Messages & Channels

Meshtastic uses a channel system for group broadcasts and direct messages for private one-to-one conversations.

Channels

Message History

Channel conversations load the most recent 50 messages by default. Scroll to the top and tap Load More to fetch the next batch. This keeps the app responsive on channels with thousands of messages.

Channel Index

Symbol	Meaning
0 (primary circle)	Primary channel — broadcast packets are sent here. Location data is broadcast from the first channel where it is enabled (firmware 2.7+).
1–7	Secondary channels — separate messaging groups, each secured by their own key.

Channel Configuration

Channel form

The channel form lets you configure the channel name, encryption key, role, position sharing, and MQTT uplink/downlink settings.

Channel QR Codes

Use Share QR Code from Settings to choose which configured channels to share. The generated Meshtastic channel link includes the selected channel settings and the LoRa config needed for another radio to communicate on the same mesh.

When you open or scan a Meshtastic channel link, review the listed channels and choose whether to Replace Channels or Add Channels. Replace mode overwrites the current radio channel set, while add mode appends the incoming channels when there are free slots and no duplicate channel names.

Channel Security

Icon	Meaning
	Securely Encrypted — the channel uses a 128-bit or 256-bit AES key.
	Not Securely Encrypted — the channel uses no key or a 1-byte known key, but is not used for precise location data.
	Insecure with Location — the channel is not securely encrypted and is used for precise location data.
	Insecure with MQTT — not securely encrypted and precise location data is being uplinked to the internet via MQTT.

Tip — Share Channels A QR code contains the LoRa config and channels needed for radios to communicate. Use Replace Channels to overwrite or Add Channels to append to existing channels.

Tip — Manage Channels The primary channel handles broadcast traffic. Add secondary channels for separate messaging groups, each secured by their own key.

Tip — Administration Enabled Select a node from the drop-down to manage connected or remote devices.

Direct Messages

Contacts

Element	Meaning
	Favorites — favorited contacts and nodes with recent messages appear at the top of the contact list.
	Long Press Actions — long press to favorite or mute the contact, or delete a conversation.

Encryption

Encryption legend

Icon	Meaning
	Shared Key — direct messages are using the shared key for the channel.
	Public Key Encryption — direct messages use the public key infrastructure for encryption. Requires firmware 2.5 or later.
	Public Key Mismatch — the most recent public key for this node does not match the previously recorded key. Verify who you are messaging with by comparing public keys in person or over the phone.

Signing

A green shield (🛡️) on a broadcast message bubble means the message is signed and verified — the radio cryptographically verified an XEdDSA signature over the sender's identity key (firmware 2.8 or later). The shield answers a different question from the encryption lock: the lock means a direct message is private, while the shield means a broadcast is authentic (you know who really sent it).

The shield appears only on broadcast/channel messages, never on direct messages, and only when verification succeeded. Long-press a signed message to see Signed · verified in the context menu, then open Message Details for "Verified with the sender's key."
Unsigned messages show nothing — there is no warning. Direct messages, oversized broadcasts, and traffic from older firmware are all legitimately unsigned, so the absence of a shield does not indicate a problem. The radio drops broadcasts whose signature fails verification before they ever reach the app, so a shown signed message is verified by construction.

Tapback Reactions

Long press any message and tap Tapback to send an emoji reaction.

Tip — Messages Send channel broadcasts and direct messages. Long press any message for actions like copy, reply, tapback, and delivery details.

Message Status

Message status reference

Color	Meaning
Gray	Successful delivery.
Orange bubble	Acknowledged by another node — message was relayed but not confirmed by the final recipient.

The following errors may appear on a message bubble (red unless noted):

Status	Description
No Route	No route was found to the destination node.
Got NAK	The destination node explicitly rejected the message.
Timeout	The message timed out waiting for acknowledgement.
No Interface	The radio interface is unavailable.
Max Retransmit	Maximum retransmission attempts reached without success.
No Channel	The specified channel does not exist on the destination.
Too Large	The packet exceeds the maximum allowed size.
No Response	No response received from the destination.
PKI Failed	Public key infrastructure encryption/decryption failed.
Bad Request	Malformed packet rejected by the destination.
Not Authorized	The destination node refused the request due to permissions.

Gray indicates successful delivery. Orange indicates the message was relayed but not confirmed by the final recipient. Red indicates a permanent failure that will not succeed on retry.

Link Appearance

Links in message bubbles — including URLs, Meshtastic channel links, and markdown [text](url) links — are styled with an underline and the design standards Link color (Blue 400). This makes links visually distinct from regular message text in both light and dark mode. Tapping a link opens it in the browser, or for Meshtastic channel/contact URLs, opens the appropriate in-app handler.

Message Formatting (iOS 18+)

On iOS 18 and later, formatting buttons appear in the compact toolbar below the compose field after you have typed at least 3 characters. The formatting buttons share the toolbar row with the Alert bell, Position pin, and byte counter — all rendered as compact icons. The toolbar scrolls horizontally if it exceeds the screen width.

Compose area with formatting toolbar and live preview

Supported Styles

Button	Style	Markdown Syntax
Bold SF Symbol	Bold	`text`
Italic SF Symbol	Italic	`text`
Strikethrough SF Symbol	Strikethrough	`~~text~~`
Code SF Symbol	Code	`text`

How to Format Text

Select text and tap a button — select a word or phrase in the compose field, then tap a formatting button. The appropriate markdown delimiters are inserted around the selection. Any existing markdown delimiters within the selection are stripped first to prevent overlapping syntax. Whitespace at the edges of the selection is moved outside the delimiters so markdown renders correctly.
Tap a button first, then type — with the cursor placed (no selection), tap a formatting button. Delimiters are inserted and the cursor is placed between them so you can type formatted text immediately.
Toggle off — select text that is already wrapped with delimiters and tap the same formatting button to remove the delimiters.

Live Preview

When the compose field contains markdown syntax, a preview bubble appears above the compose field showing how the message will look when sent. The preview updates in real time as you type. When no markdown is present, the preview is hidden.

Markdown formatting is also rendered in the channel and user message list previews, so you can see formatted text at a glance.

Example	Description
	Preview showing bold formatting applied to text.
	Preview showing bold, italic, ~~strikethrough~~, and `code` formatting combined.

Switching Styles

When you select text that already contains markdown delimiters and apply a different style, the existing delimiters are stripped and replaced with the new style. For example, selecting **bold** and tapping Strikethrough produces ~~bold~~.

After applying a style, the selection expands to include the delimiters (e.g., selecting dolphin and tapping Bold selects **dolphin**), making it easy to toggle off or switch to a different style immediately.

Selection Safety

If your selection partially overlaps existing delimiters, the selection automatically expands to include the full delimiter run before formatting. Any orphaned (unpaired) delimiter characters left elsewhere in the text are cleaned up automatically. This prevents garbled markdown like th***~~~~~~e~~.

iOS 17 Users

The formatting toolbar is only available on iOS 18 and later. Users on iOS 17.x see the standard compose field with no changes to their experience.

Mac Catalyst

On Mac Catalyst, pressing Enter sends the message. Press Shift+Enter to insert a line break. The character palette button remains available alongside the formatting buttons.

Tip — Message Limit Messages are limited to 200 bytes. Markdown delimiters count toward this limit (e.g., **bold** uses 4 extra bytes for the ** pairs). The byte counter in the toolbar shows remaining space.