as unread.
Messages are grouped by conversation in the conversation list. A dot indicates you haven’t yet read one or more messages in that conversation.
Pin a conversation
You can pin specific conversations to the top of the Messages list, such as those with the people you contact most.
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.
Do any of the following:
Drag the conversation to the top of the sidebar.
Control-click the conversation, then choose Pin.
To unpin a conversation, drag it out of the section at the top of the sidebar, or Control-click the conversation, then choose Unpin.
Find out when messages were sent
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.
Do one of the following:
Control-click a message in the conversation transcript and choose Show Times.
If you use a trackpad or a Magic Mouse, swipe left with two fingers on the message.
Jump to the first unread message
If you receive messages while you have notifications paused or you’re away from your Mac, you can jump to the first message you haven’t seen in a conversation.
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.
Select an unread conversation, then click
.
Your view of the conversation moves up to the first unread message.
Mark a conversation as unread
You can mark conversations as unread so you can return to them later when you have time to respond.
Go to the Messages app
Select a conversation.
Do any of the following:
In the menu bar, choose Conversation > Mark as Unread.
Control-click the conversation, then choose Mark as Unread.
If you have a trackpad or a Magic Mouse, swipe right with two fingers on the conversation in the sidebar, then click
.
Tip: You can also mark several conversations as unread at the same time. Select the conversations in the sidebar, Control-click, then choose Mark as Unread.
To mark a conversation as read, choose Conversation > Mark as Read.
To see a list of your unread messages, choose View > Unread Messages.
Turn message summaries on or off
Apple Intelligence allows you to get through your messages even faster with summaries that show you the key points of each conversation.
Apple Intelligence automatically replaces message previews with summaries. When appears below a name in the conversation list, the text following it summarizes the conversation’s unread messages.
You can turn off summaries if you want to see the most recent message in each conversation instead.
Note: Apple Intelligence on macOS 27 is not available in all languages or regions. Usage limits may apply.*
Go to the Messages app
Choose Messages > Settings, then click General.
Select or deselect “Summarize messages.”