Summary

The Mark as Unread feature in Wati helps support teams keep track of customer messages that still need attention. This is especially useful when admins or team leads open chats for review without intending to respond. By marking a customer message as unread, the conversation remains visible to the assigned agent, reducing the risk of missing important customer inquiries.

Instructions

Why use the Mark as Unread feature?

In a shared Team Inbox, opening a chat automatically marks the conversation as read for everyone. This helps prevent multiple agents from responding to the same customer message.

However, admins and team leads may need to review conversations without taking action. When they open a chat, unread indicators are removed, which can make it harder for the assigned agent to identify conversations that still require a response.

The Mark as Unread feature allows eligible users to restore the unread status of customer messages, helping teams maintain visibility and improve handoffs between team members.

Who can use this feature?

The Mark as Unread feature is available under the following conditions:

Only Admins and Operators can use it.
Available on all Wati plans, including PAYG, Growth, Pro, and Business.
Applies only to incoming customer messages.
Cannot be used on messages sent from Wati.
Available only in chats assigned to a human agent.
Not available for chats assigned to Bots or AI Support Agents.
The chat must contain unread customer messages that have not yet received a reply.

How unread messages are displayed

When you open a chat that contains unread customer messages:

The unread count disappears from the chat list.
A red line appears in the conversation to indicate where unread messages begin.
The Mark as Unread option is available only for unread customer messages located below the red line.

The red line disappears when:

You open another chat.
You scroll to the top or bottom of the conversation.
You send a reply.

Mark a message as unread

Follow these steps to mark a customer message as unread:

Log in to your Wati account and open Team Inbox.
Open a chat assigned to a human agent.
Verify that the chat contains unread incoming customer messages.
Hover over the customer message you want to mark as unread.
Click Mark as Unread.

The conversation will appear as unread for the assigned agent, making it easier to identify messages that still require attention.

Important behavior and limitations

Keep the following points in mind when using the Mark as Unread feature:

Only incoming customer messages can be marked as unread.
The option is available only while the messages remain unread and have not received a reply.
Messages sent by team members cannot be marked as unread.
System messages cannot be marked as unread.
After a reply is sent, the conversation is automatically marked as read.
Once a reply is sent, the messages can no longer be marked as unread.

Benefits of marking messages as unread

Using the Mark as Unread feature helps teams:

Preserve visibility of customer messages that still need a response.
Improve collaboration between managers and support agents.
Reduce the risk of missing important customer inquiries.
Maintain clearer handoffs within the support team.
Improve workflow management in shared inbox environments.

This feature helps ensure that important customer conversations remain visible to the people responsible for responding to them.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)

Mark as Unread feature

1. What is the Mark as Unread feature in Wati?

The Mark as Unread feature allows eligible users to restore the unread status of incoming customer messages. This helps keep conversations visible to the assigned agent and reduces the risk of missing customer inquiries.

2. Why is the Mark as Unread feature useful?

The feature helps preserve visibility of customer messages that still require a response, improves collaboration between managers and support agents, supports clearer handoffs, and reduces the risk of important conversations being overlooked.

3. Who can use the Mark as Unread feature?

Only Admins and Operators can use the Mark as Unread feature.

4. Which Wati plans support the Mark as Unread feature?

The Mark as Unread feature is available on all Wati plans, including PAYG, Growth, Pro, and Business.

Eligibility and limitations

5. Which messages can be marked as unread?

Only incoming customer messages can be marked as unread.

6. When is the Mark as Unread option available?

The Mark as Unread option is available only when all of the following conditions are met:

The chat is assigned to a human agent.
The chat contains unread incoming customer messages.
The messages have not received a reply.
The assignee is not a Bot or AI Support Agent.

7. Can messages sent by team members or system messages be marked as unread?

No. Messages sent by team members and system messages cannot be marked as unread.

8. What happens after a reply is sent to the customer?

After a reply is sent, the conversation is automatically marked as read, and the messages can no longer be marked as unread.

Unread message indicators

9. How are unread messages displayed in a chat?

When a chat contains unread customer messages:

The unread count disappears when the chat is opened.
A red line appears in the conversation to indicate where unread messages begin.
The Mark as Unread option is available only for unread customer messages located below the red line.

10. When does the red line indicating unread messages disappear?