It can be a pain when you read a message and then forget to reply later. Unfortunately, iOS doesn’t have a straightforward option to mark messages as unread. But, there are some neat tricks to help you remember to circle back to those important conversations.
Method 1: Forwarding the message to yourself
If you prefer a visual nudge right in your Messages app, this method works great. It makes the message appear as a new, unread message in your list.
- Go to the specific message you want to be reminded about. Long-press on that message until you see the options.
- Tap on ‘More…’ from the menu.
- Select the forward arrow icon in the bottom-right.
- In the ‘To:’ field, type in your own contact and send the message to yourself.
This forwarded message will then pop up as a new, unread conversation, reminding you to deal with the original message.
Method 2: Using Siri to set a reminder
A quick way to make sure you don’t forget is to let Siri remind you. It’s easy and won’t slow down your workflow.
- While you’re in the message thread in the Messages app, activate Siri by saying “Hey Siri” or by pressing the Home button.
- Tell Siri, “Remind me about this in one hour,” or set a time that works for you.
Siri will then make a reminder linked to that specific message. When the time hits, you’ll get a notification to reply.
These workarounds should help you manage your messages effectively until Apple rolls out a true “mark as unread” feature.