Tech trick: Pin important messages on your iPhone so you don’t forget about them

June 14, 2023

By Kim Komando

Social media platforms let you pin a post to the top of your page so your audience always sees it first. You don’t have to be an influencer to unleash the power of pinning.

Now you can do the same thing on your iPhone and computer. Go ahead and save entire conversations or pin just important links and computer programs.

You can pin things using iPhone Messenger or tack them onto your computer’s taskbar. Keep reading to learn how.

How to pin messages on your iPhone:

If you’re using iOS 15 or newer, you can use the Messages app to pin conversations and links for easy reference later. Save that vital convo so it doesn’t get lost next time someone calls to ask about that work meeting. It’s fast and easy.

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How to pin entire conversations on your iPhone:

• Open Messages.
• Tap and hold the conversation thread with the person you want to keep at the top of the list.
• Tap Pin.

The conversation will appear at the top of your Messages app until you unpin it.

How to unpin conversations on your iPhone

• Open the Messages app.
• Tap Edit.
• Tap Edit Pins.
• Tap the minus sign – on the conversation you want to unpin.

How to pin links on iPhone

• Open Messages.
• Select the conversation where the link can be found.
• Tap and hold the link you want to pin. 
• Tap Pin and you will see a pin icon appear as confirmation.

When you’re ready to view your pinned links, do this:

• Open the conversation where you pinned the info.
• Tap on the person’s profile photo.
• Scroll down and tap Pins.
• Tap See All.

You can also pin your frequently used computer programs to the taskbar for easy access. Then you won’t have to go hunting for it the next time you need to make a Zoom call.

How to pin programs to your Apple computer’s taskbar:

Here’s how to pin important programs to your taskbar where you can access them easily. Once they are pinned, you can launch them with a quick double-click. Follow these steps:

• Open the program you want to pin.
• Wait for the icon to load into the taskbar.
• Right-click the icon.
• In the menu that opens, select Options.
• Select Keep in doc. (NOTE: Keep in doc is the same as pinning on a Windows PC).

How to remove a pinned program from your taskbar:

• Right-click the icon of the program you want to remove.
• In the menu that opens, select Options.
• Uncheck the box next to Keep in doc.

These shortcuts are beneficial when you have multiple essential programs running simultaneously. You can easily navigate between programs to do things like copy and paste information faster.

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