How to make a good Instagram bio

What to put in your bio

Instagram's help centre says you can write a bio of up to 150 characters. That's two or three short lines on a phone, so every word has to earn its place. Cover these, in this order:

1. What you do or post. "Vegan baking", "Wedding photographer", "Daily sketches of Manchester". This is the line people read first.
2. One detail that makes you different. A town, a speciality or a type of customer: "in Cork", "for small weddings", "on the bus home".
3. The next step. "Order below", "New recipes Tuesdays", "Book a free call". This turns a visit into a tap on your link.

Your name, profile picture and website each have their own place on your profile. Don't repeat your name in the bio unless it's part of the joke, and don't paste a long link into the text.

The three-line layout

Many good bios use one idea per line:

• Line one: who you are or what you post.
• Line two: what you offer or what makes you different.
• Line three: what to do next, often with 👇 pointing at your link.

For example: "Plant-based recipes for busy weeknights / 30 minutes, one pan, no fuss / New recipe every Tuesday 👇". That's about 100 characters, so there's room to spare.

Write a few versions with the generator

The tool below is set to Instagram, a friendly tone and a call to action, "Tap the link below". Describe yourself in a sentence or two, change the call to action if you have a better one, and press Generate for five bios that fit 150 characters. Try a different tone if none of them sound like you.

Add the bio to your profile

Instagram's help centre covers editing your bio, name and username, some of it through Accounts Center. In the app, go to your profile, tap Edit profile, then tap Bio. Paste your new bio and save.

Your website link is a separate field. Add it under Edit profile too, so the "tap below" in your bio points at something. If you want more than one link, a link-in-bio page lets you put all of them behind that one link.

Tips that make a bio work harder

• Be specific. "Ceramicist in Brighton making mugs you'll actually use" beats "Artist. Dreamer. Coffee lover."
• Use emoji to replace words, not to decorate. 📍 before a town or 👇 before your link saves characters and helps people scan. Screen readers read each emoji aloud, so a long row gets tiresome to hear.
• Keep fancy fonts for your name. Styled Unicode letters can look good, but some screen readers can't read them and they're harder to search. Keep the main line in plain text.
• Change it when your focus changes. If you launch a product or open bookings, say so in the last line, then change it back afterwards.
• Check the length after you edit. If you change a generated bio, paste it into the bio character counter to make sure it still fits.

Common mistakes

The most common mistake is saying nothing specific: a list of adjectives that could describe anyone. The second is hiding what you do behind a joke a stranger won't get. The third is a call to action that points nowhere because the website field is empty.

Read your bio as someone who has never heard of you. If they would know what you post and what to do next, it's a good Instagram bio. For styling ideas, see how to change Instagram bio fonts, and for links, how to add a link in your Instagram bio.