The row of chips under the search box in the Inbox narrows your conversations to the ones that need you. Anyone who can open the Inbox sees them. You can pick one chip at a time.
Where to find them
Open Inbox in the left nav. The Search conversations... box finds conversations by the customer's name, phone or email, or by words in the messages. If your role can't see customers' contact details, it matches customers by name only. Under the box you'll see the chips. Hover over a chip to read a short explanation. Under the Messages title, a line such as "3 unread" counts conversations. It is the same number as the badge on the sidebar's Inbox item.
The chips, in order
- All: every conversation, newest first. It has no number on it.
- Unread: conversations with a message you haven't opened yet.
- Needs reply: the customer sent the latest message and nobody has opened it yet. This is your reply queue.
- Urgent: the AI flagged the latest message as urgent. See Inbox labels: Urgent, Booking, Question and Unreviewed.
- Mine: conversations whose customer's account owner is you. See Claiming an Inbox conversation.
- Unassigned: conversations whose customer has no account owner, or an owner who has left the shop. New leads count here too.
- Booking, Question, Complaint and Payment: conversations where the AI labeled the customer's latest message with that topic.
A chip shows its number only when the number is above zero.
When a chip is hidden
All, Unread, Needs reply, Mine and Unassigned are always there. Urgent and the four topic chips only appear when something is in them. If you click one and it later empties, it stays on screen while it is selected, so your list never goes blank with nothing highlighted.
Why a count can look small
The Unread, Needs reply, Urgent and topic counts cover your 50 most recent conversations. The chip's tooltip says so. Mine and Unassigned work differently. When you click one, the list is built from your whole shop, so an older conversation you claimed still shows up.
The Leads switch
Once you have a web chat, Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp visitor who isn't a customer yet, a Conversations | Leads switch appears above the chips. The Leads side has its own list. See The Inbox Leads tab. Leads also show in the All, Unread, Needs reply, Urgent, topic and Unassigned lists when they qualify. They never show under Mine, because a visitor has no owner.
Searching and empty lists
The search box works together with the chip. If nothing matches you'll see "No conversations match your search". Other empty lists say:
- Mine: "Nothing claimed by you" and "Conversations you claim show up here."
- Unassigned: "Nothing unassigned" and "Every conversation has an owner."
- Anything else with no conversations: "No conversations yet" and "Send a message to a customer to start".
Related
- Texting a customer: new messages and replies in the Inbox
- Claiming an Inbox conversation
- The Inbox Leads tab
Frequently asked questions
Q: What is the difference between Unread and Needs reply?
A: Unread is any conversation with a message you haven't opened. Needs reply is narrower: the customer's message is the latest one and it hasn't been opened. A conversation where you sent the last message is never in Needs reply.
Q: Why did the Urgent chip disappear?
A: Urgent and the topic chips only show while something is in them. When no conversation has that label any more, the chip hides itself unless you have it selected.
Q: Why don't I see any Booking or Question chips?
A: Those chips come from the AI's label on the customer's latest message. If nothing carries that label, the chip isn't shown. If your AI Assistant is switched off in your settings, new messages aren't labeled at all.
Q: Why is my Unread number lower than the sidebar badge?
A: The chip counts your 50 most recent conversations. The sidebar badge counts every conversation with something unread.
Q: Can I pick two chips at once?
A: No. You pick one chip at a time. Switching between Conversations and Leads remembers the chip you were on.