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Q. I keep missing important text messages on my iPhone. I get a lot of texts so sometimes I miss important messages because I don’t see the notifications, or they get buried in the long list of text messages I get if I’ve been off of my phone for a while. I’ve missed a couple of important text messages from my boss, which isn’t great for my job.
Do you have any tips to help me make sure I see important text messages on my iPhone?
A. Yes, it can be frustrating to miss important text messages, especially from someone who’s expecting a quick answer from you. The good news is, there are ways you can avoid missing text messages from an important person.
These ways involve changing a few settings on your iPhone, so grab your phone and get ready to make it work better for you!
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Pin a Text Thread to the Top of Your Messages
You can make text messages from a person (or group of people) appear at the top of the screen in your Messages app every time you open the app to check for messages. By pinning a thread to the top of your list of text messages, you can see text messages from an important person as soon as you open your Messages app.
About Pinned Text Threads
Pinned text threads appear at the top of your screen in the Messages app on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac computer.
As of iOS 14, you can pin up to nine text threads to the top of your screen.
You may want to pin text threads from your boss, from loved ones, or other important contacts. If you’re planning an event, you may want to temporarily pin a group text to the top of your screen.
How to Pin a Text Thread to the Top of Your Messages App
To pin a text message thread, open the Messages app, then press and hold a message. A menu will appear.
Tap Pin to pin the thread to the top of your messages.
You can quickly add multiple threads to the top of your messages list. In the Messages app, tap Edit or the More icon 
. Tap Edit Pins 
in the drop-down menu, then tap the Pin button 
. Next, tap Done.
Also see => How to End Unwanted Calls and Text Messages on Your iPhone
Set a Custom Text Tone and Vibration for a Contact
Want to be alerted as soon as you receive a text message from someone important? You can receive a unique notification when you get a text from an important person by setting a custom text tone and vibration for their text messages. If you change these settings, you’ll hear a unique sound and/orr feel a unique vibration when you receive a text message from that person.
Setting a Custom Text Tone
To set a custom text tone for a contact, open the Contacts app, then search for the person’s name.
In their contact card, tap Edit. Scroll down to Text Tone and tap Default. Under Alert Tones, choose a unique text tone for that contact. Tap Done.
Setting a Custom Vibration
You can also choose a custom vibration for a contact, so your phone will vibrate in a unique pattern when you receive a text from that person. That way, you can know if you receive a text from that person even when your phone is silent.
To set a custom vibration for a contact, open the Contacts app, then search for the person’s name.
In their contact card, tap Edit. Scroll down to Text Tone and tap Default. Then, next to Vibration, tap Default again. Choose a unique vibration for that contact. Tap Done.
Emergency Bypass
About Emergency Bypass
If you really need to be notified as soon as you get a text message from someone, turn Emergency Bypass on for that contact.
By turning on Emergency Bypass for someone, you will allow sound and vibrations for calls and text messages from that contact even when your iPhone ring switch is set to silent or when Focus/Do Not Disturb is turned on. In other words, the only way to silence calls and text messages from that person would be to power off your iPhone.
Note => You should only turn on Emergency Bypass for someone whose text messages are essential. Turning on Emergency Bypass for someone who texts you funny cat memes 50 times a day would not be your best decision.
How to Turn on Emergency Bypass for a Contact
To turn on Emergency Bypass for a contact, open the Contacts app, then search for the person’s name.
In their contact card, tap Edit. Scroll down to Text Tone and tap Default. Slide the Emergency Bypass switch to On. Tap Done.
Check out => How to Hide Spam Text Messages on Your iPhone
Allow Notifications for Text Messages
Make sure that you are receiving notifications for text messages. Go into Settings => Notifications => Messages. Turn on Allow Notifications and Time Sensitive Notifications. You may also want to adjust your Banner Style to Persistent.
While you’re in this section of Settings, check your other notification options to make sure they work best for you. The selections you make here will apply to all text message notifications, not just text messages from VIPs. You don’t want to be overly-notified by text messages, especially if you receive many text messages throughout the day.
Your Thoughts
Have you ever missed an important text message? Have you used any of these tips to be sure you don’t miss important text messages? What do you do to ensure you don’t miss important text messages?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
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*Frustration image (edited) from Shutterrstock via PicMonkey Pro
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Thank you for sharing these great tips on how to avoid missing important text messages on an iPhone. It can be incredibly frustrating to realize that you missed an important message, especially if it was time-sensitive or urgent.
Hi Noah, Yes, this was an excellent question from a Wonder of Tech reader. I’m so glad this information was helpful to you. I hope with these tips you never miss an important text message again!