# Removing "reply to" from a post **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [December 31, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368 "2024-12-31T04:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/1 "2024-12-31T04:54:12Z")
Sometimes when I post in a thread I accidentally reply to a particular poster, rather than to the thread itself. The person gets a note of a reply, even though my post doesn’t address them directly. I’ve tried editing, but I can’t find a way to remove the reference. Is there a way? Not an enormous problem, but it is somewhat annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/2 "2024-12-31T05:13:25Z")
At the top left of the reply box is an arrow. Click it, then click “Reply To Topic”. Alternatively, copy the post, close/discard the reply, then reply to the thread and paste what you were about to post. . . . here’s the arrow [![](https://i.imgur.com/OuNTFZT.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/OuNTFZT.png) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/3 "2024-12-31T05:20:15Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Sometimes when I post in a thread I accidentally reply to a particular poster, rather than to the thread itself. FWIW, you can also do this in reverse. You can, even after you’ve started typing a reply, click the reply button in someone’s post and it’ll now be a reply to them instead of to the topic itself. If it’s already a reply to a person, you can do this to change which post/poster it’s directed at. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/4 "2024-12-31T11:35:50Z")
This is a test of replying directly to **Joey\_P** ’s post #2, saving my post, then later editing it to reply to the thread overall. Here’s the reply to him. And now on edit his cited [change where the post is going] feature doesn’t exist. My conclusion FWIW: Once you begin a post you can always change who it replies to by simply copying your entire text onto the clipboard, discarding your not-yet-posted post, then opening a new one replying to the correct target. Be that the whole thread or the same or a different post or poster in it. Likewise you can switch back from [reply to poster] to [reply to thread] or via **Joey\_P** ’s technique. There’s even a feature where if you start out with [reply to thread] you can change that to [reply to last post] which isn’t quite the same thing. Once posted though, your post is permanently attached to whatever it replied to. That target can’t be changed in a subsequent edit. Which I believe was the OP’s goal: editing the target after posting ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/5 "2024-12-31T12:55:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Once posted though, your post is permanently attached to whatever it replied to. That target can’t be changed in a subsequent edit. Which I believe was the OP’s goal: editing the target after posting That I don’t think I was aware of, but when I make that mistake, I think I usually either explain the mistake or leave it alone and assume the other person will figure out that it wasn’t meant as a reply to them. Sometimes it seems like discourse went out of it’s way to make replies more confusing than they need to be. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/6 "2024-12-31T12:57:00Z")
testing ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/7 "2024-12-31T14:19:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Which I believe was the OP’s goal: editing the target after posting That is correct. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/8 "2024-12-31T14:56:59Z")
If I realize I responded to the wrong person, and already hit reply, and can’t discard the post, at a minimum I’ll add an @Dopername to the message, or quote something from the right post. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/9 "2024-12-31T15:25:37Z")
This. Often I’ll be replying to the last post of the thread by clicking the thread reply, then blabbering away verbosely for minutes while 2 or 3 other posts sneak in. Then I submit my post which now makes no sense in the context below those intervenors. Time to edit in a ETA: @SoandSo two posts up. at the top. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-reply-to-from-a-post/1012368/10 "2024-12-31T22:43:07Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Sometimes it seems like discourse went out of it’s way to make replies more confusing than they need to be. I think it’s trying to “help” in a lot of cases, but ends up doing the opposite.