What Is a Repost on X? Reposts, Quotes and Retweets Explained

A repost on X is a one-tap share: it takes someone’s post, unchanged, and puts it in front of your followers, credited to the original author. It’s what used to be called a retweet. The icon is the same pair of looping arrows, and the idea is the same — you’re passing a post along because you think your audience should see it.

What trips people up are the details around it: how a repost differs from a quote post, why some posts can’t be reposted, why the list of reposters seems incomplete, and how to stop one account’s reposts from flooding your timeline. This guide covers all of it, based on X’s help center.

From retweet to repost

When Twitter became X, the product vocabulary changed with it: tweets became posts and retweets became reposts. Nothing about the mechanics changed. People still say “retweet” and “RT” in everyday conversation and in search, and you’ll see both terms used interchangeably — this article uses “repost” because that’s what the X interface says.

Repost vs. quote post vs. manual “RT”

There are three ways people share a post, and they behave very differently:

	Repost	Quote post	Manual “RT”
What it is	The original post, shared as-is	A new post with the original embedded	Copying someone’s text and typing “RT”
Can you add a comment?	No	Yes	Yes
Credits the author	Automatically	Automatically (embedded post)	Only if you type their name
Counts on the original post	Adds to its repost count	Adds to its quote count	Nothing
Official X feature?	Yes	Yes	No

According to X’s help center, typing “RT” manually isn’t an official feature. It’s a leftover habit from the early days of Twitter. Today it mostly causes confusion: nothing is added to the original post’s counts, your copy can drift out of sync with the original if the author corrects or deletes it, and readers have no built-in way to click through to the source.

A quote post is the right choice when you have something to add. It creates a post of your own, with its own replies, likes and views, while still linking back to the original.

How to repost on X

1. Find the post you want to share.
2. Tap the repost icon (the two looping arrows) below it.
3. Choose Repost to share it as-is, or Quote to add your own comment first.

The icon turns highlighted once you’ve reposted, so you can tell at a glance what you’ve already shared.

How to undo a repost

Tap the highlighted repost icon on the post and choose the option to undo the repost. It disappears from your profile and from your followers’ timelines.

Reposts can also disappear without you doing anything: if the original post is deleted, or the original account is suspended, the repost goes with it.

Who sees your repost

A repost shows up for your followers with a small label noting that you reposted it, and it appears on your profile. The original post’s counts — including its public view count — keep belonging to the original author, which is why reposts are one of the most valuable things you can get as a creator. Every repost puts your post in front of an audience you don’t have yet. Our guide to impressions on X explains how those extra views are counted.

Posts you can’t repost

X’s help center is explicit: posts from protected accounts can’t be reposted. Only approved followers can see a protected account’s posts, so the repost option isn’t available to anyone.

If you run a protected account and want your posts shared, you’ll need to make the account public. That’s a real trade-off, and it’s worth deciding on purpose.

Can you repost your own posts?

Yes. X allows you to repost your own posts. It’s a legitimate, low-effort way to give a good post a second life — for example, reposting a morning post in the evening for followers in another time zone, or bringing back an announcement on the day it matters. Use it sparingly: a timeline full of self-reposts starts to look like a loop.

Who reposted your post: the 100-reposter limit

On a post’s detail view, X shows the repost count and the quote count, with tabs that list who reposted and who quoted it. Two details matter:

• There’s no limit on how many times a post can be reposted. The count keeps climbing.
• X only shows the most recent 100 reposters of a public post. If a post was reposted thousands of times, you won’t be able to scroll through every account — only the latest 100.

Quotes are often the more useful tab to read. They show you what people said about your post, which is better feedback than a bare count.

How to turn off reposts from an account

Some accounts post great original content but repost constantly. X lets you keep following them while hiding what they share:

1. Go to the account’s profile.
2. Open the more menu (the three dots).
3. Choose Turn off Reposts.

You’ll still see their own posts. To reverse it, go back to the same menu and turn reposts back on. This is per account, so you can mute the heavy reposters and keep reposts from everyone else.

Do reposts count toward X’s limits?

This is one place where X’s own pages don’t agree. X’s Repost FAQ says reposts count toward a “1,000 posts per day” limit, while the “About X limits” page describes posting limits differently. In normal use you’re very unlikely to hit either. If you do, X shows an error explaining which limit you reached. Our guide to X limits breaks down the numbers X publishes.

Why reposts matter more than likes

For the person who wrote the post, a repost is worth far more than a like. A like is a quiet nod that stays on the post; a repost is a public endorsement that carries the post to a new set of followers. That’s also why people repost less often: it goes on their profile, so they only share what they’re happy to be associated with. If you’re weighing which reactions to care about, our guide on whether likes matter on X compares likes, replies, reposts and bookmarks side by side.

A practical habit: when someone you don’t know reposts you, look at their profile. Repeat reposters are often your most valuable readers — worth a reply, a follow or a thank-you.

When to repost vs. when to quote

• Repost when the post speaks for itself and you simply want your followers to see it: a friend’s launch, breaking news from a reliable source, a great thread.
• Quote when you can add context, a correction, a personal example or a disagreement. Your commentary gives followers a reason to care, and the quote collects its own engagement on your account.
• Reply instead when your comment is mostly for the author. A quote broadcasts your reaction to your whole audience; a reply keeps it in the conversation.

If you’d like more people to share your own posts, our practical list on how to get more retweets on X covers what makes a post worth reposting.

Key takeaways

• A repost is X’s current name for a retweet: the original post, shared unchanged with your followers.
• A quote post adds your comment and becomes a new post; a manual “RT” isn’t an official feature.
• Undo a repost by tapping the highlighted icon; reposts vanish if the original is deleted or the account is suspended.
• Protected posts can’t be reposted, and you can repost your own posts.
• There’s no cap on reposts, but X only lists the most recent 100 reposters; use Turn off Reposts to hide one account’s shares.