# Mark Chat as Unread **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Proposal\ **Created:** [July 15, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497 "2019-07-15T16:31:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Simon](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/simon/32/287_2.png) [@Simon](https://forum.delta.chat/u/Simon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/1 "2019-07-15T16:31:04Z")
Marking a chat as unread is a helpful feature for organization. Like when you open a chat and and want to come back later to answer you can mark it as unread to highlight it. Look at telegram to see what it can look like. The only difficulty here could be to sync this with your other devices. ---
**Author:** ![webratte](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/webratte/32/16_2.png) [@webratte](https://forum.delta.chat/u/webratte)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/2 "2019-07-15T16:51:42Z")
I would like this feature. Very often I read a message and want replay later. But I forget it because is marked as read. Wouldn’t it be possible to mark the last mail on the server as “unread” as I can do it e.g. in K9? Now all clients should see it’s unread. I don’t know is there really a way to do this. ---
**Author:** ![agschaid](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/agschaid/32/289_2.png) [@agschaid](https://forum.delta.chat/u/agschaid)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/3 "2019-07-16T21:01:23Z")
> [@webratte](#): > > Wouldn’t it be possible to mark the last mail on the server as “unread” as I can do it e.g. in K9? > > Now all clients should see it’s unread. I am not sure what you mean with “the last mail”. But yes: I can mark an email as **unread** in K-9. And yes: that status propagates to my web client I am not familiar with IMAP at all. But I think it is related to the `\seen` flag ([https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501#page-11](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501#page-11)) ---
**Author:** ![webratte](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/webratte/32/16_2.png) [@webratte](https://forum.delta.chat/u/webratte)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 4:07am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/4 "2019-07-17T04:07:56Z")
OK, I will try to describe it a little bit clearer. I this thread we talk about “mark a chat as unread and share this state to other synced clients”. So my idea is to mark the last message of a chat as unread. This way the other clients could “see”, this message is unread and could also mark the chat as unread. Now something a little bit off topic but maybe related: The OX guys have implemented in there OX Coi App the great feature “flag a message” ([https://github.com/open-xchange/ox-coi/issues/134).](https://github.com/open-xchange/ox-coi/issues/134).) I also would like this option. Probably the DC guys know this already because they work together with the OX team 😀 ---
**Author:** ![agschaid](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/agschaid/32/289_2.png) [@agschaid](https://forum.delta.chat/u/agschaid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 7:32am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/5 "2019-07-17T07:32:23Z")
First of all sorry @webratte : my tired brain interpreted your “as I can do it in K-9” as “can I do it in K-9?” and that is what I jumped in to answer 😉 I now also understand what you meant by “last mail” Again I am no expert in IMAP but of all the flags that can be applied to an email there appear two to be of interest for the feature(s) discussed here: - `\seen` : deleting that one marks an email as unread. One could delete that flag on “the last mail” of a chat to effectively display the the whole chat as unread. (This is what @webratte described, right?) - `\flag` : the documentation indicates that this one can be set to bookmark/star an individual message. I am quite sure that is what the linked OX Coi feature is built upon. As far as I understand the documentation (and experience it in everyday life) those flags are synchronized across multiple devices. So yes: other clients should be able to “see it”. Here is one thought: Do you want to mark the chat just temporarily as unread (that means until the chat is opened the next time on any device) or do you want to have it permanently marked as unread until you explicitly lift the mark? The former should be technically quite easy. The latter might be a bit more challenging since it would (as I think) require a custom flag. The documentation on flags says this: > Servers MAY permit the client to define new keywords in the mailbox So it should be doable. But it might not be sure across all email service providers that this flag gets distributed (in which case the “mark as unread” would only take effect on the device it was set on) By the way: good feature. I am in favor. ---
**Author:** ![Caliandroid](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/caliandroid/32/1053_2.png) [@Caliandroid](https://forum.delta.chat/u/Caliandroid)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/6 "2021-02-28T20:30:17Z")
Any updates to “mark as unread” ? I guess this “normal” e-mail feature is a must-have for any messenger (especially if it is buit upon e-mail standards. It happens quite often that i forget to reply because i cannot mark the message as unread (or as important). ---
**Author:** ![anon43200645](https://forum.delta.chat/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/3ec8ea/32.png) [@anon43200645](https://forum.delta.chat/u/anon43200645)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/8 "2022-07-15T12:59:44Z")
> [@Highlight chats](https://support.delta.chat/t/highlight-chats/2151/2): > > We already have pinned chats, also “mark as unread” is resolved automatically when opening the chat again, but marking chats for work, friends, family is “permanent” marking right? also there is still the challenge of multi device sync and maybe also a question about imap sync? ---
**Author:** ![missytake](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/missytake/32/591_2.png) [@missytake](https://forum.delta.chat/u/missytake)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 11:08am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/9 "2022-09-26T11:08:02Z")
regarding multi-device sync: we have CONDSTORE support now, whether a message is read is already synced across devices, couldn’t we use the same mechanism to synchronize when a message is marked as unread again? ---
**Author:** ![monperrus](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/monperrus/32/2244_2.png) [@monperrus](https://forum.delta.chat/u/monperrus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 10:32am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/10 "2025-02-10T10:32:10Z")
this feature is very important for email workflows where unread = TODO and read = DONE. ---
**Author:** ![link2xt](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/link2xt/32/1971_2.png) [@link2xt](https://forum.delta.chat/u/link2xt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 1:06pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/11 "2025-02-10T13:06:40Z")
Soon there is a feature to bookmark messages, it can be used to bookmark TODOs. ---
**Author:** ![adbenitez](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/adbenitez/32/2323_2.png) [@adbenitez](https://forum.delta.chat/u/adbenitez)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/12 "2025-02-12T00:23:29Z")
and also since the title is about marking a whole chat as “unread”, it is easier to do by pinning the chat, I pin chats when I received something from someone that requires me “to do” something and I can’t do it atm ---
**Author:** ![stillgreenmoss](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/stillgreenmoss/32/2458_2.png) [@stillgreenmoss](https://forum.delta.chat/u/stillgreenmoss)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/13 "2025-02-18T15:43:22Z")
just chiming in here as another user for whom the “mark as unread” feature is very important. using pins to mark a chat as “todo” does not work for me because i’m already pinning chats for other reasons, i.e. to find that specific chat quickly, to remember to text that person often, etc. pins do not mean “to do” for me, unread is the only thing that means “todo” for me, and i use unread this way in all my other messaging platforms (regular email, signal, discord, element, zulip, etc etc etc.) from my perspective this is a blocker to me using delta chat as a serious messaging platform. is this thread the correct place to advocate for this feature, or is there somewhere else that would be more effective for me to advocate for this feature (the android app issue tracker, for example)? i love delta chat so much but the lack of “mark as unread” is a major barrier to deeper adoption for me, thank you so much \<3 ---
**Author:** ![Minim](https://forum.delta.chat/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@Minim](https://forum.delta.chat/u/Minim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 2:22pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/14 "2025-09-30T14:22:27Z")
Duplicate threads: > [@Mark messages as unread](https://support.delta.chat/t/mark-messages-as-unread/4077): > > It would be very useful to be able to mark one or more chat as read, after having opened them. On the drop -down menu, however, I find only the option “scores as a read”. Thank you > [@"Mark as Unread"](https://support.delta.chat/t/mark-as-unread/4152): > > On DeltaChat/ArcaneChat Android, there is a useful “Mark as read” button. However, when selecting read messages, I would be happy to see a “Mark as unread” button, instead. ---
**Author:** ![pqs](https://forum.delta.chat/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/f0a364/32.png) [@pqs](https://forum.delta.chat/u/pqs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 9:00am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/15 "2025-11-12T09:00:00Z")
I second this is a necessary feature. Pinning is for keeping threads handy. Marking unread is for when I want to answer a message later. I guess a lot of people use this feature in WhatsApp and Telegram, also in standard e-mail clients. ---
**Author:** ![link2xt](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/link2xt/32/1971_2.png) [@link2xt](https://forum.delta.chat/u/link2xt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 5:28am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/16 "2025-11-15T05:28:30Z")
> [@pqs](#): > > I second this is a necessary feature. Pinning is for keeping threads handy. Marking unread is for when I want to answer a message later. For this you can start drafting a reply. Quote a message and start writing something, but don’t finish and don’t send. A chat with a draft is going to stay at the top. ---
**Author:** ![pqs](https://forum.delta.chat/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/f0a364/32.png) [@pqs](https://forum.delta.chat/u/pqs)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 8:49am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/17 "2025-11-15T08:49:40Z")
> [@link2xt](#): > > For this you can start drafting a reply. Quote a message and start writing something, but don’t finish and don’t send. A chat with a draft is going to stay at the top. Nice. But I think many users will still expect a mark unread feature that propagates to all devices ---
**Author:** ![r10s](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/r10s/32/1513_2.png) [@r10s](https://forum.delta.chat/u/r10s)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 8:22am UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/18 "2026-03-16T08:22:17Z")
there is some progress on this feature, we did a core implementation already, it will land in one of the next releases, sooner or later 🙂 > > > this adds an api to make the newest incoming message of a chat as "fresh", so th…at UI can offer a "mark chat unread" option as usual for messengers (eg. swipe right on iOS toggels between "read" and "unread"). > > "mark unread" is one of the most requested missing features \[^1\], used by many ppl to organize their every day messenger usage - tho "pinning" and "saved messages" are similar, it seems to be missed often. > > after abandoning a lot of complex solutions, > we follow a very simple approach here > and just reset the state to \`MessageState::InFresh\`. this does not introduce new states or flows. > > therefore, chats without any incoming message cannot be marked as fresh. in practise, this is not really an issue, as the "mark fresh" is usually used to undo a "mark noticed" operation - and then you have incoming message. > also, most status messages as "all messages are e2ee" count as incoming. > > to avoid double sending of MDN, > we remove \`Param::WantsMdn\` once the MDN is scheduled. in case MDN are used for syncing, as introduced at https://github.com/chatmail/core/pull/7738, MDN is still sent as before. > > many other messenger show a "badge without number", if we want that as well, > we can always track the "manually set as fresh" state in a parameter. but for now, it is fine without and showing a "1", which alsso makes sense as badges may be summed up. > > there is an iOS pr that uses this new feature at https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-ios/pull/3055: > > https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2a8c3ab7-a5ec-47e3-a5fe-3d5b5336ce10 > > jsonrpc is left out until api is settled. > > also out of scope is synchronisation - > main reason is that "mark noticed" is not synced as well, so we avoid an imbalance here. both, "mark noticed" as well as "mark fresh" should be synced however, as soon as this feature is merged. this is discussed at https://github.com/chatmail/core/issues/7965 > > \[^1\]: the feature is proposed in the forum eg \[here\](https://support.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/6), \[here\](https://support.delta.chat/t/mark-messages-as-unread/4077) or \[here\](https://support.delta.chat/t/mark-as-unread/4152), but also several times on mastodon and in different other chats ---
**Author:** ![r10s](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/r10s/32/1513_2.png) [@r10s](https://forum.delta.chat/u/r10s)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/19 "2026-10-03T13:13:04Z")
yeah! meanwhile, the feature is rolled out. it is available at places you would expect it to be: ![Screenshot 2026-10-03 at 15.10.59](https://support.delta.chat/uploads/default/original/2X/3/35275d4873928e8251491e8060d11d0767994449.png) ![Screenshot 2026-10-03 at 15.07.42](https://support.delta.chat/uploads/default/original/2X/9/9d2070a8731e17ac537d581999a49c72758d2925.png) ![IMG_2713](https://support.delta.chat/uploads/default/original/2X/9/9b27e10ab06af993c00ba10c49b622dc1a9c85c0.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![r10s](https://forum.delta.chat/user_avatar/forum.delta.chat/r10s/32/1513_2.png) [@r10s](https://forum.delta.chat/u/r10s)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://forum.delta.chat/t/mark-chat-as-unread/497/20 "2026-10-10T13:13:05Z")
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