Expanding captured portions of references in an instant messaging system is supported. An electronic message that includes a captured portion of a reference is received. The captured portion is a portion of the reference that is inserted into the electronic message by a sender. A query for data that is associated with the reference is sent to a database that stores a supplemental object, and in response, information extracted from the supplemental object is received. The visual representation of the captured portion is presented and modified within the electronic message, via a user interface, based on (i) the information extracted from the supplemental object and (ii) an interaction with the captured portion that generated the query, the interaction comprising dragging a handle that is associated with a border of the captured portion of the reference such that more than the captured portion of the reference is presented.