Anyway to stop Teams on Android from Marking messages as read?

Question

I like to stay informed about my business, so I run MS Teams on my phone.

Recently, I've noticed that messages I'm not sure I've even opened on my phone are being marked as read. When I get to my desk, where I can look things in depth, these messages are getting lost in the morass of messages I get.

Preferably, I'd like to stop the mobile app from changing the message's status. Barring that, how do I stop Teams from setting things that I've not read from being set to read?

Thanks!!

Answer 1

Dear @tux,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A Forum.

I'm sincerely sorry you're dealing with this issue. I can only imagine how disruptive it is when vital information gets automatically marked as read and completely lost, especially when you need to follow up in depth at your desk! The Teams mobile app often marks messages as read as soon as the conversation thread is brought into view or preloaded, even if you don't scroll down to the newest message.

Unfortunately, there is no setting in the Microsoft Teams mobile app that allows you to disable this automatic marking of messages as read. It is a core function of how the mobile client handles conversation status.

Since you can't stop the mobile app from changing the message status, the best way to handle your workflow is to immediately Mark as Unread anything you need to review on your desktop.

 

1. The Primary Solution: "Mark as Unread"

This is the only way to manually override the mobile app's automatic status change and ensure the message appears as a new notification on your desktop.

• On Android: Find the conversation list.
• Long-press the conversation that you want to read later on your desktop.
• From the menu that appears, tap Mark as unread.
  

This will restore the unread badge and notification, and the message will reappear as bold/unread on your desktop app, making it easy to spot in your main messages list.

 

2. Alternative Workflow: Saving Messages

For important items you don't want to rely on the read/unread status for, use the Save Message feature. This function is designed specifically for prioritizing and filing away messages you need to act on later.

• On Android: Tap and hold the specific message you want to save.
• In the options that pop up, tap the Save message icon (it usually looks like a bookmark or ribbon).

To find your Saved Messages on your desktop:

In the desktop Teams app, the Saved messages section is often found on the left-hand navigation pane.

This gives you a prioritized list of all the messages you've flagged for later review, regardless of their read status.

 

I can't stress enough the importance of your feedback in this scenario. I strongly recommend that you share your detailed experience and feedback directly with the Microsoft product team through their official feedback channels. This is the most effective way to make your voice heard and influence future feature improvements and adjustments. 

You can visit the Microsoft Teams · Community to submit a new idea or vote on existing one.

Our product team is in charge of the site, and they constantly check customer reviews and feedback. The higher votes, the more attention the related team will pay on, and a lot of the features are developed and improved based on customer feedback. I will personally vote for your feedback to help it gain traction and hopefully, Microsoft will make improvements soon.  

I really understand how disruptive and frustrating this kind of issue can be for your workflow. I want you to know that I wish I had a way to change it for you directly but as a moderator of Q&A forum, my ability to assist is with the existing product functionality and the power to influence its design rests entirely with our product development team. We appreciate your kindness and understanding as we deal with these evolutionary product changes. Please get in touch if you need anything else. Have a wonderful day!

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Answer 2

First, thanks for your response. I don't recall this happening previously. Maybe it's a new "feature", lol.

The solutions you gave me are unworkable. Asking the mobile Teams client not to change the status of the messages is a no-brainer. Make it a config choice.

Another separate but related question. I seem to be getting many more message notifications in the mobile and Windows 11 clients than I used to, despite having notifications for a chat or channel turned off. Is it a bug, or does someone think I'm incapable of choosing what I need to see and what I don't need to see?

Pardon my sarcastic attempts at humor.