Visual Space manual, Chat, Organize Direct Messages
Use this walkthrough to keep important conversations close, quiet noisy discussions, clear unread attention at the right scope, and step away when a conversation should no longer reach you. Most of these choices organize only your own **Messages** view. Blocking and leaving go further because they change who can communicate or participate.
Use this walkthrough to keep important conversations close, quiet noisy discussions, clear unread attention at the right scope, and step away when a conversation should no longer reach you. Most of these choices organize only your own Messages view. Blocking and leaving go further because they change who can communicate or participate.
Before You Start
You need to be signed in and have at least one conversation in Messages. Open the conversation list and decide what result you need before changing its state:
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Keep an active conversation near the top with Add to favorites.
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Suppress its unread dot and message pings with Mute while keeping it available.
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Clear an attention cue with Mark as read or Mark all as read after you have caught up or deliberately chosen to move on.
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Use Block user only when you need a communication boundary with the other person in a one-to-one conversation.
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Use Leave conversation when you no longer want to participate in a group.
Favorites, mute, and read state are personal. They do not notify other participants, alter messages, change membership, or reorganize anyone else's conversation list. A block affects communication across the pair, and leaving removes you from the group's active participant set.
Read The Attention Signals
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Open Messages - Choose Direct Messages and review the conversation list. Recent conversations appear first within their current section.
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Scan the row dots - A dot beside a conversation means that visible, unmuted conversation has unread messages for you.
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Check the shortcut dot - The Direct Messages shortcut shows a dot when at least one visible, unmuted conversation is unread. It gives you one overall signal without identifying which conversation changed.
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Open the conversation that needs attention - Selecting it clears its current row cue and lets you read in context. Messages that arrive while you remain in that open conversation are treated as read for that live view.
If the shortcut has a dot, use the conversation list to find the matching row dot. A muted conversation remains in the list but does not contribute either unread dot.
Keep Important Conversations In Favorites
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Open the row menu - Find the conversation you want to prioritize and open its conversation-row menu.
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Choose Add to favorites - The row moves from Conversations into Favorites. This placement is visible only to you.
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Verify the move - Find the same conversation under Favorites, then reopen its row menu. The action should now read Remove from favorites.
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Remove it when priorities change - Choose Remove from favorites. The row returns to Conversations without changing its messages, participants, or title.
Favorites are for durable access, not unread status. A favorite conversation can still be read, unread, muted, or active like any other conversation.
The open row menu separates everyday organization controls from leave and block actions without activating any of them.
Quiet A Conversation Without Hiding It
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Open the row menu - Choose the conversation whose pings you want to quiet.
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Choose Mute - The conversation stays in the list, but its unread dot and message pings are suppressed for you.
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Verify the muted state - Reopen the row menu and confirm that the action now reads Unmute. Do not expect the conversation to disappear.
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Restore attention later - Choose Unmute when you want normal pings and unread cues again.
Muting does not mark messages as read, delete content, or affect another participant's notifications. You can open and read the conversation normally while it is muted.
Clear One Or All Unread Cues
Choose the smallest read scope that matches what you have reviewed.
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Clear one conversation from its row - Open that conversation's row menu and choose Mark as read. Its unread row dot clears without changing the conversation's position, contents, or participants.
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Clear one conversation by opening it - Select the conversation and read it in context. Its current unread cue clears, and new messages delivered while it stays open are treated as read.
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Clear every conversation - Open the Direct Messages shortcut menu and choose Mark all as read. This advances your read state across Direct Messages rather than changing anyone else's view.
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Verify the result - The affected row dots should clear. After Mark all as read, the overall Direct Messages shortcut dot should also clear because no visible, unmuted conversation remains unread.
!Direct Messages shortcut menu showing Mark all as read
The shortcut menu applies read-state clearing across Direct Messages rather than to one selected row.
A later message can make an unmuted conversation unread again. Read controls acknowledge current activity; they do not silence future messages or remove history.
Block Or Unblock A One-To-One Conversation
Blocking is different from organizing attention. Use it when communication with the other person needs to stop, not as a substitute for mute.
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Open the one-to-one row menu - Find the direct conversation with the person and open its menu. Block user is a one-to-one action, so it is not offered as a group-conversation control.
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Choose Block user - The block takes effect across the pair. You cannot start or send Direct Messages to one another, and neither of you can be added to a conversation that would combine the blocked pair.
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Verify the boundary - Reopen the row menu and confirm that the action now reads Unblock user.
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Restore communication deliberately - Choose Unblock user when you want the pairwise restriction removed, then verify that the row menu again shows Block user.
Blocking does not erase the existing conversation or its retained history. It prevents communication and incompatible participant additions while the block is active. If you only want to suppress attention signals, use Mute instead.
Leave A Group Conversation
Leaving is a membership change. It removes the group from your available conversations, but it does not delete the discussion for people who remain.
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Check the group first - Confirm the participant stack and conversation name so you do not leave the wrong discussion. A group that has not been renamed may appear as Group DM.
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Choose Leave conversation - Use Leave conversation from the group row menu or from the selected conversation controls.
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Review the confirmation - The prompt names the conversation and asks whether you are sure. Choose Cancel if anything looks wrong.
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Confirm with Leave - Choose Leave to remove yourself from the active participant set.
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Verify the result - Confirm that the conversation is no longer available in your Messages list. The remaining participants can continue using it.
Leaving is not a clean-history or delete action. If a remaining participant adds you again, the same conversation becomes available to you with its retained topics, messages, and attachments. Review that restored history and audience before continuing.
Troubleshooting
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The row menu does not open - On desktop, right-click or Control-click the conversation row. On a touch device, press and hold the row.
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A favorite seems to be missing - Look under Favorites rather than its former place in Conversations. Reopen the row menu and check whether it says Remove from favorites.
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A muted conversation is still visible - This is expected. Mute suppresses its dot and pings; it does not hide or remove the row.
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An unread dot returned - A new message may have arrived after you marked the conversation as read. Open the row with the dot to review the latest activity.
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The shortcut dot remains after Mark all as read - Check whether a new unmuted message arrived during the update. Open Messages and look for a row dot before trying Mark all as read again.
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Block user is missing - Open a one-to-one conversation row. Group conversations do not offer the pairwise block action from their row menu.
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A group disappeared after Leave - This is the intended result. A remaining participant must add you again before the retained conversation can return to your list.
