How to post on OnlyFans: the mechanics of every post type, and why a post sometimes will not.

How to post on OnlyFans, how do you post on OnlyFans, how to post photos on OnlyFans, how to make a locked post: the mechanics are simple and the platform's own features guide describes them, so this page follows that guide and adds the parts creators get wrong. What to post is a different question with its own page.

A feed post, step by step.

1. 1

   Open the site and start a new post

   From the home screen in a browser. The post box accepts media, text, and the options below.

2. 2

   Add media

   Photos or video from the device, or from the vault, which holds everything previously posted or scheduled. Multiple files make one post. Large or unsupported files are the most common failure; re-encode before assuming anything else.

3. 3

   Write the caption

   In the persona's voice, for the job the post does; the captions guide covers it. Restricted words stop the post silently; the rules guide has the categories.

4. 4

   Tag anyone else who appears

   The terms require every person in content to be a tagged verified creator or a consented adult whose records you hold. The tagging tool is on the post form.

5. 5

   Set a price, or not

   On a free page, a price makes it a paid post the fan unlocks. On a paid page the feed is behind the subscription and posts are free to subscribers.

6. 6

   Publish or schedule

   Post now, or set a date and time. Either way the post is saved to the vault.

Every post type.

Paid posts and paid messages.

The two are different things that fans confuse and creators sometimes do too. A paid post lives on the feed of a free page with a price on it; followers see a preview and pay to unlock it in place. A paid message is sent to the inbox, to one fan or a list, with media and a price, and any creator on any kind of page can send one; the features guide says so plainly and calls pay per view crucial to free profiles. A paid page uses paid messages for everything beyond the subscription, because its feed is already paid for. A free page uses both. The platform takes 20 percent of either, per the terms. The PPV guide covers pricing and previews; the messages guide covers the welcome message and the mass message that carry paid content to lists.

Scheduling and the vault.

The vault, per the features guide, stores every photo, video and stream previously posted or scheduled, and anything sent by message, so that content can be reposted for fans who joined later and so that a creator does not have to remember what has gone out. Scheduling sets a post to publish at a date and time. Together they are how a shoot day becomes a month of posts: sort the sets by job the evening of the shoot, schedule the feed posts on the announced cadence, and keep the paid drops in the vault for the messages. The photo ideas guide describes the shoot day. A page with a scheduled month is a page whose creator can spend the days on promotion and the inbox, which is where the income is.

Tagging other creators.

The terms require that every individual in co-authored content is either a creator tagged using the tool available on the platform, or an adult whose identity and written consent the uploader holds. Tagging is done on the post form and links the post to the other creator's verified account; it is the simple route when the other person has an account and it satisfies the terms for that person. Anyone without an account, a partner, a hired performer, a hand in the frame, needs the second route, which the release form page covers. A post with an untagged second person is the most common removal on the platform and the most common reason a review lands on a page.

Going live.

Streaming is available once the profile is approved to go live, and the features guide describes co-streaming with another verified creator so two audiences see one stream. Streams take tips, can be priced on free pages, and save to the vault automatically as video fans can watch later. The rules on content apply live exactly as they do to posts, and the platform's restricted word review applies to what is typed during a stream. A stream is a post that cannot be scheduled and cannot be edited, which is why creators plan them and announce them on the feed, on X and on Telegram beforehand.

Why a post will not post.

• The file. Too large, an unsupported format, an upload interrupted on a mobile connection. Re-encode, shrink, retry on wifi.
• A restricted word in the caption. The post fails or goes to review without saying why. Rephrase around the category.
• Verification pending. A creator account not yet approved cannot post. Check the email.
• A second person untagged. The post may publish and then be removed. Tag or hold a release.
• The browser. A stale session, an extension, a browser on a work network. Log out and in, or try another browser.
• The site. Rarely, an outage; the outage check tells that from your own problem in two minutes.
• A policy removal. The platform notifies with a statement of reasons, per the terms, by email. Read it before reposting.

Uploading photos and videos without failures.

Most posting problems happen before the caption is written, while the media is uploading. The platform's limits on file size and format can change, and this page does not quote a number it has not checked; if a file is refused, the limit is the first suspect. What does not change is the set of habits that make uploading reliable. They matter more for videos than for pictures, because a long video takes longer to upload and has more chances to fail on the way, and a failed upload costs the time it took plus the time to start again.

• Export in a common format. Use the standard photo and video formats your phone or editing app exports by default. Unusual formats and codecs are the first thing to rule out when a file is refused.
• Keep quality high, file size sensible. Fans pay for quality, so export sharp, well lit content, but do not upload a raw file many times larger than the screen it will be watched on. The camera guide covers what quality actually needs.
• Upload on a stable connection. Wifi rather than mobile data for large videos, with the browser tab left open until the upload finishes.
• Use the vault. Everything posted, scheduled or sent by message is stored there and can be added to a later post or message, so one upload can serve the whole month.
• Check the preview before you publish. Look at the post as a fan would: the first picture, the crop, the caption, the price. Editing after fans have seen it is slower than checking once.

Creating a PPV post or message, step by step.

A pay per view post on a free page and a paid message to a list are made the same way in principle: exclusive content, a preview that makes a fan want it, a caption that says what is inside, and a price. The steps below are the order that keeps the offer clear. The PPV guide covers pricing in depth, and the messages guide covers lists and mass messages.

1. 1

   Choose the content

   Pick the set or video from the vault that is not on the feed. A PPV drop only sells if it is exclusive to people who pay for it.

2. 2

   Create the preview

   One picture or a short clip that shows enough to want the rest. The preview is what fans see before they pay, so it carries the offer.

3. 3

   Write a caption that says what is inside

   How many pictures, how long the video, what happens in it. A fan who knows what the price buys can decide quickly and has no reason to feel misled afterwards.

4. 4

   Set the price

   From the menu, so the same content costs the same in every place. A special offer is a lower price for a reason the caption states.

5. 5

   Choose where it goes

   On a free page, publish it as a paid post on the feed or send it as a paid message. On a paid page, send it as a message to a list, since the feed is already paid for.

6. 6

   Read the result

   The statistics show what sold. The next drop is planned from that, not from what you expected to sell.

Which tool for which offer: a posting strategy.

The post form offers more tools than most pages use, and the strategy is in matching each one to what you want subscribers to do. A creator who only ever posts photos to the feed uses one tool for every job and earns less money from the same content. The table matches common goals to the tool built for them, with where each is explained in more detail.

Two cautions on tools. Anything that posts or messages for you is still your responsibility under the terms, and the platform's help center rules out AI chatbots, so third party tools are useful for scheduling and organizing and risky for conversation. And no tool replaces knowing what each post is for: the vault and the schedule make a month of posting easy, but the month still needs a plan that says which posts keep fans, which sell, and which bring new ones in.

Sources.

1. OnlyFans Blog, Ultimate Guide to OnlyFans Featuresblog.onlyfans.com
2. OnlyFans Terms of Service: co-authored content, noticesonlyfans.com/terms
3. OnlyFans Blog, Go live on OnlyFansblog.onlyfans.com
4. OnlyFans Help Center, "Can I use AI chatbots or AI-generated chat content in chats or direct messages?": No (For Creators, updated November 25, 2025; read through a published copy, as the help center blocks automated reading)onlyfans.com/help