How to Create a Threads Account

Ready to jump into the conversation on Threads? Creating an account is beautifully simple, mainly because it ties directly into your Instagram profile. This guide walks you through the entire process, from downloading the app and setting up your profile to understanding the key settings that will help you get off to a great start.

What is Threads, and Why Should You Join?

Threads is Meta's answer to the text-based social media world, designed as a direct competitor to X (formerly Twitter). It’s a space for real-time updates, public conversations, and connecting with creators and friends in a more immediate, text-focused format. Unlike the polished, visual-first world of Instagram, Threads leans into a more casual, conversational vibe.

So, why should you or your brand consider making the leap? Several reasons make it an interesting platform to be on right now:

• Leverage Your Existing Audience: Your Threads account is linked to your Instagram. This means you don’t start from zero. You can instantly follow all the accounts you already follow on Instagram, making it easy for your existing followers to find and follow you back. This is a massive head start that new platforms rarely offer.
• A Fresh Algorithm: As a relatively new platform, discovery on Threads is still evolving. Early adopters often benefit from increased visibility as the platform’s algorithm works to connect users with fresh, engaging content. It’s a chance to get seen by a new audience outside of your established followers.
• Show a Different Side of Your Brand: The casual nature of Threads is perfect for humanizing your brand. It’s less about perfect photos and more about quick thoughts, asking questions, sharing behind-the-scenes moments, and joining in on trending discussions. This is where you can build a more personal connection with your audience.
• Direct Community Engagement: The format encourages back-and-forth dialogue. You can reply, repost (the Threads equivalent of a retweet), and quote-post to join conversations easily. For brands, this offers a direct line to customer feedback, community building, and participating in an authentic way.

The Easiest Way to Get Started: Linking Your Instagram Account

Before you do anything else, understand this core concept: you absolutely need an Instagram account to create a Threads account. The two are permanently linked. Your Threads username (@yourhandle) will be the same as your Instagram username, and you cannot change it on Threads without also changing it on Instagram.

While this might seem restrictive, it’s actually the platform's superpower. It streamlines the signup process to a few taps and solves the “empty room” problem that plagues a lot of new social networks. You arrive with a built-in network, which makes the experience engaging from the moment you log in.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Threads Account

Setting up your account takes less than five minutes. Grab your phone, and let’s walk through it step-by-step.

Step 1: Download the Threads App

First things first, you need the app. Head over to the Apple App Store (for iOS) or Google Play Store (for Android) and search for “Threads, an Instagram app.” Be sure to download the official app from Meta - it uses a simple, at-symbol-like logo on a black or white background. It's a free download.

Step 2: Log In With Your Instagram

When you open the Threads app for the first time, it will automatically detect any Instagram accounts you're currently logged into on your device. You'll see your Instagram handle displayed prominently on the screen with a button that says "Log in with Instagram."

If you manage multiple Instagram accounts (for example, a personal account and a business account), you can tap "Switch accounts" at the bottom of the screen to select which one you want to use to create your Threads profile.

Step 3: Customize Your Profile

This is where you decide on your A-game on Threads. The app gives you two convenient options for setting up your profile:

• Import from Instagram: With a single tap, you can pull your existing profile picture, bio, and link directly from the connected Instagram account. This is the fastest method and it's perfect for brands and creators who want to maintain a consistent identity across platforms. It ensures your branding is seamless.
• Write Manually: Alternatively, you can craft a unique presence for Threads. Tap on your profile picture to upload a different one, write a new bio specifically for the platform, and add a custom link. This is a great choice if you want Threads to be a more experimental, personal, or niche-focused space compared to your main Instagram.

Our advice? If you're a business, start by importing to keep things consistent. You can always tweak your bio later. If you're a creator looking to build a different kind of community, writing a manual bio that speaks to the conversational nature of Threads is a smart move.

Step 4: Set Your Profile Privacy

Next, you’ll choose your privacy setting. The options are straightforward and mirror Instagram’s settings:

• Public Profile: Anyone, whether they have a Threads account or not, can see, share, and interact with your posts. This is the best setting for brands, public figures, content creators, and anyone looking to maximize their reach and build a public community.
• Private Profile: Only your approved followers can see and react to your content. If a follower wants to share your post, it will only be visible to your other followers. This is ideal if you're using Threads primarily to connect with a close circle of friends or family.

You can change this setting at any time in your profile settings, so don't stress too much over this initial choice.

Step 5: Follow Accounts

Here’s where the Instagram integration really pays off. Threads will present you with a list of every single account you already follow on Instagram that also has a Threads profile. You have two choices:

• Follow All: A single tap on the "Follow all" button will instantly connect you with everyone you already know, filling your feed with familiar faces and content right away.
• Select Manually: You can also scroll through the list and tap the "Follow" button next to each account individually. This is a good approach if you want your Threads feed to be more curated and less noisy than your Instagram feed. Perhaps you only want to follow close friends or news sources on Threads.

Step 6: Join Threads!

After reviewing how Threads works and uses your data, the final step is to tap the "Join Threads" button. Congratulations, you're in! You’ll be taken directly to your home feed, where you can start scrolling, replying, and posting your first thread.

Your First Hour on Threads: Setting Yourself Up for Success

You have an account, now what? Spending a few minutes getting acquainted with the platform can make a big difference.

Understanding the Interface

The layout is clean and user-friendly. There are five main icons at the bottom of a screen:

• Home: This is your main feed, featuring a mix of content from people you follow and algorithmically recommended posts.
• Search: Find and follow new accounts here.
• New Thread: Tap this to compose your own post.
• Activity: This is your notification hub. You'll see replies, mentions, follow requests, and other interactions here.
• Profile: View your own profile, edit your bio, see your posts and replies, and access settings.

Writing Your First Thread

Your first post doesn't need to be profound. A simple intro is a great way to start. Something like, "Hey, excited to be here! Looking forward to chatting with you all," works perfectly. A post consists of:

• Text: Up to 500 characters.
• Media: You can add photos, GIFs, and videos up to 5 minutes long.
• Links: Yes, you can share clickable links.
• Polls & Voice Notes: You can engage your audience by creating a poll or sharing a quick voice thread.

Fine-Tuning Your Notifications

New social apps can be notorious for flooding your phone with notifications. Take a moment to customize them. Go to your Profile > tap the two-line menu in the top right > tap "Notifications." Here, you can pause all notifications temporarily or dig deeper to control alerts for specific actions like replies, mentions, and new followers. This simple step keeps the experience from feeling overwhelming.

Managing Multiple Threads Accounts

For social media managers and creators with multiple brands, switching between accounts is seamless, just like on Instagram. Simply tap and hold your profile picture in the bottom-right corner of the app. A menu will pop up showing all your logged-in accounts, allowing you to switch between them with a quick tap. You can add another account by going to your profile settings and selecting "Add Account."

What’s the Difference Between Threads and X?

While they are both text-focused platforms, they have distinct vibes and features.

• The Vibe: Generally, the community on Threads is seen as more positive and less confrontational than on X. The conversations often feel more constructive and community-focused.
• Core Connection: Threads is built on the Instagram social graph. This interconnectedness allows for easier content sharing (you can easily share a thread to your Instagram Story) but also grounds your identity in your existing Instagram profile. X is its own standalone universe.
• Features: X has more mature features like ads monetization, advanced search, and Spaces (audio rooms). Threads is still rolling a lot out, but has already implemented useful tools like polls, GIFs, and voice notes.

Think of Threads as the place for building community and brand voice, while X remains the go-to for breaking news and real-time commentary on global events.

Final Thoughts

Getting started on Threads is incredibly straightforward, thanks to its direct integration with Instagram. In just a few taps, you can have a profile set up, connect with your existing community, and start participating in real-time conversations in a space that feels fresh and full of opportunities.

Once you're set up and getting into the rhythm of creating content, managing it alongside your other social platforms can feel like a lot to juggle. We built Postbase specifically to fix this by letting you plan and schedule your content across all your accounts - including Threads - from one clean, visual calendar. It helps you stay consistent without the headache of jumping between a dozen different apps a day.