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"Sort conversations" in Messages

I've seen this asked a couple of times before, but never any hint of an answer.


The "Sort conversations" menu item appears to be grayed out in Catalina. Is there any way to make it work? Or otherwise control the sort order?


I happen to be asking because Messages suddenly reorganized my conversations into seemingly random order, and I can't see any way to put them back.

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 27, 2021 7:23 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 27, 2021 7:45 AM

I have Catalina and my Sort Convos is also greyed out, but my messages are ordered just fine by time. I also have found no way to enable the option.


Reboot your computer and see if the problem goes away away.


If that doesn't fix the issue, please see if the problem still happens in Safe mode.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 


Does the problem persist while in Safe mode? 

Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again after a normal reboot

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 27, 2021 7:45 AM in response to ariggsby

I have Catalina and my Sort Convos is also greyed out, but my messages are ordered just fine by time. I also have found no way to enable the option.


Reboot your computer and see if the problem goes away away.


If that doesn't fix the issue, please see if the problem still happens in Safe mode.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 


Does the problem persist while in Safe mode? 

Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again after a normal reboot

"Sort conversations" in Messages

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