The Google Messages app comes with many exciting features, one of which is the ability to pin important conversations to the top of the timeline. Here’s when you should use this feature and how to use it.
When to Pin a Conversation in Google Messages
Read receipts, RCS chat, and emoji reactions are just a few of the many features available in the Google Messages app. However, the feature I like the most is the app’s ability to pin important conversations.
These days, SMS is one of the many channels companies use to reach their customers. Companies send SMS messages to inform you about their latest product launches, offers, and more. Government bodies also frequently use SMS services to spread news that concerns all the residents of a state. However, these extra messages often clutter the Google Messages app, making it harder to find the ones that matter most to you.
To help you in this situation, Google has introduced the pinned conversation feature in its messaging app. As you can guess, the pinned conversation feature allows you to pin important conversations at the top of the Google Messages app.
Pinning a conversation in the Google Messages app ensures that it stays at the top and doesn’t get pushed down by new messages. Interestingly, this feature isn’t exclusive to Google Messages. Many other messaging apps, such as Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, Instagram, and WhatsApp, offer a similar option. As a heads-up, you can pin up to three chats on both WhatsApp and Instagram.
In the early days of this feature, Google Messages only allowed users to pin up to three conversations. However, based on user demand and feedback, Google has regularly updated this limit. In 2023, Google increased the cap from three pinned conversations to five in the Messages app. At the time of writing, Google Messages allows up to 20 pinned conversations. That being said, let’s check out how you can actually pin a conversation in Google Messages.
How to Pin a Conversation in Google Messages
Pinning a conversation in Google Messages is quite easy and very similar to how you do it on Instagram or WhatsApp. You simply need to tap and hold the conversation you want to pin, then choose the pin icon that appears at the top.
Once you have pinned a conversation, you will see a pin icon next to it. When you reach the limit of 20 pinned conversations and try to pin a new one, a pop-up will appear informing you that you can only pin up to 20 conversations. To pin a new conversation in this case, you will need to unpin a previous one. To do this, tap and hold a pinned conversation and select the unpin icon that appears at the top. Deleting a pinned conversation will also unpin it and make room for a new one to be pinned.
Additional Things You Can Do to Keep Track of Important Conversations
In addition to pinning a conversation, you can take advantage of a few other Google Messages features to avoid losing track of your important conversations. The first is the Starred message feature, which allows you to mark an important message.
To do this, tap and hold the message you want quick access to, then choose the Star icon at the top. In the future, when you want to locate all your Starred messages, open the Google Messages app, tap the search field, and select the Starred icon from the menu that appears.
Google Messages also allows you to prioritize conversations. To do this, open the Google Messages app and tap a conversation whose notifications you don’t want to miss. Tap the contact name and choose “Notifications.” Select “Priority” from the list, and then enable the “Bubble This Conversation” toggle.
That’s about it. You will not miss notifications from the selected conversation, as your phone will sound even when it is set to silent upon receiving a new message from that conversation. Furthermore, a floating bubble icon will appear on your screen when you receive a message from it.
Lastly, you also have the option to add an important conversation widget to your home screen. This way, instead of opening the Google Messages app and searching for a particular conversation, you can pin it directly to your home screen to quickly send a message.
The steps to pin a conversation widget on the home screen may vary across different smartphone brands. On a Google Pixel, you need to tap and hold a blank space on the home screen and choose “Widgets” from the menu that appears. Tap “Conversations,” select the “Let’s Chat Tonight” button, and then tap “Add.” Next, select the conversation you want to add to the home screen.
The selected conversation widget will be added to your home screen, and you can adjust its size according to your preference.
That’s everything about the Google Messages pin feature. I’d highly recommend starting to use this and the other discussed features to quickly access all your important chats and never miss any updates from them.
