Managing group chats

Add people, change the name, leave quietly.

Group chats hold up to 50 people. They work like 1:1 messages with a few extras for keeping the conversation organised.

Roles

Every group has one owner (whoever created it), any number of admins, and members. Admin powers are handed out by the owner.

ActionOwnerAdminMember
Send messages, react, replyYesYesYes
Add or remove peopleYesYesNo
Rename the group / change the photoYesYesNo
Pin a messageYesYesNo
Transfer ownershipYesNoNo
Delete the groupYesNoNo
Leave the groupYesYesYes

Common actions

1

Open the group info

Tap the group name at the top of the chat. Everything below lives on that screen.

2

Add or remove members (admins and owner)

Add people from the members list, or tap a name to remove them. Removed members can be re-added later. The owner can't be removed; transfer ownership first.

3

Edit the name or photo (admins and owner)

Each change posts a small system note in the chat so everyone sees what changed.

4

Mute or leave

Mute to stay in the group without the pings; leave to drop out entirely. The owner can also delete the group.

Notifications

Tip

Group chats are chatty, one notification per message by default. Mute the conversation and you'll still see messages on open, just no pings.

Member limit

50 people including you. If you need more reach, you want an event or an announcement, not a group chat, groups are sized for active back-and-forth.

Ownership

The owner can hand the group to someone else with Transfer ownership (the old owner becomes an admin). Leaving a group removes you and posts a "left the group" note; if you're the owner, transfer ownership before you go so the group keeps an owner.

Search inside a group

The search icon at the top of the chat searches that group's history only, handy for "wasn't the address…?" lookups.

Related articles