How To Add Someone To Group Message On Iphone

Sometimes you may be part of a group message on your iPhone where you are discussing things that are important to several people. But the group that was initially created might need to be increased as that conversation becomes relevant to others.

Group messaging is a fun way to communicate with multiple people at once. Whether it's a group of friends discussing a TV show, or a team of colleagues from work, the ability for multiple people to interact in a single message thread that you can view and add to on your iPhone is very convenient.

Whether you have a group message going already and you simply need to add a contact to a group on an iPhone, or you are creating a new group message and want to add people, the process is very similar. Our tutorial below will show you how to add a new person to a group message in iOS 11.

How to Add Someone to a Group Text on an iPhone in iOS 11

Open the Messages app.
Select the group text message to which you want to add someone.
Tap the i button at the top-right of the screen.
Touch the Add Contact button.
Enter the phone number or contact name of the person you want to add.
Tap the Done button.

The above list provides a short summary of how to perform this action, but you can continue below for pictures of each step, as well as additional items that you may encounter concerning the addition of additional members to group text messages.

Additional topics covered below include creating a group message, adjusting alert settings, and blocking contacts.

How Do You Add a Person to a Group Message on an iPhone?

The steps in this article were performed on an iPhone 7 Plus in iOS 11.4.1. By completing the steps in this guide you will be adding a new person to a text message. This means that any new messages in the conversation will also include this new contact.

Step 1: Open the Messages app.

Step 2: Select the group message conversation to which you want to add a member.

Step 3: Touch the i button at the top-right of the screen.

Step 4: Tap the Add Contact button.

how to add someone to group message in ios 11

Step 5: Type the contact name or phone number into the Add field, then tap the Done button. Note that you can add more than one contact at a time at this point.

add another contact to a group message on iphone

How to Add Someone to a New Group Message on an iPhone

When you are creating a new message conversation that you would like to make into a group message from the beginning, then the process for adding multiple members is slightly different.

Step 1: Open the Messages app.

Step 2: Touch the New button at the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 3: Add the first contact to the To field, then add another contact, then another, until all of the group members are included. There will be a comma between each contact or phone number that is a part of the message.

add people to new group message on iphone

Step 4: Type the message into the message field, then tap the Send button.

How to Mute a Group Message Conversation on an iPhone in iOS 11

Group messages are fun, but they can be very active. This can lead to constant alerts from the conversation that can become distracting. Fortunately it is possible to mute the conversation, which will hide these alerts.

Step 1: Open the Messages app.

Step 2: Swipe left on the group message conversation for which you would like to hide the alerts.

Step 3: Tap the Hide Alerts button.

how to hide alerts for group message on iphone

How to Unhide Alerts on a Group Message on an iPhone

If you have followed the steps in the previous section to hide alerts, you may find that you are missing the conversation if you don't check your phone too often. Fortunately you can unmute a conversation as well.

Step 1: Open the Messages app.

Step 2: Swipe left on the muted conversation. It will have a crescent moon icon to the left of it.

swipe to the left on message to show alerts

Step 3: Select the Show Alerts option.

show alerts for muted group message on iphone

How to Block a Contact in a Group Message on an iPhone

The ability to block contacts is incredibly useful, and iOS has incorporated it into a number of different locations throughout the device. One of these locations is through the contact menu accessible in a group message conversation. The steps below will let you block a contact by navigating through the group message.

Step 1: Open the Messages app.

Step 2: Select the group message containing the contact that you want to block.

select the group message to block a contact

Step 3: Touch the i button at the top-right of the screen.

Step 4: Touch the arrow button at the right side of the contact to block.

touch the arrow to the right of contact to block

Step 5: Scroll down and select the Block this Caller option.

how to block a contact in a group message on iphone

Additional Notes

The person that you add to the conversation will only see the conversation from the point at which they were added. They won't see the old conversation.
If a contact is added to a conversation and isn't a stored contact for other members of the group message, those other members will only see the contact's phone number.
If you add a person to a group message that has an Android phone, or is not using iMessage, then the message bubbles will become green instead of blue.
If you block someone inside a group message conversation, that person will be blocked in other text message conversations, too, and they won't be able to call you or make FaceTime calls to you.
You can only add new contacts to a group message if the group message is an iMessage.
If you are having difficulty getting the members correct in an existing group message, it might be easier to simply create a new one. Existing group messages won't be affected if the new group contains a different set of contacts.

While the steps in this article specifically focus on adding new members to group messages in iOS 11, the process is very similar for other versions of iOS as well.

Are there too many message conversations in your Messages app, and it's becoming difficult to navigate? Find out how to delete text message conversations and clear out old conversations.