In this article
The archive is reached by gestures rather than by a button, which is why people who have one often do not know where it went. Swiping, pulling and holding all do something here, and each of them is reversible.
This page is the gestures themselves — how to get chats in, how to see what is in there, and how to stop the archive row taking up space at all.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Archive and unarchive with one swipe.
- check_circle Open the archive when its row is not visible.
- check_circle Hide the archive row entirely, or keep it on screen as a tab.
- check_circle Change what the swipe does, if archiving is not what you do most.
Pulling the list down past the top is what reveals the archive when the row is hidden — the same gesture as refreshing in other apps.
swipe Four gestures, no buttons
Swipe a chat sideways to archive it, and swipe it again in the archive to bring it back. Hold a chat for the same actions as a menu, which is the route on a desktop.
Pull the whole list down and the archive row appears above the first chat, whether or not it is normally visible. Swipe that row away and it hides again until you pull for it.
Nothing here is destructive and nothing is permanent, which is what makes the archive worth using freely rather than treating as a decision.
Where the archive should live
Three arrangements, suiting three different amounts of use, and one thing that is not a gesture problem at all.
visibility_off Hidden until you pull for it
folder A row above the chats
tab Alongside your folders
history Archived chats reappearing
Pick one arrangement and learn the pull gesture. Everything else here is reversible in a swipe.
settings The gestures
- Archive Swipe the chat sideways in the list, or hold it and choose Archive.
- Unarchive The same swipe, inside the archive.
- Reveal the archive Pull the chat list down past the top.
- Hide the row Swipe it away, or use the option in its own menu.
- Make it a tab In the archive's settings, if you use folders.
- Reassign the swipe Android: Chat Settings, swipe action. Choose what you do most.
This page is the gestures around the archive. The curriculum step is the structure they serve: folders, tabs, pinning and the order of the list, and how a few hundred chats are made navigable.
At a glance
- 1Swipe to archive
Swipe a chat to archive or unarchive it.
- 2Find the archive
Pull down the chat list to reveal it.
- 3Hide the row
Hide the archive row or keep it as a tab.
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