Archive FAQ > Profile

What information does my profile contain?

By default, your profile lists your pseuds, the date you became a member of the Archive of Our Own (AO3), and your user ID. Although no other information is required, you can choose to enter:

Title
This is whatever you want to name your profile. This could be your username or a quote.
Location
You can enter where you are currently living, a fandom reference like "Hogwarts" or "Inside a Pokeball", or something else of your choice.
Date of Birth
You can enter the exact date on which you were born. In order for this information to display correctly, you must include a day, month, and year. If you would prefer to only include part of your date of birth, you can put that information in the About Me section instead. If you have put in a day, month, and year, and selected "Show my date of birth to other people" in your Preferences, then your date of birth will appear on your profile. For more information, refer to How can I change what personal information is listed on my profile?
Email Address
By default, your email is not shared on your profile. In Preferences you can select "Show my email address to other people" and the email you have associated with your account will appear on your profile. For more information, refer to How can I change what personal information is listed on my profile? and How can I change the email associated with my account?
About Me
You can enter a bio about yourself. This can include information such as your pronouns, what fandoms you're in, your policy on remixes, translations, and podfics of your work, or where else you can be found online. Your About Me can contain a maximum of 2,000 characters including limited HTML formatting. Refer to HTML on the Archive to learn more about the HTML formatting allowed on AO3.

Note that your profile is subject to the same Terms of Service as the rest of the site. Please be aware of what is and isn't permitted on AO3. Refer to the Terms of Service and ToS FAQ for more information.

How do I access my profile?

To access your profile:

  1. Log in and go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]!" and choosing "My Dashboard" from the menu, or by selecting your profile image.
  2. Select "Profile" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device.
    3. From the buttons at the top of your profile page, you can:

From the buttons at the bottom of your profile page, you can also:

How do I edit my profile?

To edit your profile:

  1. Log in and go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]!" and choosing "My Dashboard" from the menu, or by selecting your profile image.
  2. Select "Profile" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device.
  3. Select "Edit My Profile" found below your profile information.
  4. Change anything you like in the Edit My Profile form, and select the "Update" button to save your changes.

Please refer to What information does my profile contain? for more detail on the type of information you can include on your profile.

From the buttons at the top of the Edit My Profile form, you can also:

For information on pseuds, please refer to the Pseuds FAQ. For information on how to change your username, password, or email address, refer to the Account FAQ.

How do I delete my profile?

Everyone who has an account on Archive of Our Own (AO3) automatically has a profile. You can delete the optional information in your profile by editing your profile. Refer to What information does my profile contain? to learn what optional information your profile may contain, and How do I edit my profile? for how to change that optional information.

If you want to remove a pseud entirely, refer to How do I delete a pseud?

If you no longer want to have an account on AO3, please refer to How do I delete my account?

How do I access someone else's profile?

To access a user's profile:

  1. Select their pseud anywhere it displays, including, but not limited to, next to a work title in a work blurb, under a work title on the work's page, in a comment, in a list of kudos, or in search results when searching for users on the site. This will take you to the user's dashboard.
  2. Select "Profile" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device.

Who can access the information on my profile?

Anyone can access the information you choose to give in your profile, whether they have an account on Archive of Our Own (AO3) or not. However, only your pseuds, the date you became a member of AO3, and your user ID are included by default. Any additional information will only be displayed if you choose to include it on your profile. Refer to What information does my profile contain? for more information on your options.

What is an icon?

An icon is a 100 by 100 pixel image that represents you on Archive of Our Own (AO3). It's displayed on your dashboard, Profile, and Pseuds pages, the search results page when searching for users on the site, and next to any comments you leave. Icons can also have associated alt text, which provides a text alternative if the image doesn't display or if a user is using accessibility tools to access the archive.

How many icons can I have?

You can upload one icon for each pseud you have. Refer to How do I upload or change my icon? for instructions on how to do this.

What restrictions are there on icons?

There are a few restrictions you should bear in mind when uploading icons.

Dimensions:
Icons must be 100 by 100 pixels in size. You can upload larger or smaller images, but be aware they'll be resized to 100 by 100. Images that aren't square will be distorted.
Size:
Icon file sizes must be less than 512 kb.
Format:
Images must be in jpeg, png, or gif format.
Content:
Our Terms of Service state that "icons should be appropriate for general audiences. They should not contain depictions of genital nudity or explicit sexual activity". Refer to the User Icons section of the Terms of Service and ToS FAQ.
Number:
You can upload one icon per pseud. Refer to the Pseuds FAQ for more information on pseuds and how to add or edit them.
Copyright:
Icons are subject to our copyright policy. Refer to the Copyright and Trademark section of our Terms of Service for more information.

How do I upload or change my icon?

To add or change an icon for any pseud, you can upload a new image file from your device:

  1. Log in and go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]!" and choosing "My Dashboard" from the menu, or by selecting your profile image.
  2. Select "Profile" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device.
  3. Select "Manage My Pseuds" found below your profile information.
  4. Locate the pseud you would like to upload the icon for and select the "Edit" button. Refer to How do I add a new pseud? if you need help creating a pseud.
  5. Select the button next to the "Upload a new icon" title. This might be "Browse", "Choose File", or similar, depending on your browser.
  6. Locate the desired icon and select it. Note the image must be on your device; you can't upload or link to an icon hosted elsewhere.
  7. Optionally, add a description in the "Icon alt text:" field. The purpose of alt text is to provide a text alternative if the image doesn't display or if a user is using accessibility tools to access your profile. Icon alt text is limited to 250 characters. Please don't use alt text to credit the image creator, as users will be presented with either the alt text or the icon, but not with both.
  8. Optionally, add an attribution or any other comment in the "Icon comment text" field, up to a limit of 50 characters. Currently, anything entered in this field doesn't appear on the site.
  9. Select "Update" at the bottom of the form.
  10. The new image should now appear beside your pseud, and the confirmation message "Pseud was successfully updated" will be displayed.

Refer to What restrictions are there on icons? for information on what you can and can't upload.

How do I delete my icon?

To delete the icon for your pseud:

  1. Log in and go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]!" and choosing "My Dashboard" from the menu, or by selecting your profile image.
  2. Select "Profile" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device.
  3. Select "Manage My Pseuds" found below your profile information.
  4. Locate the pseud whose icon you want to delete and select "Edit".
  5. Navigate to the "Icon" field and select the checkbox "Delete your icon and revert to our default".
  6. If you are certain, select "Update" at the bottom of the form.

The image will revert to our default icon: a grayscale version of the Archive of Our Own (AO3) logo.

Where can I get more information if my question isn't answered here?

Some frequently asked questions about the Archive are answered in other sections of the Archive FAQ, and some common terminology is defined in our Glossary. Questions and answers about our Terms of Service can be found in the Terms of Service FAQ. You may also like to check out our Known Issues. If you need more help, please submit a Support request.