# Getting your Reddit account ready

Warm-up, karma, why the account is not ready, and a suspended account.

Video guide: [How to set up a Reddit account (5 minutes 49 seconds, narrated)](https://www.loom.com/embed/97f3ce18eb30459286bb076130871fa8)

## Why does it say my Reddit account is not ready?

Reddit is strict with new and low karma accounts, so before we send you posts your account moves along a warm-up line: Newcomer, Regular, Trusted, Insider. Posts open only at Insider.

1. A brand new account is Newcomer for its first week, whatever the score.
2. After that, and from the start for an older account, it is Regular until its score reaches 6 out of 10. The score comes from the audit in Account health: account age, comment karma, recent activity, and how your bio and post history read. Until the account is 30 days old with 50 comment karma, the score stays at 4 or below.
3. At 6 the account is Trusted, and links and product mentions open in replies.
4. Insider also needs 30 days, 50 comment karma and no open critical fixes in Account health. That is when posts open.

The card above your Reddit catches shows your step and, past the first week, the age, karma and score targets for Insider, ticked as you reach them. Account health lists the fixes, each with its own Complete button, and names the same steps New, Warming up, Mentions and Ready. Nothing here is a penalty and nothing is stuck: the account is re-measured every 3 days and moves on its own.

One thing to know if you watched our Reddit walkthrough: the narrator says a strong account can post from day one. Follow the line on your own screen rather than the narration, the same way the audit rather than the narration decides what belongs in your bio.

## How do I get my Reddit account ready?

Everything that moves the needle sits in one place, the Account health panel in the Reddit section of Catches. Work through it in this order.

1. Answer the replies we send you. This is the main engine: upvoted comments build comment karma, and 50 comment karma is one of the targets for Insider, where posts open.
2. Verify your email on Reddit. Without it a large share of subreddits filter you out before anyone sees the comment.
3. Add an avatar and a bio. We generate three bio options in the same panel, and the recommended one deliberately leaves your product name out for now.
4. Join the subreddits from your targeting, and spend a few minutes a day reading and upvoting. Reddit treats that ordinary activity as a signal that the account is real.
5. Clear the recommended fixes, each with its own Complete button, and remove anything on the deletion shortlist. You do that on Reddit yourself, we never touch your account. Critical fixes hold posts back until they are marked done.

Every 3 days we re-measure the account's age, karma and activity, and while the score is under 6 and those numbers have moved, it is re-audited once a week on its own, so there is nothing to confirm and nothing to tell us when you are done. If you want an immediate update there is a Re-run account audit button in the panel. It costs 15 credits, shown on the button.

## How long does Reddit warm-up take?

It depends on the account, so here are the mechanics rather than a promise.

1. A brand new account is Newcomer for its first week: 1 reply a day for the first 3 days, then 2, with no links and no posts. On day 8 it moves on automatically.
2. After that, and from the start for an older account, the score decides. It stays at 4 or below until the account is 30 days old with 50 comment karma, and it has to reach 6 before links and product mentions open, the Trusted step. Posts need 30 days, 50 comment karma, a score of 6 and no open critical fixes, the Insider step.
3. Age moves on its own. Karma moves only when you actually reply, which is why we keep sending replies in the meantime. Answering them is the fastest lever you have.
4. Every 3 days we re-measure age, karma and activity, and the card above your Reddit catches moves with them. While the score is under 6 and those numbers have moved, the account is re-audited once a week on its own.

One thing worth flagging: the warm-up guidance you may have seen for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube is a separate thing with separate numbers. It does not apply to Reddit.

## Reddit will not let me post because my account is new or has low karma.

That is the account rather than the tool, and our own audit says the same, which is why posts only open at the last step of the warm-up line, Insider: 30 days of account age, 50 comment karma, a score of 6 and no open critical fixes. Links and product mentions inside replies open earlier, at the Trusted step, once the score reaches 6.

If you have an older account with real history, connect that one instead. Otherwise the replies we send are the way through: answer them, keep the product name and your link out of the bio for now, and posts start arriving on their own once the account reaches Insider. The card above your Reddit catches shows where you stand on age, karma and score.

## Can I still pick promo or soft-sell while my account warms up?

You can. The reply type selector next to Reply now keeps all four options, warm-up, soft-sell, promo and operational, whatever step your Reddit account is on, and the product will not stop you.

We do not recommend it. A link or a product mention from an account with low karma is the main trigger of Reddit's spam filter, and that is exactly why links and product mentions only open at the Trusted step, once the score reaches 6. Choosing promo before then usually costs you the comment, and sometimes the account.

Warm-up is the default for that reason. Keep it while the account is Newcomer or Regular, and switch once the card above your Reddit catches shows Trusted.

## My Reddit account is suspended. Should I make a new one?

Please do not. Creating a replacement account after a suspension counts as ban evasion under Reddit's own terms, and it usually ends with both accounts gone. We will never recommend it.

What to do instead.

1. Appeal the suspension through Reddit's official appeal form. That is the only route that can restore the account.
2. If you are not suspended but suspect a shadowban, check that first. Open your profile in a logged out browser, or use the r/ShadowBan check. If the profile does not load for a logged out visitor, that is your answer.
3. If you already use another Reddit account normally, connect that one instead. The connect flow is in Catches, and in Settings under Social accounts.

While an account is in that state we stop sending Reddit replies, and the card above your Reddit catches reads "Replies paused: profile not visible", with the same advice. Whichever route you take, a newly connected account starts from its own numbers, so a young or low karma one works its way along the same warm-up line before posts open.