RedNote is the same app as Xiaohongshu (小红书). Same app, same 300 million users, two names. You'll hear both. They mean the same thing.
If you just downloaded it and you're staring at a screen full of Chinese characters wondering what you got yourself into — you're in the right place. This guide walks you through every single tap from downloading the app to publishing your first post. Nothing is assumed. If you've never opened RedNote before, start here.
Before you start
You need three things:
- A phone (iPhone or Android — both work)
- An email address or phone number for sign-up
- About 10 minutes
That's it. No VPN. No Chinese phone number. No special trick. The app is available worldwide on the App Store and Google Play.
One thing to know upfront: RedNote's interface is mostly in Chinese. There's a partial English mode, and the app has gotten better at translation over the past year, but some menus and settings will still be in Chinese. This guide shows you exactly where everything is so the language doesn't slow you down.
Step 1: Download the app
Open the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android) and search for "RedNote" or "Xiaohongshu" or "小红书". Any of those will pull it up.
The app icon is a red shopping bag with "RED" written on it. Make sure you're downloading the real one — it should have hundreds of millions of downloads and be published by "行吟信息科技（上海）有限公司" (Xingyin Information Technology).
Tap Get or Install. It's free.
Step 2: Create your account
Open the app and you'll see a few sign-up options: phone number, WeChat, Apple, and a few others tucked behind "Other login methods."
I'd go with phone number. WeChat and Apple work fine on the app, but when you eventually want to post from desktop (and you will — it's way easier to upload there), phone number login is the smoothest path. No QR code scanning, no extra authentication hoops. Just your number and a verification code.
Tap Continue with phone number, select your country code, enter your number, and type in the verification code they text you. That's it.
If you get a message saying "account risk detected" during sign-up — don't panic. This sometimes happens with new accounts, especially on VPN connections. Turn off your VPN if you're using one, restart the app, and try again. It almost always resolves itself.
Step 3: Set up your profile
Once you're in, tap the profile icon again (bottom right). You'll see your empty profile page.
Tap the Edit Profile button. Here's what to fill in:
Profile photo — Use a real photo of yourself. Red Note's community is visual and personal. A face photo builds trust faster than a logo, especially if you're creating content.
Nickname — This is your display name. You can use English. Keep it recognizable and easy to search. Your RedNote ID gets auto-assigned, but you can change it once.
Bio — Keep it in English. Something short that says who you are and what you post about. You can include a link to your website or other socials if you want.
Step 4: Switch the app language to English
RedNote has English language support now, but it's buried in the settings. Here's exactly where to find it.
From the home screen, tap the hamburger menu (three lines, top left corner).
A side panel slides out. At the very bottom, tap Settings.
In Settings, tap Language and translation.
Two things to do here. First, select English from the language list. Second, scroll down and toggle on Content Translation. That second one is easy to miss, but it's what makes Chinese posts automatically translate to English in your feed.
After this, your navigation and menus switch to English. Some deeper settings pages will still be in Chinese. That's normal — the translation isn't 100% complete yet.
Step 5: Set up the desktop version
This is the step most guides skip, and it's the one that'll save you the most time. RedNote has a desktop web app, and posting from it is way faster than fumbling with the phone app. You can drag and drop video files, type captions on a real keyboard, and upload without compressing through your phone's camera roll.
Go to creator.xiaohongshu.com in your browser. You'll see a login screen in Chinese. Right-click anywhere on the page and select Translate to English to make it readable.
This is where signing up with your phone number pays off. Select the SMS login option, change the country code from +86 to yours, enter your number, and tap Send verification code. Type in the code they text you and hit Log in.
One thing to know: Xiaohongshu only allows one phone number per account. Make sure you use the same number you signed up with on the app, and make sure you can receive SMS on that number when you log in on desktop. If you're traveling or switched phones, you'll need access to that original number to get the verification code.
If you signed up with Apple or WeChat instead, you'll need to scan a QR code with your phone every time you want to log in on desktop. It works, but it's annoying. Phone number login skips all of that.
One more thing: use Chrome Incognito when you're on the Creator Center. Regular Chrome with extensions can trigger a "Restricted access" popup that says "The browser is malfunctioning. Please try disabling/uninstalling risky plugins or restarting your browser." Incognito mode disables all extensions by default, so you won't run into this.
Step 6: Get your video ready with Create In Chinese
Before you post anything, you need your assets. Your video is in English, but the RedNote audience prefers to read in Chinese. You need Chinese subtitles, a Chinese-first cover image, and bilingual captions.
Go to CreateInChinese.com. Upload your content and it generates everything you need: speech-matched bilingual subtitles, a cover image built from your strongest frame, and Chinese + English caption copy ready to paste.
Click Upload your content and drag in your file. A few things to keep in mind:
- Keep your file under 2 GB. The platform accepts MP4, MOV, WebM, and M4V.
- Start with vertical video (9:16). That's what performs best on RedNote. If you're repurposing content from Instagram Reels, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts, you're already in the right format.
- Upload the raw video with no captions burned in. No English text overlays, no subtitles baked into the video file. Create In Chinese generates the Chinese subtitles for you, so any existing English captions would just get in the way.
Processing takes about 3-5 minutes. When it's done, you'll get a project page with everything you need: headline options in Chinese, a subtitled video preview, bilingual caption copy you can edit or copy as-is, and a cover workspace.
Step 7: Review and customize your assets
Create In Chinese gives you a solid first pass, but you'll want to review everything before posting. Here's what to check:
Headlines — You'll see multiple Chinese headline options. Pick the one that sounds most natural and click-worthy. The English translation is shown next to each so you know what it says.
Subtitles — Watch the subtitled video preview. The subtitles are speech-matched to your audio. If anything looks off, you can edit individual lines.
Caption copy — The bilingual caption is ready to copy and paste into RedNote. It includes both Chinese and English so both audiences can read it. You can tweak the wording or add your own hashtags.
Cover image — The cover workspace lets you swap frames or adjust the headline treatment. RedNote covers are the first thing people see in the feed, so pick a frame where you look engaged or the visual is compelling.
If you want to tweak any titles, captions, or subtitles, you can edit the English text and hit the Retranslate buttons to regenerate the Chinese version. You don't need to know Chinese to refine the output. Just fix the English, retranslate, and the Chinese updates automatically.
Once you're happy with everything, download the subtitled video and cover image. Copy the caption text. You're ready to post.
Step 8: Post on RedNote and hit release
Back on the Creator Center (remember, Chrome Incognito), you're going to drop in everything you got from Create In Chinese.
Upload your subtitled video (the one with Chinese and English captions baked in). Paste your Chinese title into the title field. Paste the bilingual caption (Chinese + English) into the description area.
For your thumbnail, click Set cover. RedNote will suggest frames from your video, but you can upload a custom cover. Click High-quality cover examples or upload the cover image you downloaded from Create In Chinese — it'll be in your Downloads folder.
When everything looks good, hit the red release button at the bottom. Your post is live.
RedNote will start showing it to a small test audience in the Explore feed. If those first viewers engage (especially saves and comments), the algorithm pushes it to more people.
Don't delete and repost if it doesn't take off immediately. Give it at least 24-48 hours. RedNote's algorithm has a longer distribution curve than TikTok — posts can pick up traction days or even weeks after publishing.
Common questions
Is RedNote safe to use?
RedNote collects data similar to other social media apps. It's owned by a Chinese company (Xingyin Information Technology), so your data is subject to Chinese data privacy laws. If that concerns you, use a separate email address for sign-up and don't link personal accounts. For most creators, the risk profile is similar to using TikTok.
Do I need a VPN to use RedNote?
No. RedNote works worldwide without a VPN. In fact, using a VPN can sometimes trigger the 'account risk detected' error during sign-up. If you're having trouble creating an account, try turning your VPN off.
Can I post only in English on RedNote?
Yes. Plenty of English-only creators are growing on RedNote. But bilingual posts (English + Chinese) tend to reach a wider audience. Even adding a one-line Chinese summary of your post helps with discoverability.
Is RedNote the same as Xiaohongshu?
Yes. Same app, same 300 million users, two names. Xiaohongshu (小红书) is the Chinese name. RedNote is the English name. You'll see both used interchangeably.
My account says 'risk detected' — what do I do?
Turn off any VPN. Close the app completely and reopen it. Try signing up with a different method (email instead of phone, or Apple ID). If it persists, try again from a different wifi network. This is almost always a temporary security flag, not a permanent ban.