Messages (Mavericks): Use buddy lists

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Use buddy lists

Use your buddy lists to see who is available to receive messages. Send a message to a buddy by double-clicking his or her name.

Buddy lists can include AIM, Jabber, Google Talk, or Yahoo! buddies. iMessage doesn’t support buddy lists, but if you have iMessage enabled, you can enter someone’s phone number or email address in the To field to send him or her a message.

Keep the conversation going

View your buddy lists

After you set up an AIM, Jabber, Google Talk, or Yahoo! account, you can view a buddy list for that account.

  • If you don’t see a buddy list, choose Window > Buddies. If you don’t have all buddy lists collected into one window, choose the buddy list you want to view from the Window menu.
  • To see all your buddy lists in one window, choose Messages > Preferences, click General, then select "Show all my accounts in one list." To see them in a separate window for each account, deselect this option.
  • To find a buddy in a buddy list, click the buddy list window, press Command–F, then enter the buddy’s name.
  • To customize your buddy list, open the View menu, then choose options for viewing your buddy list.

Add buddies

If you’re already having a conversation with someone using AIM, Jabber, Google Talk, or Yahoo!, select the conversation, then choose Buddies > Add Buddy. Otherwise, do the following:

  1. In the buddy list window, click Add (+), then choose Add Buddy.
  2. If you’re using a single buddy list, choose the account you want to use to chat with the buddy from the “Add to” pop-up menu.
  3. If the person you want to add has a compatible messaging account listed in Contacts, click the disclosure triangle next to the “Last name” field, choose his or her name from the list, then click Add. Otherwise, complete the remaining steps.
  4. Enter your buddy’s buddy name in the “Account name” field, and your buddy’s first and last name in the “First name” and “Last name” fields.
  5. Choose a group for this buddy from the “Add to group” pop-up menu. If you don’t want to add the buddy to a specific group, choose Buddies.
  6. Click Add.

Add buddies from your Bonjour list

You can add buddies from your Bonjour list, if the person publishes his or her email or instant message addresses and you have a compatible account.

Drag the person’s name from the Bonjour list to the list for another messaging account.

Remove buddies

You can’t remove people from the Bonjour list.

Select the buddy in a buddy list, choose Buddies > Remove Buddy, then click Remove.

Use buddy groups

Buddy groups offer a way to subdivide buddy lists into groups. You can’t organize Bonjour lists into groups.

You can do the following:
Option Description
Show or hide all buddy groups:   Choose View > Use Groups.
Open or close a buddy group:    Click the group name in the buddy list.
Create a buddy group:   Click Add (+) at the bottom of the buddy list, then choose Add Group. You can also Command (⌘)–click the names of the buddies you want in the new group, then choose Buddies > Create New Group with People.
Add a buddy to a group:   Drag his or her name into the group.
Add multiple buddies to the group:   Command (⌘)–click their names and then drag them into the group.
Add a buddy to more than one group:   Press Option and drag the buddy to each additional group.
Move a group to a different place in a buddy list:   Drag the group’s name until a blue line appears where you want to place the group.
Merge two groups:   Drag one of the groups until you see a blue rectangle around the name of the second group.

Buddies in the dragged group are merged into the selected group, and the dragged group is deleted.

Rename a buddy group:   Control-click the group, choose Rename Group, type a new name, then click Rename.
Delete a group:   Control-click its name in the buddy list, then click Delete Group.

If you want group members to remain in your buddy list, drag them outside the group before deleting the group.

Change your name at the top of your buddy lists

Your name, which appears at the top of your buddy lists, is the same as the name on your card in Contacts. This is also your Bonjour name.
  1. In Contacts, choose Card > Go to My Card.
  2. Click the Edit button, then type the name you want to use in the first and last name fields.
  3. Close Contacts.

Automatically add new buddies to the Recent Buddies group

The Recent Buddies group can appear in a buddy list showing AIM buddies. This group lists buddies you chat with but haven’t moved to another group in your buddy list. You can move these buddies by dragging them out of the Recent Buddies group into another location in the buddy list.

  1. Choose Messages > Preferences, then click Accounts.
  2. Select an AIM account.
  3. Click Account Information, then select “Add new buddies I chat with to Recent Buddies.”
Last Modified: Oct 20, 2015
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