LINE messenger guide: features, official accounts and security

LINE is a messaging app that combines text chat, voice and video calls, groups, stickers and services for businesses in a single account. It is especially popular in Japan, Thailand and Taiwan, where many people use it as their default way to reach family, friends, classmates and colleagues, and where many companies use it to reach customers.

The available features and services differ by country and change with app updates, so treat this guide as an overview of ideas rather than a list of exact screens. The app's help center is the reference for current steps.

Signing up normally uses a phone number, and the account is tied to that number. That is why keeping your number and your verification steps under control matters, as the security section below explains.

In one-to-one chats you can send text, photos, voice messages, files and locations, and you can start voice or video calls over an internet connection. Read marks show when a message has been seen, and the privacy settings let you decide how much of your activity other people can see.

Groups bring friends, families, clubs or teams into one shared conversation. Inside a group you can use notes, photo albums and announcements so that important information does not disappear in the scroll. Members of a group can see your display name and profile picture, so join only groups you recognise and leave the ones you no longer need.

Keep is a private space inside the app where you can save notes, links, photos and files for yourself. Many people use it as a simple place to store things they want to find later.

OpenChat lets you join public chat rooms built around a topic, such as a game, a hobby, a city or a fan community, without adding the other members as friends. In an OpenChat room you can use a separate nickname and profile picture instead of your main LINE profile, which keeps your everyday identity apart from your public conversations.

Rooms are run by the people who created them, who set the topic and the rules. Read a room's description and rules before you join, and share only what you would be comfortable with strangers reading. Never share phone numbers, verification codes or financial details in an OpenChat room, however friendly the conversation feels.

If you create a room, choose a clear name and topic, write simple rules and remove spam quickly. Do not use a room to advertise to members who did not ask for it.

Stickers are a big part of LINE culture. Instead of a plain emoji, people answer with large illustrated characters that carry a mood or a whole joke. The Sticker Shop offers sets made by LINE, by brands and by independent creators. Some sets are free and others are paid, and availability differs by country.

Themes change the colours and background of the app. Both stickers and themes are a matter of taste and neither changes how secure your account is. Buy only through the app's own shop or the official store you already use, and be careful with websites that offer free stickers or themes in exchange for your login, because that is a common phishing method.

A LINE Official Account is a business profile that people can add as a friend, much like following a page. Shops, restaurants, media outlets and public organisations use accounts like this to answer questions, share news and offer coupons. Depending on the setup, a business can chat with customers one to one, send broadcast messages to its friends, set automatic replies and show a menu inside the chat.

Accounts are managed in a web-based tool and in a companion app, and larger companies can connect them to their own systems through developer tools. Account types, plans and message allowances vary by country and change over time, so read the current LINE for Business pages before you decide what you need.

Use an official account only for people who chose to add it. Do not send unsolicited or bulk promotions, do not buy friend lists and keep the number of broadcasts reasonable so that people do not block you. A small number of useful messages builds more trust than frequent promotions.

Start with the basics. Lock your phone with a passcode or the device's own lock, and switch on the app's passcode lock if it is offered in the privacy settings, so that a borrowed or stolen phone cannot open your chats. If you register an email address and password with your account, make the password long and unique.

Letter Sealing is LINE's end-to-end encryption feature. For chats that support it, the content is encrypted so that only the people in the conversation can read it. Look for it in the privacy settings and check that it is enabled. It cannot protect you from a stolen unlocked phone or from a scammer who talks you out of a code, which is why the other settings matter.

Pay attention to logins. LINE may ask you to confirm a login on a computer or a new device with a PIN or verification code, and the account settings include an option that controls whether other devices can log in. Never approve a login you did not start, and never give a verification code or PIN to anyone, including a person who says they are from support. Turn off login from other devices when you do not use them, and read the notifications LINE sends about logins.

Chat history backup deserves a moment of thought. If you back it up, you choose a PIN that is needed to restore it, so store that PIN safely. Before you change phones or phone numbers, follow LINE's own account transfer steps in the app, because a rushed move can lose your chat history or lock you out.

Messaging scams follow a pattern: a message that looks like it comes from a friend or a company, a reason to hurry, and a request for money, gift cards, a verification code or a login. If a friend suddenly asks for urgent help, confirm it through another channel, such as a phone call, before you respond. Treat unknown links, fake giveaway pages and accounts pretending to be a shop or a bank with suspicion, and compare an account's badge and address with the company's own website.

Adjust who can find you. The privacy and friends settings let you control whether people can find you by ID or phone number and whether the app suggests you to others. Block and report accounts that harass you or send spam.

If you use LINE for business or community work, follow LINE's terms of use and its rules on messaging, accounts and content, and never use the app for spam or mass messaging. LINE belongs to its owner, and rStock is an independent marketplace that is not affiliated with LINE.