WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It offers a convenient way to stay in touch with friends, family, coworkers, and more through instant messaging, voice and video calls. One handy WhatsApp feature on iPhone is the ability to select multiple chats at once, allowing you to efficiently delete, archive, mute, or mark conversations as read/unread.
Selecting Multiple Chats
Selecting multiple chats on WhatsApp for iPhone is easy. Here are the steps:
- Open the WhatsApp app on your iPhone.
- Tap on the ‘Chats’ tab at the bottom to view your message threads.
- Tap and hold your finger on one chat thread until you see a blue checkbox appear next to it.
- While still holding, use your other hand to tap on additional chats you want to select. A blue checkbox will appear next to each one as you tap it.
- Once you’ve selected all the chats you want, lift your finger off the screen.
And that’s it! You can now perform bulk actions like archiving, deleting, muting, and marking as read/unread on all the selected conversations.
Archiving Multiple Chats
Archiving chats is a great way to organize your inbox and hide conversations you don’t need clogging up your chat list. Here’s how to archive multiple chats at once on iPhone:
- Select the chats you want to archive using the steps above.
- At the top of the screen, tap ‘Edit’.
- Tap ‘Archive’ on the menu that appears.
- Confirm by tapping ‘Archive’ again on the pop-up.
The selected chats will now be archived and removed from your chat list. To view them again, tap on your profile picture in the top-left corner > Archived.
Deleting Multiple Chats
Over time, you may want to delete old or unwanted conversations. Follow these steps to delete multiple WhatsApp chats on your iPhone at once:
- Select the chats you want to delete by long pressing and tapping as described above.
- Tap ‘Edit’ at the top of the screen.
- Tap ‘Delete’ on the menu.
- Confirm the deletion by tapping ‘Delete’ again on the pop-up.
The chats will be permanently deleted. Note that this will only delete the conversation – the contacts themselves will remain in your address book.
Muting Multiple Chats
If you want to mute notifications from certain busy group chats or contacts temporarily, you can mute multiple conversations at once:
- Select the chats you want to mute.
- Tap ‘Edit’ at the top.
- Tap ‘Mute’ on the menu.
- Choose how long you want to mute for – 8 hours, 1 week, or always.
- Confirm by tapping ‘Mute’ on the pop-up.
This will mute notifications from the selected chats so you won’t be disturbed. Remember to unmute them later under your profile picture > Muted.
Marking as Read/Unread
You can also mark multiple conversations as read or unread quickly using bulk select. Here’s how:
- Select the desired chats.
- Tap ‘Edit’ at the top.
- Tap ‘Mark as Unread’ or ‘Mark as Read’.
This will mark all the chosen chats as read or unread in just a few taps. It’s great for clearing out that alert icon when you don’t have time to read everything.
Other Bulk Actions
In addition to the actions above, selecting multiple chats on iPhone also allows you to:
- Forward multiple chats to a contact or group.
- Star or unstar multiple favorite chats.
- Reply to multiple chats at once.
- Search within multiple conversations.
So if you need to perform the same action on various chats, use bulk select to save yourself time and taps!
Limitations
While the bulk select feature is very useful, there are some limitations to be aware of:
- You can only select up to 100 chats at once.
- Some actions like delete and archive will only apply to your side of the conversation.
- You cannot pin or unpin multiple chats in bulk.
- Calls cannot be made to multiple contacts at once.
So bulk actions only go so far. But it’s still a handy way to manage and organize your inbox more efficiently.
Tips for Bulk Managing Chats
Here are some tips to effectively utilize bulk select for chatting app organization:
- Archive old chats you don’t need cluttering your inbox but want to keep.
- Mute noisy group chats before going to bed or when you need to focus.
- Delete conversations taking up space that you no longer need.
- Mark all conversations as read with one tap when you don’t have time to view them.
- Star important chats so they stand out.
Get in the habit of using bulk actions instead of managing chats one by one. It will save you so much time!
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I select all chats on iPhone?
There is no “Select All” option for chats on iPhone. You have to manually tap and select each conversation one by one, up to a maximum of 100 chats.
Can I recover deleted chats on iPhone?
Unfortunately no, when you delete a chat it is permanently erased and cannot be recovered. Make sure you really want to delete the chat before confirming the deletion.
Why can’t I select more than 100 chats?
WhatsApp has placed a limit of 100 chats for bulk selection. This is likely due to technical constraints and to prevent straining the app and your phone.
How do I unmute a muted chat?
Go to your profile, tap Muted, select the muted chats you want to unmute, tap Unmute and confirm. The chats will return to normal with notifications enabled.
Can I bulk forward chats on iPhone?
Yes, after selecting chats tap Forward at the top and choose a contact or group to forward the chats to. Note that media will be sent as links rather than files.
Conclusion
Selecting multiple chats on WhatsApp for iPhone is an easy way to manage your conversations more efficiently. With a few taps you can archive, delete, mute, mark as read/unread, and forward chats in bulk rather than one by one. Take advantage of this handy feature to organize your inbox and save time while chatting. Just be aware of the limitations, and be careful when deleting chats as the action is permanent.