Archive, delete & read conversations in Google Messages

You can move old or unwanted conversations into your archives, mark all messages as read, or delete them from Google Messages.

Important: Some of these steps only work on Android 6.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Touch and hold each conversation that you want to archive or delete.
   • Archive: To put the selected conversations into your archives, tap Archive . Archived conversations disappear from the Home screen, but you can still read them.
   • Mark all as read: Tap More Mark all as read.
   • Delete: To delete the selected conversations from Google Messages, tap Delete . If you use Google Messages as your default messaging app, deleted conversations will also be deleted from your device. If you delete a conversation or message, it cannot be recovered. This action is permanent.

Manage conversations

Manage messages in a conversation

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Touch and hold a message within a conversation. 
3. Choose an option:
   • Share on social media: Tap Share .
   • See more details: Tap Information .
   • Copy the message text: Tap Copy .
   • Forward a message to another person: Tap Forward .
   • Delete a message: Tap Delete .
   • Save an attachment, like a photo or sticker: Tap Save .

Put conversations back on the Home screen

You can move archived conversations back to your Home screen.

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Tap More Archived.
3. Touch and hold each conversation that you want to restore.
4. Tap Unarchive .

Note: If you send a message to an archived conversation, the conversation automatically returns to your Home screen.