Use these hidden iMessage tips and tricks to get the most out of your iPhone.

iMessage lets you send all kinds of messages to friends and family. With iMessage, you can send data-based text, photo, video, and audio messages to anyone on any Apple device. That said, a ton of users are unaware of many iMessage tips and tricks. Thankfully, we’ve created this guide to show you some of the hidden iMessage tips and tricks.

These iMessage tips and tricks will let you have enjoyable conversations with other Apple users.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Drag and drop a message to other conversations

Why waste your time typing a whole message again when you can simply drag and drop it to other conversations? With this hidden iMessage trick, you can pick a message or media and carry it across conversations.

Using one finger, you can move content to other conversations without notifying users. Simply follow the steps below.

1. Start the Messages app on your iPhone and enter a conversation.
2. Choose the message or media that you plan to drag and drop. It can be anything—text, audio, link, images, and even emojis.
3. Press and drag the message. It can be from the sender or the receiver.
4. You’ll see the text bubble float and move along with your finger.
5. Now, use your other hand to switch to a different conversation and drop it into the text field. Tap Send when done.

You can also drag and drop memojis, but remember they can only be delivered to other iMessage users.

2. Send Messages With Effects

iMessage is an entertaining messaging platform because of its various message delivery effects. There is a hidden iMessage trick that lets users change the way texts appear for the recipient of that iMessage.

To add iMessage effects on the screen, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Messages app on your iPhone and type in your message.
2. Press and hold the Send button to bring up the Effects menu.
3. You can choose a Bubble Effect by which the effect is only displayed on a particular message. The Screen Effect, on the other hand, is displayed on the entire screen.
4. Tap Send.

iMessage offers great effects you can add for several occasions, like a bunch of balloons for wishing a birthday and fireworks for wishing a New Year. These animations are displayed only once.

3. Pin a Conversation to the Top

Most people like to keep their loved ones highlighted—even in conversations. Thankfully, there is a hidden iMessage trick that can enable you to do exactly that. The iOS 16 update includes a setting that lets users pin conversations of their choice.

You can pin a maximum of nine conversations to the top. It helps you remember important contacts and ensures that you promptly reply. Also, it enables you to quickly access chats, eliminating the stress of scrolling down.

So, if you are a regular user with a ton of messages, pinning the most important ones is a good option. To pin a conversation on iMessage, follow the steps below:

1. Start the Messages app on your iPhone.
2. Long-press on a message thread and wait for the context menu to appear.
3. Select Pin to bring that conversation to the top.
4. To unpin any conversation, repeat the above steps and choose Unpin.

4. Share Location in iMessage

Location sharing has been a controversial topic because of privacy reasons. But sometimes, sharing your location with others is very important. Thankfully, this iMessage trick will enable you to send locations to others privately.

To share your location on iMessage, follow the steps below.

1. Start the Messages app on your iPhone and open a conversation.
2. Tap the contact name located at the top.
3. Choose Send My Current Location.
4. Select Allow While Using the App if you’re privacy conscious. Your location will be shared with the recipient.

Stop sharing location by tapping the contact name and then Stop Sharing My Location. But if your iPhone shows a “Location Not Available” error, try to toggle it off and on, restart your iPhone, or switch to cellular data.

5. Edit and Unsend Messages

iOS 16 offers the Edit and Unsend features on messages app, which you can use when you send something wrong or inappropriate. While the recipient won’t be able to see the contents of the original message after you’ve edited or unsent it, they can still see that changes were made.

Follow the steps below to edit the iMessage texts on your iPhone:

1. Tap and hold the message that you want to edit.
2. You can choose Edit from the context menu to open a box for making desired changes.
3. Now, you can either tap on the blue tick icon to confirm your edits or the cross icon to cancel.

You can edit an iMessage five times in a 15-minute window. However, if you feel something must be removed from the chat, long-press on the message and press Undo Send.

The message will be removed, but the recipient will be notified that you removed something from the chat. You can undo a message within two minutes of sending it.

6. Mark Messages as Unread

People who read messages and respond later can miss out on many important things—work-related or personal. To counter this, you can use this hidden iMessage trick to mark those messages as unread.

The contact icon in the list will have a small blue dot on the left as if the messages are still unread. To mark a conversation as unread, follow the steps below:

1. Locate the conversation you want to mark as unread but do not open it.
2. Tap and hold the contact name until a new menu appears.
3. Select Mark as Unread.

7. Reply to a Specific Message

When talking to someone close, more often than not, we share a lot of stuff and get carried away. This makes the conversation a bit confusing and causes problems and misunderstandings. The good news is that iMessage offers a Reply feature.

You can select any text or media to reply to by following the steps below:

1. Press and hold the message you want to respond to. It can be from you or the other person.
2. Select Reply and type the message you want to send as a reply.
3. Press Send.

Get the Most of your iPhone with these iMessage’s tips and tricks

iMessage is an exciting and fun messaging service to connect with other Apple users. You can try out different tips and tricks like directly replying to a chat, sharing location, sending attractive effects, and prioritizing conversations.

Other than that, users can also edit and undo sent messages, adding to their convenience. These iMessage tips and tricks might not be new on social media or instant messaging apps, but they have certainly changed how we communicate on iMessage.