Learn how to manage your Direct Messages, including deleting or printing messages, viewing thread details, and renaming group conversations. You’ll also learn how features like read receipts and automatic translation support clear and effective communication across your school community.
Who can use this?
All signed-in users can use Direct Messages. Who you can send to is determined by your role and school settings.
Before getting started
- Direct Messages must be enabled for your school.
- Admins can contact ParentSquare support to enable Direct Messages.
View Message Details and Thread Information
What You Can See in Thread Information:
- Recipients - Full list of members in the group chat with their school role or associations
- Created - The date the message thread was started
- Messages - Shows the number of messages within the thread
- Message Individual User - Thread creator can send a message to one person from the group (click the 3 dots next to their name)
From the Web Browser:
- From Home, click Messages on the left.
- Click on a group message. A group message has 3 or more recipients and is indicated by the 3-person icon.
- Click the "i" icon in the upper right.
Example of information page:
From the Mobile App:
- From Home, tap Messages at the bottom.
- Tap on a group message. A group message has 3 or more recipients and is indicated by the 3-person icon.
- Tap the "i" icon in the upper right.
Manage Your Message Threads
Delete a Message or Conversation
You can delete (hide) a Direct Message or Group Conversation to remove it from your own inbox. Deleting a thread does not remove the conversation for other participants. After you delete a conversation, you will no longer see past messages, but you will receive any new messages sent to that thread.
- Go to your conversation thread and click the trash can in the upper right
- You'll see a pop-up window to confirm that you want to delete the conversation
- Click Yes, I'm positive
Delete from the Mobile App
- From the message thread details page, tap Hide Conversation.
- A pop-up will ask you to confirm. Tap Yes, Hide.
Important Note: School or District Admin can contact Support to delete conversation threads for all recipients. The original thread will always be visible to those with Message Monitor role, but removed from the other recipients' view. Deleted conversations cannot be recovered.
Print a Message Conversation
You can print an entire conversation thread. What messages you can view and print depends on your role.
- Go to Home > Messages in left sidebar
- Click on a message
- Click the print icon in upper right
- This opens a print-ready page
- Print the message thread on a printer or save as PDF
Rename a Group Conversation
The person who started the group conversation can rename it one time. After it has been renamed, the name cannot be changed again.
This is helpful for keeping group discussions organized—especially when a conversation includes multiple staff members or families.
Note: Only the user who initiated the Group Conversation can rename it.
From the Web Browser:
- From the message thread information page, click Edit.
- Enter a new name and click Save.
From the Mobile App:
- From the message thread details page, tap in the name field (with pencil icon).
- Enter a new name and tap OK.
See List of Users in a Message Thread
From the Web Browser:
- At the top of the Message thread, click the group name to see a quick list of members in the group chat.
- Or, click the "i" icon to see the full list of members in the group chat along with their school role or association(s).
Read Receipts for Direct Messages (staff only)
Staff can view read receipts for private Direct Messages when using the web browser. Read receipts are not available for Group Conversations.
After you send a message, the delivery status will show as Sent after it has been delivered to the recipient. The status changes to Read after one of the following happens:
- The recipient views the message in ParentSquare
- The recipient opens the email notification
- A text or app notification is delivered
After the recipient replies, the read receipt no longer appears under the message.
Note: Read receipts are only available to staff. Parents, students, and guests cannot view read receipts.
Note: Messages do not show as Read if a District Admin is impersonating the user.
Timestamp clarification: The timestamp next to a message shows when the message was sent, not when it was read.
Translation of Direct Messages
ParentSquare automatically translates your message into each recipient's preferred language and translates their responses back to you. Users can select their preferred language under Manage Account > Language Settings.
If the message has been translated, you'll see a note that says, "This message was auto-translated. View original message."
- Sender's view example: Direct Message sent in English, and any replies will be returned in English
- Recipient's view: Direct Message sent in English will appear in the recipient's preferred language (such as Spanish), and their replies will be sent in that language, but translated back to you.
Voice Clips and Translation
- Voice clips are not translated. They play back exactly as recorded. To send a translated message, write it as text rather than using a voice clip.
- Voice clips are not transcribed. Recipients must listen to the audio to hear your message.
Search Direct Messages
You can search your own Direct Message inbox on the web or mobile app. Searches look through your full message history at your current school or district (not limited to the current school year). Note: Messages must be searched in the language they were sent (for example, Spanish messages must be searched in Spanish). Messages from a previous school or district are not accessible after you move.
Select a result to open the message thread. Icons indicate whether the thread is a one-on-one conversation, a group conversation, or a private message.
Search Direct Messages on the Web
- From Home, click Messages in the left sidebar.
- Enter at least 3 characters of a recipient’s name or a keyword in the search bar and press Enter/Return.
- Review results under RECIPIENTS or MESSAGES.
- Click a message to open the conversation.
Search Direct Messages in the Mobile App
- From Home, tap Messages.
- Enter at least 3 characters of a recipient’s name or a keyword in the search bar and tap Search on the keyboard.
Tip: If the keyboard covers the results, tap Done. x - Review results under Conversations, Messages, or Recipients.
- Tap a message to open the conversation.
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