How to delete individual iMessages in Messages for Mac

By Allyson Kazmucha
published

Messages!
Messages!

If you use your Mac for iMessage, you probably already know you can delete iMessage threads but what about deleting single iMessages on the Mac?

We've already covered deleting individual messages in iOS 7 so here's how to delete them in the Messages for Mac app:

  1. Launch the Messages app on your Mac.

  1. Find the message thread you'd like to delete a single message from.
  2. Click on the message you'd like to delete one time so it's highlighted a darker blue than the rest of your messages.

  1. Now right-click on the message.
  2. From the menu that appears, click on Delete.

  1. That particular message will be removed from the thread.

That's all there is to it. It isn't a very obvious option, but it is there.

Allyson Kazmucha
Allyson Kazmucha

iMore senior editor from 2011 to 2015.

4 Comments
  • Nice write up, Ally. I hope you can do one on editing individual messages from the Messages app for iOS. Thanks. Sent from the iMore App
  • Thanks for this tip! You can also delete more than one message at a time by pressing Cmd and clicking on the messages you want to remove, and then right-clicking or double finger-tapping one of the selected messages to get the delete command.
  • When I control-click on the highlighted message, I don't get the option to delete. I get a drop-down that offers me choices such as viewing in different formats, copying, and adding to iTunes as a spoken track. Hitting Delete while the text of the sent message is highlighted does nothing. I'm using OS X 10.8.4 on a Macbook Air. My Messages program is version 7.0.1. Do I need to update to Mavericks? Or is there some other way I can delete this message from my thread? Thanks! :)
  • You need to highlight the entire message bubble. Not just the text within it. See the images for details. I understand that this is old, but its the only clear thing that pops up at the top of google. So I felt the need to answer your question for others who may stumble over here.