Have a group conversation in Messages on iPad

Use the Messages app to send a group text message. In a group conversation, you can call people’s attention to specific messages and even collaborate on projects.

Send a new message to a group

You can send a message to multiple people to start a group conversation.

Tap at the top of the screen to start a new conversation.
Enter the phone number, contact name, or Apple ID of each recipient, or tap , then choose contacts.
Note: If one or more of your recipients isn’t using iMessage, messages appear in green bubbles instead of blue ones.
Tap the text field, type your message, then tap .

Add someone to an existing group conversation

If you have at least three people in a group conversation, you can add additional contacts (as long as everyone in the group is using an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac and has turned on iMessage). Otherwise, you need to start a new group conversation.

Tap the group message you want to add someone to.
Tap the group name at the top of the conversation.
Tap Add Contact to add a new person to the conversation.

Tip: To remove someone from a group conversation, swipe left on their name, then tap Remove.

Leave a group conversation

You can leave a group message (as long as everyone in the group has an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac and has turned on iMessage).

Tap the group message you want to leave.
Tap the group name at the top of the conversation.
Scroll down and tap Leave this Conversation.

Regardless of how many people are in your group conversation, you can also mute the conversation so you don’t get notifications.

Mention people in a group conversation

You can mention someone by name in a group message to call their attention to a specific message, and they’ll get a notification (as long as everyone in the group has an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac and has turned on iMessage). Depending on their settings, they’ll be notified even if they have the conversation muted.

In a conversation, begin typing a contact’s name in the text field.
Tap the contact’s name when it appears.
You can also mention a contact in Messages by typing @ followed by the contact’s name.
To set your own notification preferences for when you’re mentioned in Messages, go to Settings > Messages > Notify Me.

Change the name and image of a group conversation

You can name a group conversation and choose an image to represent it (as long as everyone in the group has an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac and has turned on iMessage).

Tap the name or number at the top of the conversation.
Tap Change Name and Photo, then choose an option.

For more information about the group message features available when some members of the group don’t have an Apple device with iMessage turned on, see the Apple Support article Send a group text message.

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iPad User Guide