# Private messages--unmarked as "unread" after a period of time? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 9, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186 "2014-08-09T20:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/1 "2014-08-09T20:21:09Z")
A PM to me that has been “unread” for weeks just switched over to “read” though I had not read it. Does this happen automatically after some period of time? ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/2 "2014-08-09T21:55:33Z")
Maybe it hatched. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/3 "2014-08-10T01:22:28Z")
Maybe someone else has your password. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/4 "2014-08-10T01:31:05Z")
If it happens, it didn’t happen to me for years. I have two PMs from 2011 that I’ve left unread (I read them in email). They haven’t switched to ‘read’ status in that time. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/5 "2014-08-10T08:22:45Z")
Could this be a variation on that glitch that marks all unread threads as Read? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/6 "2014-08-10T12:39:22Z")
Without much knowledge of how the system actually works, I’m going to guess no. The threads being marked read seems to be a symptom of our last activity being set to “now” instead of the last time we were on. The PM being set to read isn’t tracked the same way - you can read PMs out of order, and over many days, and it (normally) accurately tracks which ones have been read. This tells me that they are using individual status for each PM, and not a date/time comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/7 "2014-08-11T11:46:24Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > A PM to me that has been “unread” for weeks just switched over to “read” though I had not read it. > [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > I have two PMs from 2011 that I’ve left unread (I read them in email). They haven’t switched to ‘read’ status in that time. I’m curious why you’d leave PMs unread, showing unread in your PM alert status. It can’t take but a few seconds to click on them just to make the software think they’re read, even if you don’t bother to read them again. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/8 "2014-08-11T20:19:45Z")
Afraid it might be a bill? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-messages-unmarked-as-unread-after-a-period-of-time/695186/9 "2014-08-11T20:42:31Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I’m curious why you’d leave PMs unread, showing unread in your PM alert status. It can’t take but a few seconds to click on them just to make the software think they’re read, even if you don’t bother to read them again. Since I’ve already read it in email, I know that it’s a PM I want to remember and know how to find again. The unread status highlights it. I can also find the date of it easily, which is how I got that information.