How to Use Pinterest

This article will guide you through Pinterest, an image discovery app where you can search for recipes, home decor, hairstyles, crafts, and other creative ideas. to ignite your inspiration. While browsing the page and discovering Pins, they are like picture bookmarks, you can save them on boards and organize them as you like. Once you’ve learned these basic skills, you’ll be ready to dive deeper into the world of Pinterest.

Table of Contents

Visit Pinterest

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Open Pinterest. You can open the app by tapping the Pinterest app on your phone or tablet, or by visiting https://www.pinterest.com.

If you’re not logged in, you’ll click or tap the Log in button to sign in.
If you don’t have a Pinterest account, you’ll click or tap the Sign up button to create an account.

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Browse to the Home page. When you open Pinterest, you’ll see the first home page. This is where you’ll see suggested Pins based on your activity and Pins from the topics, people, and boards you follow. ^{[1] X Research Source}

You can return to the homepage at any time by clicking on Pinterest’s icon (a red circle with a white “p” inside) when using the site, or tapping the house icon in the bottom corner left side of the mobile app.
On the home page, you’ll also see a few other navigation tags like Today and Fplowing . Click or tap the Today tab to see daily inspirational photos from Pinterest, or the Fplowing tab to see content shared by the people you follow.

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Click or tap a Pin. Think of these Pins as photo bookmarks. People create Pins for the things that inspire them on the internet—you’ll find Pins about recipes, events, crafts, art and graphics, tools, fashion and all Other topics you can think of. When you select a Pin, a larger image of that Pin appears, along with a short summary and a few other options.

If the Pin you selected links to a website, click the link (or tap the Visit option on the mobile app) to see the full content.
When you find a favorite Pin, you can click or tap the ‘ Save option to save it to a board. You can learn more about these boards in Save Pins to boards
Each Pin also contains a link to the Pin’s author. If you’d like to see more Pins from this author, tap the Fplow button next to their name. See Follow boards and others to learn more about how to follow others on Pinterest.

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Open your personal page. If you’re on a phone or tablet, tap the person-shaped icon near the bottom-right corner of the page. If you use a web browser on a computer, click the humanoid icon (or your profile picture if you have one) in the upper right corner. Once you’ve created a board and saved your Pins, you’ll see them here.

Click or tap Boards to view the boards you’ve created.
Click or tap Pins to see a list of the pins you’ve saved.

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Edit your profile and interests. You can edit your Pinterest profile and change your settings by clicking the pencil icon (on desktop) or tapping the wheel icon.

Select Edit Profile to add personal information and photos.
Select Account settings to set up some general features, such as how to sign in, update your email address or location, or deactivate an account.
Select Notifications to manage notifications for new activities.
Select Privacy & data to set up how Pinterest will use your data and set what appears on search engines.
Select Security to manage passwords and enable two-factor authentication.

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Search for people, topics, or ideas on Pinterest. If you’re using a phone or tablet, you’ll tap the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen to open the search bar. If using a computer, the search bar will appear at the top of the home page. This will open a search page with some suggestions and your most recent searches.

To search for something specific, simply enter keywords for what you’re looking for in the search box. As you type, you’ll see a few suggestions show up under the search bar. You can tap what you’re looking for or press the Enter or Return key.
Below the recommendations are accounts that match your search terms—you can tap one of them to see their profiles, boards, and Pins.

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Check notifications. You can see notifications of new posts from people you follow, new followers, and friends’ activities. These messages will vary depending on the device you use to view Pinterest:

On desktop: From the home page, you’ll click the bell icon in the upper right corner.
On a phone or tablet: You’ll touch and hold the three-dot chat bubble icon at the bottom of the screen—this will open the Updates tab in your inbox, which is where notifications are located. message will be displayed.

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Send, view, and manage messages. You’ll click or tap the chat bubble icon with three dots inside (it’s in the upper-right corner of the website and at the bottom of the screen on the mobile app). If you use the app on a mobile device, tap the Inbox tab to view the message. ^{[2] X Research Source}

To send a message, you’ll either click the pencil icon or select New Message and then select up to 10 recipients. If you want to send a Pin, click or tap the share icon to search for the person to send it to. Enter your message and select the paper airplane icon or press Send to send it.
When you have a new message, just tap your inbox to open it.

Save Pin to Board

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Search for a Pin. You will enter keywords in the search bar and see the results displayed.

If you’re on a phone or tablet, you’ll tap the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen to open the search bar.

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Click or tap Pin. This will show more information about the Pin you selected.

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Click or tap the Save button on that Pin. If you’ve created a table before, you’ll see a list of them here. If you’re saving a Pin for the first time (or want to create a new board for Pins like the one you’re saving), you can create a new board.

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Click or tap the Create board button. This button is at the bottom of the list. This will open a form to create a new table, where you will enter some basic information.

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Fill in the basic information for the table. You’ll enter a board name to represent the contents of the Pins you’ll save in it. For example, you are saving a beautiful hair pattern, you could name the table Curly Pattern or Beautiful Hair Pattern. If you’re using a phone or tablet, there are a few more options you can choose from:

If you don’t want your board to be seen by others, you can turn on the “Secret” switch.
If you want to share the board with others, you can tap the button under “Cplaborators” to choose a collaborator.

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Click the Create button or tap the Next button. If you’re using the mobile app, you may need to tap the Next button to open a few other related topics, which you can add to the board you’re creating if you want. If there is no interest then you will touch the Skip button and the board will be created. Once a board has been created, it will be shown as an option when you save pins in the future.

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Edit table (optional). To add a description and other information to a table, you would do the following:

Tap or click the profile icon and select Boards .
Click or tap the table.
If you’re on a computer, you’ll click the pencil icon on the left side of the page. If you’re on a phone or tablet, you’ll tap the menu in the upper-right corner and select Edit .
You can now edit the board name, add a description, choose a topic/category, and manage how it appears to others. You can also invite collaborators if you want.
In the future, you can return to this entry to merge tables, to archive or permanently delete tables.
Click or tap Done to save the changes.

Create a Pin

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Click or tap the profile icon. This will open your profile, which shows the boards and Pins you’ve saved. You can use this to create your own Pin by uploading a photo or linking to a website.

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Click or tap the + button. This button is on the right side of the page on the list of tables.

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Select the Pin button. If you’re using a phone or tablet, you’ll need to allow the app to access the library at this step.

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Create a Pin from a photo. If you want to create a pin by directly saving a web page, skip this step and go to the next step. To create a photo pin, you would do the following:

If you’re on a phone or tablet, you’ll select an image and click next.
If you’re on a computer, you’ll click in a large box with an arrow inside, select a photo, and click Open .
Enter a name and description. If you want people to be able to find your Pin in search engines, you need to describe it accurately and use relevant keywords.
If you want your Pin to link to a website, you’ll click or tap the Destination option and paste the desired URL.
Select a board for the Pin. If you’re using a phone or tablet, you’ll tap Next and select a table from the drop-down menu and click Save .

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Create a Pin from a website. If you don’t want to upload an image of yourself and want to use an image from another site you link to, you can do the following:

Click Save from site or tap the globe.
Enter a link that leads directly to the page you want to Pin. If you’re on a phone or tablet, you can also search the page.
Press Enter or Return to open a list of images from the web that you can use to create pins.
Click or tap the photo you want to use and select Next (phone/tablet) or Add to Pin (computer).
If you’re on a computer, you’ll enter the Pin’s name and description and select a board from the drop-down menu. If using a phone or tablet, simply select the table. You can edit the Pin name and description later.

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Edit Pins. After you create a Pin, you can edit the Pin’s name, description, and other details. You will do the following:

Open your profile and select Pins .
If you’re on a computer, you’ll hover your mouse pointer over the Pin you want to edit and click the pencil icon. If you’re using a phone or tablet, you’ll touch and hold the Pin and select the pencil icon.
The information you can edit varies from Pin to Pin. If you link to a web page, you can add notes and updates to the board. If you post a photo, you can enter a description and add or edit a web page.
Click Save or tap the Done button.

Follow boards and others

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Open the search bar. If you’re using a phone or tablet, you’ll tap the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen. If you’re on a computer, just click on the search bar at the top of the home page.

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Search for a keyword related to the content you love. For example, if you wanted to follow a board that posted pictures of kittens, you could enter the keyword “Kitten” in the search bar. if you think they used their real names on Pinterest).

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Press the ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return key to perform a search. If you’re using a phone or tablet, you’ll use the Enter key or the search key. Search results will show a bunch of Pins that match your keyword).

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Filter search results. You can filter search results to show only People or Boards that match the entered keyword. If you’re on a computer, you’ll click the menu to the right of the search bar titled All Pins and choose a filter option. If you’re on a phone or tablet, you’ll tap the filter icon that looks like a slider in the upper-right corner to select an option.

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Click or tap a person or board to view. If you decide not to follow the selected person or board, simply hit the back button to see other search results.

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Tap or click the Fplow button. This will add the person or board to your following list. To see everything you’re following, return to the home page and select the Fplowing button at the top of the page.

Advice

Review Pinterest’s terms of use before posting any content to make sure you understand what you’re allowed (and aren’t allowed) to post.
Posting copyrighted content and claiming it is yours may result in your account being locked out.

Steps

Visit Pinterest

Save Pin to Board

Create a Pin

Follow boards and others

Advice

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