# Quote and reply

You can quote a previous message, either replying within a topic or to
start a new topic.

{start_tabs}

{!message-actions-menu.md!}

1. Click **Quote and reply**.

1. (optional) Delete paragraphs not relevant to your reply, just like
   when replying to a multi-paragraph email.

1. Send your message.

{end_tabs}

You can also use the keyboard shortcut `>` to initiate quote-and-reply.

## Related articles

* The first line of the reply contains a [permanent
  link](/help/link-to-a-message-or-conversation) to the quoted
  message.
* Zulip automatically turns mentions in quoted text into [silent
  mentions](/help/mention-a-user-or-group#silently-mention-a-user) to
  avoid unnecessarily mentioning someone twice.
* You can use [quote
  blocks](/help/format-your-message-using-markdown#quotes) when
  quoting emails or other non-Zulip content.