# Reply to, star, forward, delete or find one message

Reply to, star, forward or hide one message in a conversation, and search inside a long conversation for the words you need.

## Quick start

1. Open **Inbox** and a conversation. On the web, hover a message; in the app, long press it.
2. Click **Reply** to answer that message. It is quoted above the reply box until you send.
3. Click **Star** to keep it privately, or **Forward** to send it to another customer's chat.
4. Click the magnifier (**Search this conversation**) in the header to find a message by its words.
5. Open **Starred messages** above the list to see everything you starred.

## Watch out

- **Delete for me** hides a message from your own view. The customer and your teammates still have it.
- A star is private and is not a task. Nobody is told, and nothing reminds you later.

![A message bubble with Reply, Select, Forward, Star and Delete for me showing on hover.](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/work-with-one-message-1.webp)

![Search this conversation open, for finding a message by its words.](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/work-with-one-message-2.webp)

## Getting here

**Inbox** → open a conversation → hover a message for **Reply**, **Select**, **Forward**, **Star** and **Delete for me**. The magnifier (**Search this conversation**) is in the header; **Starred messages** sits above the conversation list. In the app: long press a message bubble for the same actions, and open **Starred messages** from the inbox header.

## Before you start

- Starring, hiding and searching need no special role. A **viewer** can do all three.
- Forwarding sends a message, so it needs an **owner**, **admin** or **agent**, and the same channel rules as any other send.
- There is nothing to set up. Every action works on messages already in the conversation.

## How it works

- **Reply** puts the message above the reply box under **Replying to**. Your next reply, file, product or template answers it; the × (**Cancel reply**) clears it.
- Where the channel shows quotes, as WhatsApp does, the customer sees a quoted reply. Where it cannot, the strip says **Replying to (visible to your team)** and only your team sees the quote.
- **Star** keeps a message on your own list. It is private: **Only visible to you — starring never changes what anyone else sees.**
- The **Starred messages** page lists them with the contact, the message, the channel and when you starred it, and you can search that list.
- **Unstar** takes one off again, from the message or from the starred list.
- **Select** turns on multi-select. Tick up to 20 messages, then **Forward {count} messages**.
- The forward picker offers **Frequently forwarded** and **Recent chats**, and searches by name or phone. **This chat** is offered too.
- A forward sends the text and each attachment again in the target chat — one message per attachment, the text riding on the first — and says **Forwarded to {name}**.
- Attachments are fetched and copied before the first send, so a file that can no longer be fetched refuses the whole forward. If a later send fails, the error says how many attachments went.
- **Delete for me** hides the message from your view only. The message that follows says **Only you stopped seeing it — nobody else’s view changed.** and offers **Undo**.
- **Search this conversation** filters the messages on screen to those that match, and the header shows **{count} found**.
- **Load earlier messages** at the top fetches the previous page. It walks past the conversation itself, so a chat that was closed and started again still reads as one history.
- In the app the search also steps between matches with **Previous match** and **Next match**, and shows **{at} of {total}**.

## When it fails

- **Could not star this message** — the star was not saved; the message is unchanged.
- **Could not delete this message** — the message stays on screen for you.
- **Internal notes can’t be forwarded.** — a note is for your team, so it cannot be sent to a customer.
- **Template messages can’t be forwarded — send the template from the composer instead.** — an approved template has to be sent as a template.
- **That kind of message can’t be forwarded.** — the message holds only something the composer cannot send, such as a location or a contact card.
- **There is nothing in that message to forward.** — no text and nothing sendable in it.
- **Could not load earlier messages. Please try again.** — the older page did not load; what is on screen is unchanged.
- **No messages match your search.** — nothing in the loaded part of the conversation contains those words.
- In the app, **That message is older — use Load earlier messages above.** means the match you tapped is not loaded yet.

## Limits

- **Reply** is not offered on an internal note, on a message still sending, on a send the platform refused, or to a **viewer**.
- An internal note never carries the quote, and a quote picked earlier is dropped when the WhatsApp window closes.
- **Delete for me** does exactly that. The customer still has the message, and your teammates still see it.
- Nothing here deletes a message for the customer or takes back a delivered message.
- A star is private and is not a task. Nobody is notified, and nothing reminds you about it later.
- Searching inside a conversation reads the messages already loaded. Words in an older, unloaded part are found only after **Load earlier messages**.
- The search matches message text. It does not read a file's contents, and it does not read a voice note nobody has transcribed.
- A forward is a new message on the target channel, with that channel's own rules — including a closed WhatsApp window.
- At most 20 messages can be forwarded at once, and one forward carries only the first few attachments of a message.
- Web has no step-through of search matches. It highlights and counts them; moving between them one by one is in the app.

## Best practices

- Star the message that carries the address, the reference number or the promise. It is faster than scrolling for it tomorrow.
- Forward the customer's own words to a colleague rather than retyping them. The original wording usually carries the detail.
- Use **Delete for me** for something you opened by mistake, not as a way to correct the record — the record does not change.
- Search inside the conversation before asking the customer to repeat themselves.
- Check the **Undo** offer straight away. It is the one moment where hiding a message can be taken back with a click.

## Use cases

- Michael Torres sends a delivery address in the middle of a long chat: star it before you scroll on.
- A customer reports a fault another teammate is handling: forward their two messages into that chat.
- You need to know what was agreed about a refund: search the conversation for the word.
- An accidental duplicate clutters your view: **Delete for me**, and leave the customer's view alone.
- A colleague asks what a customer said last month: **Load earlier messages** until it appears, then forward it.

## FAQ and troubleshooting

### Does Delete for me delete the message for the customer?

No. It hides it from your own view. The customer keeps it, and so do your teammates.

### Can my teammates see what I starred?

No. The starred list is yours alone, and starring changes nothing anyone else sees.

### Can I forward a template or an internal note?

No. A note is internal, and an approved template has to be sent as a template from the composer. Both refusals say so.

### I searched and the message is not found, but I know it exists.

Search reads the part of the conversation that is loaded. Click **Load earlier messages** until the older part is on screen, then search again.

### How many messages can I forward at once?

Up to 20. One forward carries only the first few attachments of a message, and the error tells you how many went if a send fails part way.

### The conversation was closed and started again. Do I lose the old messages?

No. **Load earlier messages** reaches past the earlier conversation, so the history reads as one.

## Related

- [Reply to a customer](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/reply-to-a-customer)
- [Find the conversation you need](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/find-a-conversation)
- [Close, reopen, snooze, pin and mute a conversation](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/close-reopen-and-snooze)
- [Let the AI draft, polish or brief you](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/inbox/ai-reply-tools)

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Source files: `src/components/inbox/MessageThread.tsx`, `src/components/inbox/ReplyBox.tsx`, `src/lib/inbox/reply-target.ts`, `src/components/inbox/ForwardMessageDialog.tsx`, `src/components/inbox/StarredMessageList.tsx`, `src/components/inbox/thread-search.tsx`, `src/app/(app)/inbox/starred/page.tsx`, `src/app/(app)/inbox/[id]/forward-action.ts`, `src/app/(app)/inbox/[id]/pin-star-hide-actions.ts`, `src/app/(app)/inbox/[id]/thread-actions.ts`, `src/lib/inbox/forward-message.ts`, `src/lib/inbox/forward-selection.ts`, `src/lib/inbox/thread-history.ts`, `src/lib/i18n/messages/inbox-thread.ts`, `src/lib/i18n/messages/inbox-list.ts`, `mobile/src/components/inbox/message-context-menu.tsx`, `mobile/src/components/inbox/forward-sheet.tsx`, `mobile/src/app/starred-messages.tsx`, `mobile/src/lib/i18n/en.ts`