# Act on many conversations at once

Tick several conversations and close, reopen, tag, assign or mark them unread in one go.

## Quick start

1. Open **Inbox** and tick the box on each row you want. In the app, use **Select conversations**.
2. The bar above the list appears and says **{count} selected**.
3. Click **Close**, **Reopen** or **Mark unread**. Closing can message each customer.
4. To tag them, click **Tag**, type the tag and press Enter. It tags the conversation, not the contact.
5. Click **Clear** when you are finished. Owners, admins and agents can use every button.

## Watch out

- **Close** in bulk can reach customers: it sends the satisfaction survey when that is on, and starts any conversation-closed workflow.
- A part-finished run is not undone. The conversations that changed stay changed.

![10 selected, with the bulk bar's Close, Reopen, Mark unread, Tag and Assign to… controls.](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/bulk-actions-in-the-inbox-1.webp)

![The Tag box open on the bulk bar, ready to tag every ticked conversation at once.](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/bulk-actions-in-the-inbox-2.webp)

## Getting here

**Inbox** → tick a row, or use the **All** checkbox above the list. The bar appears between the filters and the list. In the app: the inbox header's **Select conversations**, then the bar at the bottom.

## Before you start

- An **owner**, **admin** or **agent** can use every button. A **viewer** can use only **Mark unread**, which is personal; every other action is refused for them.
- At most 100 conversations at a time.
- The tag has to be one you are happy to create: typing a new one adds it.

## Fields

| Field | What it means | Limits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Close | Closes each selected conversation, exactly as closing one does. | — |
| Reopen | Puts each selected closed conversation back in **Open**. | — |
| Mark unread | Marks each one unread for you only. | — |
| Tag | Adds one tag to each selected conversation. | A conversation tag, not a contact tag. It only ever adds. |
| Assign to… | Assigns every one to the teammate you pick, or **Unassign** for none. | — |
| Clear | Drops the selection without doing anything. | — |

## How it works

- Each conversation is handled one at a time, with its own permission check and its own line in the conversation's history. It is not one sweeping change.
- Because of that, a run can land partly: the bar then says **{applied} of {count} updated — {error}**, naming the first thing that went wrong.
- When everything lands the bar says **{applied} updated**; when nothing does, **Nothing was updated.**
- **Close** does everything a single close does: the close time, the conversation's own line, your read marker, the conversation-closed workflow trigger and the satisfaction survey when it is switched on.
- **Tag** adds a tag to the **conversation**, not to the contact. A contact tag is edited on the contact.
- Tags are added, never replaced, and a tag already there is not added twice.
- **Assign to…** checks each target is still a member of the workspace before assigning.
- **Mark unread** is personal: your list changes, your teammates' lists do not.
- The **All** checkbox ticks the rows on screen. Because a view renders only the first few hundred rows, and the bar allows 100, ticking **All** on a busy view usually goes over the limit at once.
- Over the limit, every button is switched off and the bar says **{limit} at a time is the maximum — deselect {remaining}.**
- The app's selection bar works the same way and shares the same limit and the same wording.

## When it fails

- **{limit} at a time is the maximum — deselect {remaining}.** — nothing runs until the selection is small enough.
- **Nothing was updated.** — every single one failed. The message beside it names the first reason.
- **{applied} of {count} updated — {error}** — some landed and some did not. The ones that landed stay done.
- **You don’t have permission to change this conversation.** — you are a viewer, or not a member of this workspace.
- **That teammate isn’t a member of this workspace.** — the person you picked has left.
- **This contact already has an open conversation on this channel** — one of the reopens was refused because a newer conversation is already open with that person.
- **Applying…** while it runs. The bar stays until the run is finished, however long the list is.

## Limits

- The bar writes no message itself. **Close** can still reach customers: it sends the satisfaction survey when that is switched on under **Settings → Conversations**, and starts any workflow triggered by a closed conversation.
- It can only close, reopen, mark unread, tag and assign. It cannot snooze, pin, mute or route to a team.
- It acts on the rows you ticked. **All** ticks what is on screen, not everything the view matches — the view itself renders only the first few hundred rows.
- A partly-finished run is not undone. The conversations that were changed stay changed.
- **Tag** adds one tag per run and never removes one. Removing a tag is done on the conversation.
- The tag it adds is a conversation tag. It does not change the contact, and it does not move anyone through a lifecycle stage.
- **Mark unread** is per person, so it cannot be used to put work back into a teammate's queue.

## Best practices

- Narrow the view first, then select. A tidy view is safer than a long selection.
- Close in batches of a few dozen rather than the whole screen — a smaller run is easier to read when it partly fails.
- Read the result line. **{applied} of {count} updated** means some rows still need you.
- Tag before you close, so the closed conversations can still be found by that tag afterwards.
- Assign rather than close when the work is not finished. Closing takes it out of everybody's working view.

## Use cases

- A morning of duplicate greetings from one campaign: select, **Tag** them, then **Close**.
- A teammate has left: select their open chats and **Assign to…** somebody else.
- You closed a batch by mistake: select them under **Closed** and **Reopen**.
- A set of chats you skimmed on a phone: select and **Mark unread**, so they come back on the desk.
- Fifty chats from one broken advert: tag them so the report can count them.

## FAQ and troubleshooting

### How many conversations can I act on at once?

100. Above that every button is switched off and the bar says how many to deselect.

### Does the All checkbox select everything in the view?

No — only the rows on screen. A view renders only the first few hundred rows, and the bar allows 100, so **All** on a busy view usually goes over the limit at once.

### The bar says some were updated and some were not. What happened?

Each conversation runs on its own, so one can be refused while the rest go through. The ones that were changed stay changed; the message names the first reason.

### Does the tag go on the customer or on the chat?

On the chat. Tagging a contact is done from the contact, and it is a different list of tags.

### Can I snooze or pin several conversations at once?

No. Those are on one conversation at a time.

### Will the customers know I closed their chats?

Only if something messages them: the satisfaction survey when your workspace has it switched on, or a workflow that starts when a conversation is closed. Closing in bulk does both, exactly as closing one does.

## Related

- [Close, reopen, snooze, pin and mute a conversation](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/close-reopen-and-snooze)
- [Assign, route to a team, add collaborators](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/assign-route-and-collaborate)
- [Find the conversation you need](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/find-a-conversation)
- [Build your own inbox view](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/custom-inbox-views)

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Source files: `src/components/inbox/BulkActionBar.tsx`, `src/components/inbox/InboxListPane.tsx`, `src/lib/inbox/bulk.ts`, `src/app/(app)/inbox/[id]/conversation-actions.ts`, `src/lib/i18n/messages/inbox-list.ts`, `mobile/src/app/(tabs)/index.tsx`, `mobile/src/lib/shared/bulk.ts`, `mobile/src/lib/i18n/en.ts`