How to Create and Manage Twitter Lists

Twitter lists help you organize your Twitter reading experience

Twitter lists are curated groups of Twitter accounts that can be grouped by topic, people, or however you like. Create your own Twitter lists, or subscribe to Twitter lists created by others. No matter how many people you follow, Twitter lists help you stay focused and organized.

Here's a look at how to create and edit Twitter lists as well as subscribe to other people's Twitter lists.

Instructions in this article apply to the Twitter desktop, iPhone, and Android apps.

About Twitter Lists

How you organize your Twitter lists is up to you. For example, create a list of your close friends, and when you select that list name, you see a timeline of messages from everyone on that list. If you're a web designer, for example, create separate lists for online startups, HTML5 coding, and interactivity.

Lists can be public or private. Make a list public to help other Twitter users find interesting topics to follow. Private lists, on the other hand, are a way for users to read tweets in an organized way. When you create a private list, you're the only one who can see it.

Private lists differ from protected tweets, which are tweets that are visible only to your Twitter followers.

How to Create a New Twitter List

It's easy to create a new Twitter list from Twitter on the desktop or the Twitter app.

You can create a maximum of 1,000 lists per Twitter account. Each list can contain up to 5,000 accounts.

Create a Twitter List From Twitter on the Desktop

  1. Open Twitter and log in to your account.

  2. Select Lists from the menu bar.

    Twitter with the Lists heading highlighted
  3. If you haven't created any lists, select Create a List.

    The Lists section of Twitter with the Create a List button highlighted
  4. If you have a list or lists, select the Create New List icon, which looks like a piece of paper with a plus sign.

    The Lists page on Twitter with the New List button highlighted
  5. In the Create New List dialog box, type a name for the list and add a short description.

    The Create a New List window with the Name and Description fields highlighted
  6. If you want to make the list private, select the Make Private check box.

    The Create a new List window in Twitter with the Make Private checkbox highlighted
  7. Select Next.

    The Create a New List window on Twitter with the Next button highlighted
  8. Search for people you want to add to the list, and then select their name. When you've added everyone you want to the list, select Done.

    The Add Members screen on Twitter with the Done button highlighted
  9. Your new list is created. Access it from the Lists menu bar option.

Create a Twitter List From the iPhone App

  1. Open the Twitter app on your iPhone, then tap your Profile icon.

  2. Tap Lists.

  3. Tap Create a New List or tap the Create List icon. Type a name and description for the list, and turn on the Private toggle switch if you want a private list.

  4. Select Create.

    The Twitter app with the Lists, Create List, and Create buttons highlighted
  5. Search Twitter for the accounts you want to add to this list, then tap Add.

  6. Select Done when you finish adding members. Your list is created and is available from the Lists menu.

Create a Twitter List From the Android App

  1. In the top menu, tap either the navigation menu icon or your profile icon.

  2. Tap Lists and then tap the New List icon.

    Open Twitter lists on Android
  3. Type a name for your list and add a short description.

  4. Select the Keep private check box if you want a private list.

  5. Tap Save.

    Create a new Twitter list on Android

Add or Remove Accounts on Your List

It's easy to add people to any list. You can also add accounts you don't follow to a list.

From a Computer

  1. Go to the profile of an account you want to add to a list, and then select the three dots (the More menu).

  2. Select Add/remove from Lists.

    A Twitter profile with the Add/remove from lists command highlighted
  3. In the window that displays your lists, select the check box next to the lists you want to add the account to, or clear the lists to remove the account from, and then select Save. (This example shows how to add an account.)

    The Pick a List window on Twitter with the Save button highlighted
  4. Navigate to the Lists tab, select the desired list, and then select List members. You'll see the account you just added to the list, or you can verify that an account was removed.

    Adding to a Twitter list

From the iPhone app

  1. Tap your profile icon.

  2. Tap Lists and then tap the list you want to edit.

  3. Tap Members and then tap the three dots (the More menu).

  4. Tap the accounts you want to add or clear the check box for the accounts you want to remove from the list.

From the Android App

  1. Tap the three dots (the More menu) on the profile of the account you want to add.

  2. Select Add to List.

  3. A pop-up appears that displays your created lists. Tap the check box next to the lists you want to add the account to, or clear the check box for the list you want to remove the account from.

    To subscribe to someone else's public list, visit their Twitter profile, and select Lists. You'll see all their public lists. Select the one you want to subscribe to, and then select Subscribe.

Read Tweets From Your Lists

To see the tweets from users on your list, select the Lists menu from your profile, and then select the name of the list you want to read. You'll see all the tweets from everyone included in a content stream timeline.

Are you on anyone else's Twitter list? To find out, select your Lists tab. You'll see if you're a member of someone else's list. To remove yourself from a list, block the list creator.

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