Tricks to Scroll Up to the Top of Messages on the iPhone

All those old messages on your iPhone don't have to be ancient history. Whether you're looking for the perfect reaction GIF you used three months ago, the recipe mom sent you in July, or that essential bit of "I told you so" evidence to hold over your S.O.'s head for all eternity, getting back to the top of a Messages thread doesn't have to be a workout for your fingers. IOS has some handy accessibility tricks built in that take you to the top with a tap or two, so say goodbye and good riddance to endless screen flicking.

From anywhere in a Messages thread on your pre-X model iPhone – whether you're at the bottom of the thread or halfway through it – all you have to do is tap the top of the screen once to be instantly transported back to the top of the page and read your old text messages. Just tap the toolbar-like area that shows your signal strength and battery level dead center, and your phone scrolls all the way up. That's it.

Pro tip: This works on iOS when you're using your iPad or iPod touch, too, and it's not just relegated to Messages – it works in Mail, Safari and other Apple apps, to boot. Be warned, however, that it may not work on all third-party apps.

"But, wait," you might be thinking, "that part of the screen on my iPhone X is taken up by the notch," and you'd be right – exactly the spot you'd previously tap to get blasted right back up to the top of your Messages is suddenly untappable.

Fear not. You have to tweak your tapping a bit, but you can still rocket-boost yourself right back to the top of the screen from anywhere on iPhone X-series phones with iOS 11 and beyond. Since you can't tap the notch, double-tap the top of the screen on either side of the notch to return to the beginning of all things. Two quick taps, and voila.

Tapping the top of your screen with one hand has gotten more difficult as the iPhone has gotten bigger over the years. Unless you're some sort of thumb ninja, you may be struggling to reach the top of Messages quickly.

Enter Reachability, which was first introduced on the iPhone 6 and is available all the way through the X series and beyond. For easier access, make sure Reachability is enabled by accessing the phone's "Settings," tapping "General" and "Accessibility" and toggling "Reachability" to the "On" position. With this feature active, swipe down from the bottom of your screen to bring everything down into thumb's reach.