Elyse Betters Picaro
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I regularly receive a host of text messages from different sources. Some of them are from people I know or trusted companies. Some of them are one-time notifications. Some are simply from unknown senders. And of course, some are from scammers trying to snag me as one of their victims.
The problem here is that all your messages are lumped together on one single screen. That means you have to hunt through all of them to separate the wheat from the chaff. In the past, iOS didn't offer much to help you in this endeavor. But with iOS 26, several new options are at your command to screen and filter your messages. Here's how they work.
1. Update iOS
First you'll want to update to iOS 26 or higher. To do this on your phone, head to Settings, select General, and click Software Update. Select the button to download and install the latest update.
Show more2. Screen unknown senders
Next, you'll want to enable the option to screen unknown senders.
For this, go to Settings, select Apps, and then choose Messages. Swipe down the screen to the Unknown Senders section and turn on the switch for "Screen Unknown Senders."
Doing this accomplishes two things. First, it hides one-time notifications to prevent them from clogging up your main Messages list. Second, it moves texts from unknown senders to a special list, again preventing them from cluttering up the main list.
Show moreAlso: Beware the 'Hi, how are you?' text. It's a scam - here's how it works
3. Allow certain notifications
Rather than screen all messages and notifications from unknown senders, you can allow certain ones to appear in the main list.
At the same settings screen for Messages, tap the option for "Allow Notifications." At the next screen, turn on the switches for any of the notifications that you don't wish to filter --Time Sensitive, Personal, Transactions, or Promotions.
At the very least, you'll want to enable the one for Time Sensitive. You can then play around with the other three choices.
Show more4. Organize notifications from unknown senders into specific lists
Instead of lumping all notifications from unknown senders into one large and messy list, you can organize them into individual lists by name.
For this, return to the main Settings screen for Messages and tap the option for "Text Message Filter." At the next screen, select "Text Message Filter."
Doing so then places time-sensitive, personal, transactional, and promotional text notifications into their own lists.
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5. Filter spam
One more step here. Back at the main Settings screen for Messages, turn on the switch for "Filter Spam." That will put any messages detected as spam into their own separate list.
Show moreAlso: Scam texts net over $1 billion for cyber gangs - how to avoid their traps
6. Check messages from unknown senders
Now it's time to see the results of your efforts. Open the Messages app, and the list will be pared down to show only the texts from known and trusted people and other entities. How about the rest? To view those, tap the three-line icon in the upper right.
Select Unknown Senders to see only the texts from unknown people and companies. To add such a text to your known list, open it and tap the button for "Mark as Known." To mark a text as spam, tap Delete and then select the option to "Delete and Report Spam."
Show more7. View select notifications
To view your filtered notifications, tap the three-line icon. At the menu, you should see entries for any or all of the four categories -- Time Sensitive, Personal, Transactions, and Promotions. Select each category to view the associated messages.
You may also find subcategories for certain ones. You can then open specific messages and delete them, report them as spam, or mark them as known.
Show more8. View spam messages
To check out messages identified as spam, tap the three-line icon and choose Spam. If you spot a text falsely tagged as spam, open it. Tap Recover to move it to the main Messages list. Otherwise, tap Delete if you wish to permanently remove it.
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