How do you reply to a specific message on WhatsApp iPhone?

The latest update of WhatsApp (v.2.16.118) allows you to reply to specific individual Messages in a Group chat. You will find below the steps to reply to individual Messages in WhatsApp Group chat on both iPhone and Android Phone.

Previously there was no easy way to reply to individual Messages within a WhatsApp Group Chat and this resulted in confusion as to who was replying to who. With this kind of setup there was always a potential to create confusion and even serious misunderstanding between Group Members.

For example, let us say that you checked your WhatsApp account and found a Message from a Group chat saying that “Canada Won the World Cup Hockey!”. Naturally, if you are Canadian you might reply “Great” or something similar along that line and close your phone.

However, unknown to you the messages in this Group chat might appear in the following order to other members in the WhatsApp Group:-

1. “Canada Won the World Cup of Hockey” – Tom, Canadian
2. “Sad day US Lost the World Cup Final” – John, American
3. “Great! overjoyed” – Your reply to Tom

While your reply was actually meant for the first Message, it actually ended up appearing after the second Message, making it look really bad, as if you were trying to rub it into the Americans.

Such a scenario and even worse ones can play out in a Group chat. Luckily, you can now avoid such misunderstandings and embarrassment by Replying to specific Individual Messages on WhatsApp.

Reply to Individual Messages in WhatsApp Group On iPhone

Follow the steps below to reply to specific or individual WhatsApp Group Messages on your iPhone or iPad.

1. Open the WhatsApp Group chat on your iPhone.

2. Next, long press or double tap on the particular Message in the Group Chat that you wanted to reply to.

3. From the Menu that appears at the top, tap on Reply (See image below)

4. Next, type your reply to the Message and tap on Send (See image below)

Your reply will appear in context with the message that you had selected to reply to. Hence, the other person and everyone in the Group will be able to clearly get the picture as to which Message you are trying to reply to.

Reply to Individual Messages in WhatsApp Group On Android Phone

Follow the steps below to reply to specific or individual WhatsApp Group Messages on your iPhone or iPad.

1. Open the WhatsApp Group chat on your Android Phone.

2. Next, Tap and Hold on the particular Message that you wanted to reply to.

3. From the Menu that appears at the top, tap on Reply.

4. Next, type your reply to the Message and tap on the Send button.

Since you had selected a particular Message to reply to, your reply will appear in context with the message that you are replying to.

1. How to Forward Messages In WhatsApp

Benefits of quotes in WhatsApp

When replying to a message in a fast conversation with lots of individual messages, things can get a little confusing. To reply in a manner that is readable for the other party or parties and keep things visually organized, try the new WhatsApp quote feature that works for group chats as well as individual chats. It contains a reference to a message through quoting the WhatsApp message.

How to quote in WhatsApp

Press and hold the message you would like to comment on and select “Reply” from the context menu, so that your reply or question will contain a full quote of the message in question.
Then enter your reply as you would with any message. Note how the quoted WhatsApp message is shown in a separate preview above the text input field. When you’re ready send it by tapping the “Send” button. Your final message will contain the WhatsApp quote above the reply you sent.

By tapping the block-quote or quote inside the new message, members of the conversation can automatically scroll up to the referenced message. This helps making convoluted chats much more manageable.

Need to forward a WhatsApp message? Learn how to forward a WhatsApp message here.