The Sort button at the top of a conversation list sets the order of the conversations in it. The default is last activity, newest first, so a conversation jumps to the top whenever something happens on it. You can sort by created date, last message, priority or waiting time instead.
Change the sort order
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Click Sort at the top of the conversation list.
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Pick what to sort by: Last activity, Last message, Created at, Priority or Pending response.
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Under Order: pick Newest first or Oldest first.
The list reloads straight away. Your choice is saved for you and applies to every inbox, label and view you open. Your colleagues keep their own.
What each option means
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Last activity (default): the most recent event on the conversation. That includes customer and agent messages and other updates to the conversation.
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Last message: the time of the last message, ignoring activity lines. Reopened conversations come up by their newest message.
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Created at: the date the conversation was first created. A customer follow-up doesn't move it.
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Priority: by priority level. Newest first puts Urgent on top, Oldest first puts Low on top. Conversations without a priority come last either way.
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Pending response: how long the customer has been waiting for a reply from a human agent. Oldest first puts the longest wait on top. Conversations where nobody is waiting come last either way.
Which one to use
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Work tickets in the order customers first wrote in: Created at, Oldest first.
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Answer whoever has waited longest: Pending response, Oldest first.
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Find conversations nobody has touched for a while: Last activity, Oldest first.
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Keep reopened tickets in sight: Last message, Newest first.
Limits
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There is one sort setting per person. A view doesn't store its own sort order.
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Sorting only changes the order you see. It doesn't change which conversations are assigned first. See How does auto-assignment work?
Common problems
I chose Oldest first but the newest conversations are still on top
Check what you are sorting by. With Last activity, a conversation created weeks ago counts as recent the moment it gets a new message or update. Switch to Created at to order by age.
If the order still looks wrong, contact support from the chat inside the app and tell us which list you have open.
A ticket jumps to the top every time the customer follows up
The list is sorted by Last activity or Last message. Switch to Created at with Oldest first and each conversation keeps its place.
Reopened tickets are buried in the list
The list is sorted by Created at, so an old conversation that reopens stays far down. Switch to Last message or Last activity with Newest first.
Common questions
Can I sort by the date a customer first contacted us, oldest first?
Yes. Click Sort, pick Created at and set the order to Oldest first. It works in inbox lists and in views.
Can each view have its own sort order?
No. The sort order is one personal setting that follows you across lists and views.
Does my sort order change what my teammates see?
No. Each person has their own.
Can auto-assignment hand out the oldest tickets first?
No. Auto-assignment gives out conversations as they arrive. Sorting by Created at lets each agent work their own list oldest first.