Markdown Blockquotes: How to Quote Text (and Nest Content)

What Is a Markdown Blockquote?

A markdown blockquote is a block of text rendered with an indent and a vertical bar (|) on the left, signaling that the content is quoted, highlighted, or called out. They are the Markdown equivalent of the HTML <blockquote> element and are perfect for pulling a memorable sentence from an article, calling attention to a tip, or warning readers about a common pitfall.

If you've ever wondered how to quote in markdown, the answer is surprisingly simple: a single greater-than sign (>) at the start of a line. From that one character you can build multi-line quotes, nested replies, and GitHub-style callouts — all covered below. You can paste any of the examples in this guide straight into the MD File Viewer editor to see them rendered live in your browser, without uploading anything.

Tip: Blockquotes are about emphasis. Reserve them for text that genuinely deserves to stand apart — a striking quote, an important note, or a warning. Overusing them dilutes their effect.

For a broader tour of the syntax, our Markdown cheat sheet lists every block and inline element in one place.

The Basic Markdown Blockquote (Single Line)

The simplest markdown blockquote starts with a single > followed by a space and your text:

> This sentence will appear indented with a vertical bar on the left.

That renders as:

This sentence will appear indented with a vertical bar on the left.

A few rules to remember:

• The > must be the first non-space character on the line.
• Put exactly one space between > and the text (most parsers accept more, but one is conventional).
• Trailing whitespace is ignored, so don't worry about perfect alignment.

That single character is the entire foundation of how to quote in markdown — everything else is a variation on it.

Multi-Line Blockquotes: Lazy vs Per-Line

Real quotes usually span several lines. Markdown gives you two ways to handle them, and the choice matters.

The per-line style (recommended)

Add a > to every line. This is unambiguous and renders identically across all parsers:

> Markdown is a lightweight markup language
> that you can use to add formatting elements
> to plaintext text documents.

Renders as a single, contiguous block:

Markdown is a lightweight markup language that you can use to add formatting elements to plaintext text documents.

The lazy style

If you omit the > on continuation lines, most parsers (CommonMark, GFM) still treat them as part of the quote — as long as the lines stay "soft-wrapped" with no blank line between them:

> Markdown is a lightweight markup language
that you can use to add formatting elements
to plaintext text documents.

The catch: the moment a blank line appears, the blockquote ends and the next > starts a new one. This is the single most common source of "my multi-line markdown blockquote broke in half" bugs. When in doubt, prefix every line with >. If you're targeting GitHub in particular, also skim our GitHub Flavored Markdown guide for parser-specific quirks.

Adding a blank line inside a quote

To create a paragraph break within the same quote, write a line that contains only > (with nothing after it):

> First paragraph of the quote.

> Second paragraph, still inside the same blockquote.

Nested Blockquotes (>>)

You can place a blockquote inside another blockquote by stacking > characters. Each extra > adds one level of nesting:

> Outer quote begins.
>
>> This is a nested quote — one level deeper.
>>
>>> And this is a third level. Use nesting sparingly; it gets hard to read fast.

Renders with two, then three vertical bars:

Outer quote begins.

This is a nested quote — one level deeper.

And this is a third level. Use nesting sparingly; it gets hard to read fast.

Nested blockquotes are the natural fit for reproducing an email thread, a chat log, or a back-and-forth discussion. Keep the structure flat whenever you can — most readers struggle to follow anything deeper than two levels.

Adding Formatting Inside a Quote

A markdown blockquote is a normal Markdown context, so almost all inline and block formatting works inside it. The only requirement: prefix every line with > so the parser keeps treating the content as part of the quote.

> **Important:** The deploy runs at 02:00 UTC and will cause ~5 minutes of downtime.
>
> Key points:
>
> - Read-only mode kicks in at 01:55.
> - Connections in flight will be dropped.
> - See the [runbook](https://example.com/runbook) for rollback steps.
>
> Relevant config snippet:
>
> ```yaml
> maintenance_window: "02:00-02:10"
> force_shutdown_after: 30s
> ```

Supported inside a quote:

• Bold, italics, strikethrough, and inline code
• Links and images
• Ordered and unordered lists
• Headings (though this often looks odd — prefer bold text)
• Fenced code blocks (as shown above)

If you're assembling quotes for project documentation, the same patterns slot neatly into a README — see our Markdown for README guide for layout advice.

GitHub Callouts: > [!NOTE], > [!WARNING], and Friends

GitHub Flavored Markdown supports a special callout syntax that turns a markdown blockquote into a colored, icon-labeled alert. The first line of the quote must match the pattern > [!TYPE], followed by the content on the next lines:

> [!NOTE]
> Useful information that users should know, even when skimming content.

> [!WARNING]
> Urgent info that needs immediate user attention to avoid problems.

These render as distinct, colored boxes with an icon — far more eye-catching than a plain quote. The full set of supported types:

Type	When to use it
[!NOTE]	Helpful but non-critical context the reader may skip.
[!TIP]	An optional suggestion that improves the reader's outcome.
[!IMPORTANT]	Key information users must read, even if they're skimming.
[!WARNING]	Urgent context that helps users avoid mistakes or data loss.
[!CAUTION]	Negative potential consequences of an action (use sparingly).

Callouts nest all the same inline formatting as a regular quote — bold, lists, links, and code all work inside them. They're the modern replacement for the older emoji-prefix convention (> ⚠️ Warning:) that many older documents still use, and they translate cleanly to other tools that understand GFM.

Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Most broken blockquotes trace back to a handful of mistakes. Here's how to spot and fix each one.

1. Forgetting the > on continuation lines. As covered above, a single un-prefixed line can silently split your quote. Always prefix, or accept the lazy-style risk.

<!-- Wrong: the second line escapes the quote -->
> First line.
Second line.

2. No space after >. >Text usually still works, but > Text is the portable, readable convention. Pick the spaced form and stick with it.

3. Mixing tabs and spaces before the >. Inconsistent indentation can confuse nested quotes. Use spaces consistently.

4. Over-nesting. Three or more levels of >>> is almost always a sign you should restructure the text rather than stack quotes.

5. Treating callouts as portable. > [!NOTE] is a GitHub (and a few other tools) feature. In a generic CommonMark renderer it falls back to a plain quote that literally shows the bracket text. If you need callouts everywhere, the emoji-prefix style is still the most compatible fallback.

If you're new to the syntax overall, our What is Markdown? primer explains how these pieces fit into the larger document model.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I quote in markdown on a single line?

Put a greater-than sign and a space before the text: > Your quote here. That's the entire markdown blockquote syntax for one line.

Can I put a code block inside a blockquote?

Yes. Prefix the opening and closing triple backticks with > (and every line of the code with > if you want it to stay inside the quote). Most renderers will display a fenced code block inside the quoted region.

Do blockquotes work in plain text email?

Yes — the > prefix is the same convention email clients have used for decades to mark quoted replies, which is exactly where Markdown borrowed it from. A markdown blockquote reads sensibly even with no renderer at all.

What's the difference between a blockquote and an inline quote?

A blockquote (> ...) is a block-level element that takes its own lines and gets the vertical bar. An inline quote, if you need one, is just quotation marks or the HTML <q> element used inside a paragraph. Use blockquotes for callouts and longer passages; use inline quotes for short phrases mid-sentence.

Wrapping Up

The markdown blockquote is one of the smallest, most reusable tools in the language: one character for a quote, two for nesting, and a [!TYPE] header for GitHub callouts. Use the per-line > style for safety, keep nesting shallow, and lean on callouts when you genuinely need to grab attention. Drop any of these examples into the MD File Viewer editor to preview them instantly — your content stays in your browser, nothing uploaded.