Mastodon 4.5 launches with quote posts, enhanced moderation, and reply fetching

Mastodon 4.5 has been launched, introducing Quote Posts that let users quote others’ posts while giving authors control to disable or revoke quotes globally or per post through the new Posting Defaults page. It also addresses missing replies with a new “Fetch All Replies” feature that automatically retrieves unseen responses every 15 minutes and on page load.

For server administrators, the update adds Feed Management tools to disable specific feeds for visitors or logged-in users and allows setting the local feed as the homepage. Moderation gains new capabilities with Targeted Blocking to filter usernames by partial matches or variations and with an improved interface that shows link previews and quoted content for clearer context during reviews.

The web interface now supports native emojis, giving users a choice in how they appear. Mastodon’s public roadmap has been refreshed to improve transparency, and work is underway on version 4.6, which will add “Packs,” better onboarding, and institutional tools, supported by NLNet and the NGI Zero Commons Fund.