How to Use Tumblr: The Complete Beginner's Guide

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: April 23, 2024 Fact Checked

Unfamiliar with how to use Tumblr? Tumblr is a social media platform that encourages creative text- and image-based posts, community engagement, and general entertainment. You can browse Tumblr on your phone as well as your computer! This wikiHow article teaches you how to use Tumblr on your computer or mobile device so it's not an unfamiliar experience!

Blogging on Tumblr

Create an account on tumblr.com with your email address, then click the pencil icon to draft and create your first blog post. Customize your blog with pre-made themes and colors. To view your posts, go to your profile and select “Posts” from the drop-down menu. Socialize by liking, sharing, and reposting other posts.

Section 1 of 6:

Creating an Account

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1
Open Tumblr. Go to https://www.tumblr.com/ in your preferred web browser to open the Tumblr website.
- On mobile, tap the Tumblr app icon, which resembles a white "t" on a dark-blue background.
- If you haven't yet downloaded the Tumblr app on mobile, you can do so for both iPhone and Android platforms.
It's the blue button in the top right corner of the page.

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3
Enter your account information to create an account. Fill out the following fields:
- Email - Enter your preferred email address. You'll have to verify this email address later, so make sure that you have access to it.
- Password - Enter your preferred password.
- You can also use services like Google or Apple to create a Tumblr account. Click either option to choose to use that account.
4
Click Sign up. It's at the bottom of the window.
- On mobile, tap Next in the top-right corner.
Type your current age into the text field in the middle of the page.
6
Enter a username and click Next. Your username will be how others recognize you and will be your Tumblr URL.
- If that name is unavailable, you'll need to type in a different one and try again.
- On mobile, tap Next in the top-right corner instead.^{[1]
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Section 2 of 6:

Familiarizing Yourself with the Dashboard and Curating Your Dashboard

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1
Click each icon to familiarize yourself with the dashboard. Along with the menu of icons, you'll see For You, Trending, Staff Picks, and more. Each of these will deliver different content to you. The different icons include:
- The "Home" icon that looks like a house will take you to your home feed. On the mobile app, this icon is in the bottom left corner of your screen.
- The "Discover" icon that looks like a compass and will show you posts that are recommended for you. If you're using the mobile app, this is instead a magnifying glass and allows you to search Tumblr for specific things.
  - If you want to change the tags you're following, you'll want to navigate here and click or tap Follow next to the tag.^{[2]
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- The "Inbox" icon that looks like an envelope and will redirect you to your messages. This icon is not shown in the mobile app.
- The "Messaging" icon that looks like a chat bubble with a smiley face will drop-down to open your chat messages.
- The "Activity" icon that looks like a lightning bolt will drop down a menu so you can see what has happened in the last few days.
- Both Activity and Messaging are combined with the messaging icon. Tap it in the bottom of your screen to be able to choose to see Activity or Messages.
- The "Account" icon that looks like a default profile icon will drop-down to show you changes you can make to your profile. It's in the lower right corner of the mobile app.
- The "New Post" icon that looks like a pencil will let you create a new post. If you're using the mobile app, this pencil icon is only visible in the lower left corner of your screen if you're viewing the home feed or on your account page.
2
Enter tags or interests that you want to follow into the search bar. You may have been asked for some interests when you were making your account, but you can further customize your dashboard by adding more. Type your interest's key words in the search bar to get some search results.
- You don't need to enter "#" when you're searching, but you can enter something like "working cats" to get a list of blogs that posted with those keywords. From there, click a hashtag to search that tag.
3
Click Follow. You should see this on the right side of the page next to a blog or a tag.
- Followed tags and blogs will curate your dashboard.

Section 3 of 6:

Interacting with Posts

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At any time, you can select the house-shaped "Home" button on the Tumblr page (or at the bottom of your screen on mobile) to return to your dashboard, which is where all of the content from your blog and any blogs you follow will appear.
Scroll through your dashboard until you find a post that you want to like, reblog, or send in a message.
If you like a post's content, you can click or tap the heart-shaped icon below the post to "like" it. This will also add the post to your profile's "Likes" section so that you can find it later if you please.
4
Reblog a post. To add the post to your blog, click or tap the rectangular arrow-shaped icon below the post (to the left of the "like" button), then click Reblog (desktop) or tap Post.
- You can add a comment to the post before reblogging it. To do so, click or tap the text box below the post, then add your commentary.
- You can also schedule a reblogged post for later by clicking
  next to Reblog (or by tapping ⚙️ in the upper-right corner), selecting the Schedule option, entering or selecting a post date and time, and selecting Schedule again.
- To add a reblogged post to your queue, click
  next to Reblog (or tap ⚙️ in the upper-right corner), select Add to queue, and select Queue.
5
Send a post in a direct message. You can forward a post to another person by selecting the paper plane-shaped icon below the post, entering a username in the text box at the top of the message window, and then selecting the paper plane-shaped icon again.
- Like reblogging, you can add your own commentary to the message by selecting the text box below the post and entering your text before sending the message.
6
Follow a post's creator. Select the profile picture of the person who created a post, then select Follow to add them to your "Following" list. Content from people you follow will appear in your dashboard.
- If you have someone specific whom you want to follow, you can search for them by clicking the text field on the dashboard (or by tapping the magnifying glass icon on mobile) and entering their name, selecting their name in the drop-down menu, and selecting Follow.

Section 4 of 6:

Viewing Your Content

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1
Open the profile menu. Click or tap the person-shaped silhouette icon on the upper-right side of the page (desktop) or in the bottom-right corner of the screen (mobile). On desktop, a drop-down menu will appear.
- This will take you to your profile's "POSTS" section on mobile.
It's at the top of the drop-down menu (desktop) or below your blog's title (mobile).
3
Review your liked posts. If you've liked any posts, they will appear here.
- You can remove liked posts by tapping the heart icon on them here.
4
View the people you're following. Open the profile menu again, then select Following. You can see a list of the people you follow here.
- On mobile, just tap FOLLOWING to the right of the LIKES tab.
- You can unfollow users by clicking Unfollow to the right of a profile (desktop), or by tapping a profile, tapping the person-shaped icon in the top-right corner, and tapping Unfollow in the resulting menu.
5
Go to your profile's "Posts" section. Open the profile menu, then click your username in the drop-down menu.
- On mobile, tap POSTS on the far-left side of the page.
This is where you'll see any posts that you've created. If you haven't created any posts, this will be a blank page.

Section 5 of 6:

Creating a Post

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If you're using mobile, you'll only see this pencil icon if you're on the Home page or your Account page.
2
Select a type of post. On desktop, you'll see seven different colored post options centered in the page; on mobile, you must first tap the pencil icon at the bottom of the page. The post types are as follows:
- Text - A text-only post.
- Photo - A photo (and possibly text) post.
- Quote - A quote and source post.
- Link - A post formatted around a link (e.g., "www.google.com") that opens to a different site.
- Chat - A post formatted for two or more chat recipients.
- Audio - An audio recording (e.g., music or a podcast).
- Video - A video post.
- GIF (mobile only) - A dynamic photo post.
3
Create your post. Depending on the type of post that you select, the process for doing so will vary:
- Text - Enter a title in the "Title" box, then enter the post's text in the "Your text here" box.
- Photo - Select a photo upload option, select a photo, and enter a caption (optional). On mobile, you will have to allow Tumblr access to your camera and photos.
- Quote - Enter your quote in the "Quote" box, then enter the quote's source in the "Source" box.
- Link - Enter the link's title (mobile only), enter the link's web address and add a caption (optional; mobile only).
- Chat - Type in a recipient's name followed by a colon (e.g., "Mom:"), enter their dialogue, start a new line, and repeat.
- Audio - Enter a song or audio clip's name, select it, and add a caption (optional).
- Video - Select a video upload option, select a video, click the "This is my original work" switch (desktop only), and add a caption (optional).
- GIF (mobile only) - Select a video to turn into a GIF, tap Next, add text and then tap Next, and tap Next one last time.
Click or tap post at the bottom or in the top-right corner of the post to add it to your blog. Your post will also appear on your dashboard and on the dashboards of anyone who follows you.
5
Save a post as a draft. You can save a draft of a post to continue working on it later from the "Drafts" section of your profile. Instead of selecting Post, do the following:
- Desktop - Click
  to the right of Post, click Save as draft, and click Save draft in the bottom-right corner of the post. You can find drafts on desktop by clicking the Drafts tab on the "Posts" page.
- Mobile - Tap the gear-shaped icon in the top-right corner of the post, tap Save as draft in the drop-down menu, and tap Save as draft in the top-right corner of the screen. You can find drafts on mobile by tapping the gear-shaped icon in the top-right corner of the "Posts" page and then tapping Drafts.
6
Schedule a post for later. This allows you to post the content while you're away from your Tumblr account. To do so:
- Desktop - Click
  to the right of Post, click Schedule, enter your preferred time, and click Schedule.
- Mobile - Tap the gear-shaped icon at the top of the post, tap Schedule, select a time, and tap Schedule.
7
Review your posts. Return to the "Posts" section to see all of the posts that you have created.
- You can delete posts from here by selecting the gear-shaped icon (or trash icon) below a post and then selecting Delete when prompted.

Section 6 of 6:

Customizing Your Tumblr

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1
Know the difference between "Bluespace" and your "blog network." Your "blog network" refers to the Tumblr blog that everyone else sees when they navigate to your page. "Bluespace" means everything else, like your dashboard, the support forms, and mobile apps.
- Since you can customize both, you need to know that they are different things.
2
Go to https://www.tumblr.com/customize/ to customize your blog network. As long as you're logged into your Tumblr account, you'll be able to customize your blog. Browse the hundreds of available themes, then change your blog's title and description.
- As you're starting off, you'll want to use the themes available in the theme garden that you'll find by clicking Browse themes when you're customizing your blog. There are a few third-party resources that you can get Tumblr themes from, but they aren't always guaranteed to work like those you'll find on Tumblr.
From your dashboard, click the avatar icon, and select Edit Appearance. This will allow you to change aspects of your Bluespace. For example, you can change your username, change or hide your avatar, edit your header image, customize the colors of your dashboard, and change the fonts on your blog.

Community Q&A

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Question

What's the icon for next to Home?

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Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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Staff Answer

If you're using the mobile app, the icon next to Home is the magnifying glass, which will allow you to search for something specific or browse trending hashtags, blogs, and other recommended posts. If you're using the website, the icon looks like a compass and brings up the "Recommended For You" page, which also lets you browse trending hashtags, blogs, and other recommended posts.

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Is there a limit on the amount of accounts I can follow?

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The general consensus is that there is no limit. No one has reported of reaching a limit as of yet.

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Can I leave comments on Tumblr?

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You can if it has a comment icon near the reblog button. If not, then no.

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Tips

If you're using the iOS Tumblr mobile app, they had to change some of the explicit content warnings and you might not be able to view blogs that you previously viewed on your iPhone or iPad. If you see an explicit warning, you can visit the website to be able to see that content.^{[3]
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Once you've set up your Tumblr, you can change your theme or add a page to your blog to further customize your blog's appearance.

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Tagging posts is an easy way to ensure that people who don't follow you will see your content.

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Warnings

Tumblr requires the same degree of caution as any other social media platform. Keep this in mind when interacting with other users.

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