diff --git a/spec/components/blockquote-manager-spec.coffee b/spec/components/blockquote-manager-spec.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4e7bac07e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/components/blockquote-manager-spec.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+{DOMUtils} = require 'nylas-exports'
+BlockquoteManager = require '../../src/components/contenteditable/blockquote-manager'
+
+describe "BlockquoteManager", ->
+  outdentCases = ["""
+  <div>|</div>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <div>
+    <span>|</span>
+  </div>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <p></p>
+  <span>\n</span>
+  <span>|</span>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <span></span>
+  <p></p>
+  <span></span>
+  <span>|</span>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <div>
+    <div>
+      <div>|</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <div>
+    <span></span>
+    <span>|</span>
+  </div>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <span></span>
+  <p><span>yo</span></p>
+  <span></span>
+  <span>
+    <span></span>
+    <span></span>
+    <span>|test</span>
+  </span>
+  """
+  ]
+
+  backspaceCases = ["""
+  <div>yo|</div>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <div>
+    yo
+    <span>|</span>
+  </div>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <p></p>
+  <span>&nbsp;</span>
+  <span>|</span>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <span></span>
+  <p></p>
+  <span>yo</span>
+  <span>|</span>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <div>
+    <div>
+      <div>yo|</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <div>
+    <span>yo</span>
+    <span>|</span>
+  </div>
+  """
+  ,
+  """
+  <span></span>
+  <p><span>yo</span></p>
+  <span></span>
+  <span>
+    <span>yo</span>
+    <span></span>
+    <span>|test</span>
+  </span>
+  """
+  ]
+
+  setupContext = (testCase) ->
+    context = document.createElement("blockquote")
+    context.innerHTML = testCase
+    {node, index} = DOMUtils.findCharacter(context, "|")
+    if not node then throw new Error("Couldn't find where to set Selection")
+    mockSelection = {
+      isCollapsed: true
+      anchorNode: node
+      anchorOffset: index
+    }
+    return mockSelection
+
+  outdentCases.forEach (testCase) ->
+    it """outdents\n#{testCase}""", ->
+      mockSelection = setupContext(testCase)
+      editor = {currentSelection: -> mockSelection}
+      expect(BlockquoteManager._isInBlockquote(editor)).toBe true
+      expect(BlockquoteManager._isAtStartOfLine(editor)).toBe true
+
+  backspaceCases.forEach (testCase) ->
+    it """backspaces (does NOT outdent)\n#{testCase}""", ->
+      mockSelection = setupContext(testCase)
+      editor = {currentSelection: -> mockSelection}
+      expect(BlockquoteManager._isInBlockquote(editor)).toBe true
+      expect(BlockquoteManager._isAtStartOfLine(editor)).toBe false
diff --git a/src/components/contenteditable/blockquote-manager.coffee b/src/components/contenteditable/blockquote-manager.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91ce2144f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/contenteditable/blockquote-manager.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{DOMUtils, ContenteditableExtension} = require 'nylas-exports'
+
+class BlockquoteManager extends ContenteditableExtension
+  @onKeyDown: ({editor, event}) ->
+    if event.key is "Backspace"
+      if @_isInBlockquote(editor) and @_isAtStartOfLine(editor)
+        editor.outdent()
+        event.preventDefault()
+
+  @_isInBlockquote: (editor) ->
+    sel = editor.currentSelection()
+    return unless sel.isCollapsed
+    DOMUtils.closest(sel.anchorNode, "blockquote")?
+
+  @_isAtStartOfLine: (editor) ->
+    sel = editor.currentSelection()
+    return false unless sel.anchorNode
+    return false unless sel.isCollapsed
+    return false unless sel.anchorOffset is 0
+
+    return @_ancestorRelativeLooksLikeBlock(sel.anchorNode)
+
+  @_ancestorRelativeLooksLikeBlock: (node) ->
+    return true if DOMUtils.looksLikeBlockElement(node)
+    sibling = node
+    while sibling = sibling.previousSibling
+      if DOMUtils.looksLikeBlockElement(sibling)
+        return true
+
+      if DOMUtils.looksLikeNonEmptyNode(sibling)
+        return false
+
+    # never found block level element
+    return @_ancestorRelativeLooksLikeBlock(node.parentNode)
+
+module.exports = BlockquoteManager
diff --git a/src/components/contenteditable/contenteditable.cjsx b/src/components/contenteditable/contenteditable.cjsx
index 46746f1b7..a07a8b082 100644
--- a/src/components/contenteditable/contenteditable.cjsx
+++ b/src/components/contenteditable/contenteditable.cjsx
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ ListManager = require './list-manager'
 MouseService = require './mouse-service'
 DOMNormalizer = require './dom-normalizer'
 ClipboardService = require './clipboard-service'
+BlockquoteManager = require './blockquote-manager'
 
 ###
 Public: A modern React-compatible contenteditable
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ class Contenteditable extends React.Component
 
   coreServices: [MouseService, ClipboardService]
 
-  coreExtensions: [DOMNormalizer, ListManager, TabManager]
+  coreExtensions: [DOMNormalizer, ListManager, TabManager, BlockquoteManager]
 
 
   ########################################################################
diff --git a/src/dom-utils.coffee b/src/dom-utils.coffee
index b68b6c9f7..f9b8fa642 100644
--- a/src/dom-utils.coffee
+++ b/src/dom-utils.coffee
@@ -344,6 +344,18 @@ DOMUtils =
 
     return nodeList
 
+  findCharacter: (context, character) ->
+    node = null
+    index = null
+    treeWalker = document.createTreeWalker(context, NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT)
+    while currentNode = treeWalker.nextNode()
+      i = currentNode.data.indexOf(character)
+      if i >= 0
+        node = currentNode
+        index = i
+        break
+    return {node, index}
+
   escapeHTMLCharacters: (text) ->
     map =
       '&': '&amp;',
@@ -607,4 +619,18 @@ DOMUtils =
       parent = parent.parentElement
     false
 
+  looksLikeBlockElement: (node) ->
+    return node.nodeName in ["BR", "P", "BLOCKQUOTE", "DIV", "TABLE"]
+
+  # When detecting if we're at the start of a "visible" line, we need to look
+  # for text nodes that have visible content in them.
+  looksLikeNonEmptyNode: (node) ->
+    textNode = DOMUtils.findFirstTextNode(node)
+    if textNode
+      if /^[\n ]*$/.test(textNode.data)
+        return false
+      else return true
+    else
+      return false
+
 module.exports = DOMUtils