How to Edit Wikipedia (and When You Shouldn’t)

To edit Wikipedia, open the article, click “Edit” (or “Edit source”), make your change, add a citation to a reliable published source, write a short edit summary and publish. Creating a free account first is recommended, since it hides your IP address and gives you a watchlist and a user page. The big exception: if the article is about you, your employer or a client, you have a conflict of interest, and Wikipedia’s guidelines ask you to disclose that and suggest changes on the article’s talk page rather than editing it directly.

This guide walks through a normal edit, the rules that decide whether it sticks, and the right process for anyone with a personal or business stake in an article.

Anyone can edit Wikipedia, within rules

It’s true that anyone can edit Wikipedia, and most articles are open to editing without an account. But edits are reviewed by other volunteers, often within minutes on well-watched pages, and changes that don’t follow the site’s policies are reverted. Knowing the rules before you start saves you from that.

A few articles are protected. On English Wikipedia, semi-protected pages can only be edited by “autoconfirmed” accounts, which generally means accounts at least four days old with at least ten edits. Some pages have stronger protection. If you can’t edit a page, you can still post an edit request on its talk page.

How to make your first edit

1. Create an account. It’s free and needs only a username and password. Without one, your IP address is published in the page history.
2. Find the article and the part you want to change. Read the whole section first, and check the talk page (the “Talk” tab) to see whether the issue has already been discussed.
3. Choose an editor. “Edit” usually opens the VisualEditor, which works like a word processor. “Edit source” opens wikitext, the markup language behind every page. Either is fine for a beginner.
4. Make one clear change. Fix a typo, update an outdated fact, or add a sentence. Small, focused edits are easier for others to review.
5. Cite a source. In the VisualEditor, use the “Cite” button and paste a URL; it often fills in the details. In source editing, citations go inside ref tags. The source must be published and reliable.
6. Preview. Check the formatting and that the citation displays correctly.
7. Write an edit summary. One line explaining what you did and why, such as “Updated headquarters per 2026 annual report”.
8. Publish and watch the page. Adding it to your watchlist lets you see if someone changes or reverts your edit, so you can discuss it.

If you want to practice first, every account has a personal sandbox where you can experiment without affecting any article.

The rules every edit must follow

Wikipedia has many guidelines, but three core content policies decide most disputes.

Policy	What it means in practice
Neutral point of view	Articles represent significant views fairly and in proportion to how reliable sources cover them. No promotional language, no one-sided framing.
Verifiability	Content must be attributable to reliable, published sources. “I know it’s true” isn’t enough; readers must be able to check it.
No original research	You can’t add your own analysis or conclusions, or combine sources to reach a point none of them makes.

Two more matter often:

• Reliable sources. Established newspapers, academic publications and reputable books with editorial oversight carry weight. Self-published sites, press releases, social media posts and most blogs generally don’t, especially for claims about other people.
• Biographies of living persons. Material about living people must be written conservatively and sourced carefully. Contentious material about a living person that’s unsourced or poorly sourced should be removed promptly.

When someone reverts your edit

Don’t redo it. Go to the talk page, explain your reasoning and your sources, and let others weigh in. Repeatedly undoing each other’s changes is edit warring, which can lead to blocks. English Wikipedia’s three-revert rule says an editor shouldn’t make more than three reverts on a single page within 24 hours, but you can be blocked for edit warring even below that line.

How to request changes when you have a conflict of interest

Wikipedia’s conflict of interest guideline covers editing about yourself, your family, your employer, your clients, or anything you have a financial or personal stake in. People with a conflict of interest are strongly discouraged from editing affected articles directly. The accepted route is:

1. Disclose your connection on your user page. If you’re paid, including as an employee editing as part of your job, the Terms of Use require you to disclose your employer, client and affiliation. Wikipedia’s paid-contribution disclosure policy lists acceptable places to do it, such as your user page or the article’s talk page.
2. Post an edit request on the article’s talk page. Use the edit request template for COI editors (on English Wikipedia, {{Edit COI}}), so the request appears in a queue that independent volunteers review.
3. Be specific. Quote the current text, give your proposed replacement word for word, and link reliable, independent sources that support it.
4. Keep it neutral. Propose factual corrections, not flattering rewrites. Requests that read like marketing are usually declined.
5. Wait, then follow up politely. The queue can be slow. If a request sits for a long time, the Teahouse and help desk are places to ask for guidance.

The guideline leaves room for a few narrow fixes by COI editors, such as removing obvious vandalism or clear violations of the biographies of living persons policy. When in doubt, request rather than edit.

Serious problems about a living person

If an article contains defamatory or private information about you, you can raise it on the biographies of living persons noticeboard, or email Wikipedia’s volunteer response team, which handles messages from article subjects. For very sensitive material, such as a home address, request removal from the article’s history through oversight. If a statement is false and damaging, talk to a lawyer about your options before taking any public steps.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client. The marketing lead at a mid-sized manufacturer notices that the company’s Wikipedia article says the CEO is someone who retired two years ago, and describes a product recall without mentioning that regulators closed the case with no finding against the company.

• She creates an account and adds a disclosure to her user page: she’s employed by the company, and editing this topic is part of her job.
• On the talk page she posts an edit request with the {{Edit COI}} template. For the CEO, she links a trade publication article covering the appointment. For the recall, she quotes the current sentence, proposes adding “The regulator closed its review in 2025 without further action,” and links the regulator’s published notice and a news report.
• She doesn’t ask for the recall section to be removed. It’s well sourced, and asking to delete it would likely be refused and could draw more attention to it.

A volunteer updates the CEO the following week and adds the outcome of the recall review with the regulator’s notice as a source. The article still mentions the recall, but it’s now accurate and complete.

Common mistakes

• Deleting sourced criticism. Removing accurate, well-sourced negative material is one of the fastest ways to get reverted and scrutinized.
• Citing your own website. Self-published sources can support limited uncontroversial facts about the subject, but they don’t establish anything contentious or promotional.
• Using sockpuppets or friends. Creating extra accounts, or asking colleagues to edit on your behalf so it looks independent, is prohibited and leads to blocks.
• Hiring undisclosed editors. Agencies that won’t disclose break the Terms of Use, and the fallout lands on your article, not theirs.
• Arguing in edit summaries. Discussion belongs on the talk page, calmly and with sources.

When to get help

Most edits don’t need outside help, and for a COI edit request, the most important things are good sources and patience. Where help makes sense is the bigger picture: if a Wikipedia article is one of several results shaping how people see you, the fix usually involves your other search results too. Our guide to a company Wikipedia page covers the business side, our guide to creating a Wikipedia page covers new articles, and our personal reputation management service helps individuals improve their wider name search within the rules.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an account to edit Wikipedia?

Not for most articles. You can edit many pages without logging in, but your IP address is then recorded publicly in the page history. An account keeps your IP private, gives you a watchlist, and is needed for protected pages once it becomes autoconfirmed.

Can I edit my own Wikipedia page?

You shouldn’t edit it directly. Wikipedia’s conflict of interest guideline asks article subjects to disclose their connection and suggest changes on the talk page with reliable sources, so an independent editor can decide. Narrow exceptions exist for obvious vandalism and clear violations of the biographies of living persons policy.

Why was my Wikipedia edit reverted?

Usually because it lacked a reliable source, read as promotional, removed sourced content, or added your own conclusions. Check the edit summary on the revert and the talk page, then discuss rather than restoring the change.

Can I pay someone to edit Wikipedia for me?

Paid editing isn’t banned, but the Wikimedia Terms of Use require the editor to disclose who is paying them. Paid editors are expected to follow the conflict of interest process, using talk page requests rather than direct edits, and no one can promise a particular outcome.