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To add a pull quote in WordPress, click the + block inserter (or type /pullquote in an empty paragraph), choose Pullquote, and paste in a short excerpt from your article. Style it from the settings sidebar — text and background color, typography, and borders — and your theme handles the rest.
Pull quotes are a staple of magazine design for a reason: they give skimming readers a reason to stop. The WordPress block editor (Gutenberg) ships with a dedicated Pullquote block, so you can add one to any post or page in under a minute — no plugin, no custom CSS.
What is a pull quote, and why use one?
A pull quote is a sentence or two pulled from the article itself and repeated at a larger size as a visual element. It's different from a regular quotation:
- A quote presents someone else's words as part of your argument.
- A pull quote repeats your own best line to break up the page and hook skimmers.
On long posts, pull quotes act like visual signposts. Readers who scroll and scan — which is most readers — catch your key point even if they never read every paragraph, and a strong pull quote is often what convinces them to slow down and read.
How to add a pull quote in WordPress
Open your post for editing and choose the excerpt first. The best pull quotes are short (one or two sentences), self-contained, and opinionated — a claim, a surprising stat, or your article's core takeaway. Copy it so it's ready to paste.
Click the + block inserter and search for "pullquote," or — faster — type /pullquote in an empty paragraph and press Enter. Don't grab the plain Quote block by mistake; the two look similar in the inserter but behave differently (more on that below).
Paste or type your excerpt where the block says Write quote. Below it there's an Add citation field — since a pull quote repeats your own words, you'll usually leave the citation empty. Use it only if you're pulling out something a source said inside your article.
Use the alignment control in the block toolbar to position the pull quote. If your theme supports them, wide and full-width alignments make the quote span beyond the text column for real magazine-style impact. Placement-wise, drop it near (but not immediately beside) the paragraph it's pulled from, roughly where a reader's attention starts to drift.
Click Preview to see the pull quote with your theme's real styling — themes vary a lot here — then hit Update or Publish. If the front-end look isn't what you expected, style it yourself in the next section.
Styling the Pullquote block
With the Pullquote block selected, open the settings sidebar (the gear icon at the top right). Depending on your theme you'll see:
- Color — set the text color and background color so the quote stands out from (or harmonizes with) the surrounding page.
- Typography — font size, appearance (weight/style), line height, letter case, and letter spacing. Bumping the size and weight is the quickest way to make a pull quote feel deliberate.
- Border — color, width, style, and corner radius. Many themes render the Pullquote with accent borders above and below; this panel lets you take control of them.
- Dimensions — padding and margin, useful for giving the quote breathing room.
Your theme defines the Pullquote block's default look, and block themes in particular often ship polished pull quote styling out of the box. Publish once with the defaults before overriding colors and fonts — consistent, theme-driven styling usually beats one-off tweaks. Some themes also add extra style variations under the block's Styles panel.
You can also browse block patterns — pre-built layouts in the inserter's Patterns tab — and search for "quote" to find ready-made quote and pull quote designs you can drop in and edit. See our guide to using WordPress block patterns.
Quote vs. Pullquote: which block should you use?
| Quote block | Pullquote block | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Quoting someone else | Repeating a line from your own article |
| Visual weight | Subdued, flows with the text | Bold graphic element that interrupts the page |
| Content | Can nest paragraphs, lists, and other blocks inside it | A single short passage plus optional citation |
| Citation | Added from the block toolbar | Built-in field below the quote |
| Styles | Default and Plain (themes may add more) | Theme-dependent, with full color/border controls |
Rule of thumb: if the words came from someone else, use the Quote block; if you're spotlighting your own sentence, use Pullquote.
Already used the wrong one? Select the Quote block, click its block icon in the toolbar, and choose Pullquote from the transform list — WordPress converts it and keeps your text. The same menu also transforms a quote into a plain paragraph, Columns, or Group.
Using pull quotes well
A few editorial guidelines that make pull quotes help rather than hurt:
- Keep them short. One or two sentences. If it needs three, tighten the excerpt.
- One per screen, at most. A pull quote every few paragraphs stops feeling special and starts feeling like clutter.
- Repeat, don't introduce. A pull quote should echo text that exists in the article — readers (and screen reader users, who hear it twice) shouldn't find new information there.
- Place it where attention sags. The middle of a long section is prime territory; right next to the sentence it duplicates reads as an echo.
Formatting choices like this are exactly what we cover in one-on-one WordPress tutoring — bring a real post and we'll polish it together, live on your site.
Keep learning
- Adding a Quote block in Gutenberg
- How to use the Paragraph block
- How to use WordPress block patterns
- The WordPress Manual — every block editor basic in one place
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