nick baccante

Q: How do I delete multiple messages in OS X

Hi

is there a way to delete multiple messages in the Messages app? I can only delete one at the time and I also wish there was a way to not have the deletion confirmation every time. Better yet, deleting multiple messages across all devices would be the ideal

thanks

nick

Posted on Apr 21, 2013 8:54 PM

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Q: How do I delete multiple messages in OS X

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  • by sig,

    sig sig Apr 22, 2013 4:10 AM in response to nick baccante
    Level 8 (35,798 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 22, 2013 4:10 AM in response to nick baccante

    Shift click.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),Helpful

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Apr 22, 2013 2:38 PM in response to nick baccante
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Apr 22, 2013 2:38 PM in response to nick baccante

    Hi,

     

    Multiple Conversations (iMessages) or Chat (Buddy connections) cannot be selected using shift + click to be deleted or closed.

     

    In an open Conversation or Chat  individual IMs or Messages  also cannot be selected to be deleted.

    Highlighting one message and then using CMD + Backspace will produce the Pop up to delete the whole Conversation/Chat.

     

    If you have Messages Menu > Preferences > Messages > Save on closing chat then you have to close the chats or conversations individually to be saved.

    They do get Saved "en masse" as it were on Quit (as in Per session).

     

    The Sync process for iMessages is only "Display on all Devices" and not any more sophisticated than that.

    It means you have to delete the conversation manually on each device.

     

    An option to delete a Conversation on a Sync basis would create even more pop ups to ensure people were undertaking the exact action they wanted.

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    10:37 PM      Monday; April 22, 2013

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

    "Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

  • by nick baccante,

    nick baccante nick baccante Apr 22, 2013 10:03 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 22, 2013 10:03 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    thanks

  • by sig,

    sig sig Apr 23, 2013 2:01 AM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 8 (35,798 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 23, 2013 2:01 AM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    "Multiple Conversations (iMessages) or Chat (Buddy connections) cannot be selected using shift + click to be deleted or closed."

     

    Yes they can be deleted on mass by selecting one and shift clicking on the others. Then selecting Delete will get rid of all the messages selected. Give it a try.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Apr 23, 2013 12:10 PM in response to sig
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Apr 23, 2013 12:10 PM in response to sig

    Hi Sig,

     

    Maybe I am not following this as I should.

     

    I created two "New Messages" in the list on the left.  (I rarely keep old Chats/Conversations open)

    One to my Apple ID as an iMessage (to my iPhone essentially) and the other to an AIM Screen Name I have.

     

    I sent text to both to ensure that there was a "Conversation" as such.

     

    I then made sure one item in the list was highlighted.

    Holding Shift down and clicking the other Chat/Conversation only highlights the second item.

     

    This is what I tried before I posted before and I have just tried it again with the method above.

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    8:10 PM      Tuesday; April 23, 2013

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

    "Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

  • by sig,

    sig sig Apr 23, 2013 5:12 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 8 (35,798 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 23, 2013 5:12 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    What about messages that you send and recieve in a conversation?

    I do this all the time. I select the first message and shift click on the second, third, etc and then hit the Delete key.

  • by nick baccante,

    nick baccante nick baccante Apr 23, 2013 8:42 PM in response to sig
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 23, 2013 8:42 PM in response to sig

    hey Sig

    I just tried Shift-Click as well, but no luck...I can shift-click and select parts of a conversation within a message, but I don't see the utility of doing that

    must be missing something, sounds like a poor software design for something that should be easy

     

    and...hate having the delete confirmation pop up when deleting a conversation

  • by sig,

    sig sig Apr 24, 2013 7:03 AM in response to nick baccante
    Level 8 (35,798 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 24, 2013 7:03 AM in response to nick baccante

    Then perhaps I misunderstood what it is you want to do. Sometimes it's difficult not being in the same room. Imprecise terminology also gets in the way

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Apr 24, 2013 1:37 PM in response to sig
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Apr 24, 2013 1:37 PM in response to sig

    Hi Sig,

     

    Yes. That seems to work.

    I can highlight an item in a Chat, seeming placed there by the "history" process, and highlight it and then others with Shift  + Click then use the Backspace key.

    This generates the Pop up asking if you want to proceed.

     

    However when I tried this earlier I am sure that the process deleted the whole conversation (as I stated in my original reply)

    Opps. Spotted what I did.  I used the Menu items that lists CMD + Backspace that is for Deleting Conversations and not individual IMs (or iMessages).

     

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    9:33 PM      Wednesday; April 24, 2013

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

    "Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Apr 24, 2013 1:50 PM in response to nick baccante
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Apr 24, 2013 1:50 PM in response to nick baccante

    Hi Nick,

     

    Can I check we are all using the same language for the same items ?

     

    In the File Menu of Messages is the Delete Conversation with the keystrokes of CMD + Backspace is listed.

    If you highlight an individual IM in the Chat window side then whole conversation will be deleted after you confirm deletion.

     

    There is no Menu item for removing individual IMs or iMessages from such a chat/conversations.

     

    However, as I eventually understood Sig to be saying, you can highlight items in the chat window side and use the backspace (delete) key and remove those individual items from the chat/Conversations.

     

    As Messages is iChat+ and has iMessages added to what iChat could do I refer to Buddy List connections as "IMs" for individual parts and "Chats" for the whole thing.

    Whereas I say "iMessages" for individual parts and "Conversations" for the whole thing for the iMessages connections you have going on.

     

    I stated this in my original reply

     

    In an open Conversation or Chat  individual IMs or Messages  also cannot be selected to be deleted.

    Highlighting one message and then using CMD + Backspace will produce the Pop up to delete the whole Conversation/Chat.

     

    As I have posted to Sig I made the mistake of using the File Menu keystroke for deleting a Conversation/Chat  when trying to delete individual IMs/iMessages and informed you incorrectly about this.

    I apologise for any confusion this has caused.

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    9:50 PM      Wednesday; April 24, 2013

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

    "Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

  • by nick baccante,

    nick baccante nick baccante Apr 24, 2013 6:04 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 24, 2013 6:04 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    hey Ralph

    thanks for sticking with me...looking back at my original question I guess what I meant is to ask is if I can delete multiple conversations NOT messages in the chat side of the window.

     

    So deleting a conversation is easy enough by clicking on the X, what I was hoping is to delete multiple conversations at once, and wish we could turn off the delete confirmation pop up every time

    Hope this makes sense

    nick

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Apr 25, 2013 12:13 PM in response to nick baccante
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Apr 25, 2013 12:13 PM in response to nick baccante

    HI,

     

    As I said in my first reply you cannot Shift+Click the List of Chats/Conversation on the left of the Messages  (Main) window.

     

    In Messages Menu > Preferences > Messages I have the Save option selected.

    For me using the X when mousing over a chat/Conversation only seems to close the items rather than Delete it.

    It is of course removed from view in the Main Messages window.

     

    I would use this Feedback page to make suggestions about the app.

    I have pointed you to the iChat feedback page as Messages is iChat+.

    It is built on the iChat engine and is identified to the system as iChat.

    You will have to put your Version and OS version in the free text field as the drop downs for the version Numbers and the OS are out of step.

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    8:13 PM      Thursday; April 25, 2013

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

    "Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

  • by iKnowEnough,

    iKnowEnough iKnowEnough May 23, 2016 5:46 AM in response to nick baccante
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 23, 2016 5:46 AM in response to nick baccante

    I'm from the future, I come from the date May 23 2016. The world has changed so much since this question was asked, but there is a constant. I time traveled back 3 years and 3 OS's to tell you...YOU STILL CAN NOT DELETE MULTIPLE CONVERSATIONS AT THE SAME TIME. During my travels I met a man with over 3,000 conversations in is iPhone. I dare you to tell him, 1 by 1 sir... I must return to my time now. Farewell 2013, you have some scary but wonderful times ahead.

     

     

     

    P.S. Why hasn't anyone created a script for this problem? Seems like it could work.

  • by Sleepy-Hollow,

    Sleepy-Hollow Sleepy-Hollow Jul 31, 2016 6:23 AM in response to sig
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 31, 2016 6:23 AM in response to sig

    Technically, not true.  You cannot do this with the "Messages" app on the Mac.

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