iOS 26 lets you filter out spam texts in your iPhone Messages app. Here’s how

We’ve all received our fair share of spam texts and calls over the years, and it only seems to be getting worse: Raise your hand if you’ve been asked to pay for toll roads you haven’t used or reschedule a non-existent package. But if you recently downloaded iOS 26 on your iPhone, all of that could be changing. Those annoying spam messages can now be sent to a folder you never have to look at — unless you want to.

The newest feature added to your iPhone’s Messages app keeps all your important texts in one spot, while weeding out the messages you really don’t care about. For instance, annoying spam texts and messages from retailers about their seventeenth sale of the month. But if you like all your messages in one place, there’s a way to get that back.

We’ll walk you through where to access all your filtered texts, including those from unknown senders, spammers and even messages you’ve deleted. In addition, there have been tons of changes with the Messages app — you can now change your message background and create polls in group texts. You can get a bigger glimpse at all the new iOS 26 features here.

Where to find filtered messages

Open your messages app and tap the three-line icon in the top right corner. Here, you’ll see several options, including Unknown Senders, Spam and Recently Deleted.

Unknown senders: If you don’t have a person’s contact information saved in your phone or you’ve never interacted with that number, messages from them will go to this folder. You might want to check this one often just in case a friend gets a new phone number.

Spam: This is where all the junk messages get filtered to. You don’t really need to look through this folder, but you can if you want to block all those numbers.

Recently deleted: Accidentally deleted the wrong message? You can now recover them in this folder by selecting the person’s name and tapping Recover in the bottom left corner. You won’t be able to view the messages until you recover them. You can also choose to permanently get rid of the messages by tapping the trash icon and confirming you’re ready to delete.

How to turn off message filtering

If you don’t want your messages to be filtered into separate folders you’ll probably forget to look at, you can turn that feature off. Just open your Messages app and tap the three-line icon, then Manage Filtering.

This will take you to your Messages settings, where you can turn off “Screen Unknown Senders” and “Filter Spam.” Once you do this, all of the messages in those folders will move to your regular texts. You’ll also no longer see those folders when you tap the three-line icon.

I recommend leaving the spam folder where it is. However, if you keep filtering away the unknown senders, you might miss an important update from your doctor’s office or delivery person, so check it regularly if you see the badge appear.

How to move messages from unknown senders

If you recognize an unknown sender, you can move that conversation into your primary messages. From the Unknown Senders folder, tap the conversation you want to move and then tap Mark as Known. You’ll now be able to view those texts in your main messages list.

If you’re not sure who the person is but still want to respond, you can do so before you mark them as known.

How to filter alerts for unknown senders

You’ll be notified by a badge of any new messages you get from an unknown person or company — for instance, time-sensitive notifications which include alerts, verification codes and urgent requests. However, you can manage those notifications in the Settings app.

Just go to Settings and scroll down to Apps, then Messages. Under “Unknown Senders,” select Allow Notifications. Your options are Time Sensitive and Other (though it doesn’t specify what “other” means), and you can toggle them on or off. It looks like more types will be added at some point, per this Apple Support article, including Personal, Transactions and Promotions.

Apple says if you allow notifications to come through for unknown senders, the messages will appear in your primary messages list for eight hours. If you don’t look at them within that time, they’ll be moved to the Unknown Senders folder.

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