How do you reply to a specific message on iPhone?

The group MMS feature of the iPhone Messages application enables you to send a message to many contacts at one time, which is a convenient way to send an update to coworkers or clients. Even if you did not start the group MMS conversation, all of your replies will go to everyone in the conversation by default, which in some cases may not be appropriate for a business chat if your comments need to be confidential. It is not possible to reply to one specific person included in the conversation directly from the group MMS screen. In order to send a message to one person, you will need to exit the group MMS conversation and start a new conversation directly with that person from the main Messages screen.

Table of Contents Show

How to inline reply in Messages on iPhone
Replies appear in two places within your conversation:
Related coverage from Tech Reference:
How to play iMessage games on an iPhone with your contacts
How to add widgets on your iPhone to quickly access information from your favorite apps in 'Today View'
How to swipe to delete messages in your iPhone's Mail app by enabling the feature
How to enable iMessage on your iPhone to easily send messages to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users
How to back up your text messages on an iPhone, using iCloud or a Mac computer
Why can't I reply to a specific message on iPhone?
How do you reply to a specific message on Messages?
How do I create a custom reply message on my iPhone?
How do you reply to a certain message in an iMessage group chat?

Tap the "Messages" button at the top left of the iPhone Group MMS screen, which is displaying the group conversation you are reading. This will bring you back to the main "Messages" screen.
Tap the icon to create a new message, and enter the person's name you want to send a message to in the "To" field.
Enter your message text and tap "Send."

....For you..Pour vous....

Since iOS 14, it's possible to reply to a specific message in an iMessage conversation.

Just long-press on the desired message, then tap on "Reply" and write your reply.

That's it!

Your reply will appear at the bottom of the conversation with a link to the message you replied to.

And here will be a blue "1 reply" link underneath the message you replied to.

Just tap on it to see the reply.

It only works with iMessage (blue bubbles) not SMS (green bubbles).

Here's a quick demo:

Want to receive this kind of tip automatically via e-mail alongside Apple news?
Just click on the thumbnail below to join the club

You can send inline replies in the Messages app on your iPhone if you have iOS 14 and you're messaging iMessage users.
Replying inline makes it easier to carry on multiple conversation threads within the same chat.
To reply inline, tap and hold a message until the pop-up menu appears, then choose "Reply."

For years, Apple's Messaging app has lacked a useful way to manage related "threads" in the same conversation. Starting with iOS 14, you can now add inline replies within a conversation.

Inline replies only work in conversations with other iMessage users – the option won't be available if you are texting with a non-iPhone user. But you can use inline replies in two-person conversations or in group chats.

How to inline reply in Messages on iPhone

1. Open the Messages app on your iPhone and open a conversation.

2. Tap and hold the message you want to reply to. Hold it until you see the pop-up menu.

3. Tap "Reply."

Tap and hold a message to see the "Reply" menu option. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

4. Type your message and send it.

Replies appear in two places within your conversation:

If you scroll to the location in the conversation where you replied, you should see how many replies there are to that message. Tap it to expand the text and continue replying.

Inline replies appear in the appropriate part of the conversation, and also at the bottom. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

The reply will also appear at the bottom of the conversation, so you can respond to it without having to scroll back up to find it. A gray bracket indicates the reply.

Inline replies also appear at the bottom, where they're easy to find. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

How to play iMessage games on an iPhone with your contacts
How to add widgets on your iPhone to quickly access information from your favorite apps in 'Today View'
How to swipe to delete messages in your iPhone's Mail app by enabling the feature
How to enable iMessage on your iPhone to easily send messages to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users
How to back up your text messages on an iPhone, using iCloud or a Mac computer

Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

Why can't I reply to a specific message on iPhone?

Replying to a specific message in iMessage is easy, but your conversation needs to meet a few conditions for this function to work. Both your iPhone and the recipient's device need to be running on iOS 14 or newer. Both you and the other person need to be using iMessage, not text.

How do you reply to a specific message on Messages?

Reply to a chat message.

Open the Chat app or Gmail app ..

On the bottom, tap Chat or Spaces ..

Open a chat message or a space..

If you're in a space, below the message, tap Reply ..

Enter your message or select a suggestion. You can customize a suggested message before you send it..

Tap Send ..

How do I create a custom reply message on my iPhone?

Tap Message, then choose a default reply or tap Custom. To create your own default replies, go to Settings > Phone > Respond with Text, then tap any default message and replace it with your own text.

How do you reply to a certain message in an iMessage group chat?

In order to reply to a specific message, open up your texts and find the text you want to reply to. Next, touch and hold the message itself until a bubble appears with options. Select: Reply. Then you can send a message directly back to that specific text.