A complete guide to organizing your text message inbox. Learn how to sort by unread messages, filter by user, and search for specific conversations by name, phone number, or keyword.
✨ When You Need This Guide
This guide is your go-to resource for navigating your main texting inbox. Use this if you're asking:
"I can't find a conversation I was just having."
"Why do my new messages sometimes appear at the top and other times they're mixed in with old ones?"
"How can I make sure all unread messages stay at the top of my inbox?"
"How do I search for a conversation if I only have the patient's phone number?"
Understanding the Inbox: The Blue Line and Sorting
Your inbox has a few key features to help you stay organized.
The Blue Line: A blue line to the left of a conversation means the message has not yet been opened by your team. Once opened, the line turns gray. Once you reply, the line disappears entirely.
Sorting: The inbox has two main viewing modes that change how conversations are ordered. This is the most common reason the view looks different from time to time.
✅ How to Control Your Inbox View
1. Choose Your Sorting Order
You can switch between two views to organize your inbox. This setting is usually found near the top of the conversation list.
Date/Unanswered (Recommended View): This is the "action-oriented" view. It prioritizes by putting all unread/unanswered messages at the very top, regardless of when they arrived. All other conversations are then listed chronologically below. This is the best view for making sure no new patient message is missed.
Date (Chronological View): This view works like a standard texting app. It sorts all conversations purely by the most recent activity (sent or received), with the newest conversations always at the top.
2. Filter and Search for Conversations
If you need to find a specific message, use the filter and search tools at the top of the page.
Filter by User: Click the "people" icon to see only the conversations assigned to or handled by a specific staff member.
Search by Date: Click the "Calendar" icon to select a Date Range and see only conversations that were sent/received in that time span.
Search By Name/Phone Number: Use the Search Box to look up a conversation by a Contact's Name or Phone Number. *If searching by number only enter numbers in the search box (e.g. 1111111111 vs (111)111-1111).
3. Archive to Clean Your Inbox
If a message doesn't need a reply, you can click the Archive button to clear it from your main inbox view, keeping things tidy. See our Archiving Guide for more details.
💡 Common Scenarios
What You Might Notice | Why It's Happening | What to Do |
A conversation I just replied to disappeared from the top of the list. | You are likely in the Date/Unanswered view. Once you reply, the message is no longer "unanswered," so it moves down into the chronological section below the other unanswered messages. | This is normal for this view. To see it at the top again, switch your sorting order to Date. Alternatively, you can always find it again quickly by using the search bar. |
All my new, unread messages are mixed in with old ones. | You are likely in the Date (chronological) view. | To fix this, simply switch your sorting order to Date/Unanswered. This will immediately move all conversations that need a reply to the top of the list. |
I want to clean up my inbox, but I'm afraid the 'Archive' button will permanently delete the conversation. | The 'Archive' feature is designed to act like a filing cabinet, not a trash can. It simply moves conversations out of your primary view to keep things tidy. | Archiving a conversation is safe and does not delete it. You can pull up an archived conversation at any time by using any of the searching methods discussed in this article. |
🎉 You'll Know It's Working When:
You can confidently switch between the Date and Date/Unanswered views to organize your inbox as needed.
You can successfully use the search box to find any conversation.
💬 Need Help? We're Here!
If you have other questions about managing your conversations, our support team is ready to help. Contact us at 800-563-0469 or support@getaloha.com.