Mentioning someone directly in an iMessage group chat ensures that your message catches their attention, even amidst a flurry of ongoing conversations. This feature, introduced in iOS 14, enhances communication by allowing you to highlight specific participants in both group and one-on-one chats.

Who You Can Mention in iMessage

You can mention any individual who is part of the conversation. In one-on-one chats, this includes only the person you're messaging. In group chats, you can mention any member of the group. It's not possible to mention someone who isn't already in the chat without adding them first.

While you can use the mention feature regardless of the other person's iOS version, users who haven't updated to iOS 14 or later will see the mention as regular text. This might lead to some confusion since they won't receive the special formatting or notifications associated with mentions.

How to Mention Someone in iMessage

Mentioning someone in iMessage is simple and can be done in two ways.

Type the person's name exactly as it appears in your contacts while composing your message. This can be their first name, last name, or full name. As you complete typing their name, it will turn gray.

Tap on the grayed-out name or anywhere in the text field. Their contact information will appear, showing their name and photo or initials. Tap on this to confirm the mention, and their name will turn bold and blue in the message.

If multiple contacts share the same name, you'll be prompted to select the correct person. Tap on the appropriate contact to ensure you mention the right individual.

Alternative Method: You can also use the "@" symbol to mention someone. Type "@", followed by their full first name, last name, or full name. Once you enter a space, the "@" symbol will disappear, and their name will be highlighted in bold blue text, indicating they've been mentioned.

If there are duplicates of the same name in your contacts, you'll need to tap the name and select the intended person, just as you would without using "@".

Note: As of iOS 14.2, mentioning someone may not work if their contact name includes an emoji. This issue wasn't present in earlier versions of iOS and may be resolved in future updates.

What Happens When You Mention Someone

When you mention someone in a message, their name appears in bold blue text for all participants to see.

If the person you're mentioning has the conversation open, they'll simply see their name highlighted in your message. However, if they don't have the chat open, they may receive a notification stating that they've been mentioned, even if they've muted the conversation. Tapping on this notification will direct them to the exact message where they were mentioned, regardless of any other unread messages. The message bubble will briefly be highlighted in dark gray before returning to normal.

Whether they receive a notification depends on their individual settings. If they've turned off notifications for the Messages app or if their device is in Do Not Disturb mode, they won't receive alerts for mentions. Others in the conversation will see the mentioned name in bold blue text but won't receive any special notifications.

Disabling Mention Notifications

While you can't prevent others from mentioning you, you can control whether you receive notifications when they do. If you prefer not to be notified of mentions in conversations you've muted, you can adjust your settings.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone and scroll down to select Messages.

Step 2: In the Messages settings, scroll down to the Mentions section and toggle off the Notify Me option.

Note that you can only disable mention notifications if you've already muted the conversation.

Using mentions in iMessage enhances communication by ensuring important messages reach the right people without the need for separate direct messages. It's especially useful in busy group chats where messages can easily get lost. You can also mention multiple people in a single message to grab the attention of several participants at once.