Someone asks what you want, and half of it is already sitting in your Amazon cart. An Amazon wish list turns that into something you can send: one list, one link, and nobody has to guess.
Here is how to make one, on a computer or in the app, how to share it, how to find someone else's, and the settings worth checking before you send the link. The steps follow Amazon's own help pages and guides, where the wish list is now mostly just called a "List."
How to make an Amazon wish list on a computer
- Open Your Lists. Sign in at amazon.com, go to Account & Lists at the top of the page, and select Your Lists.
- Create the list. Select Create a List and type a name, like "Birthday" or "Christmas 2026."
- Save it. Select Create List.
- Check the settings. Open the three-dots menu on the list and choose Manage List to set the shipping address and other preferences, then select Save Changes.
You can repeat this as often as you like: Amazon lets you make an unlimited number of lists. One list per occasion keeps things clear, so the birthday list isn't buried under the things you're saving for the kitchen.
How to make a wish list in the Amazon app
The steps are the same in the app. Open Your Lists (depending on your version of the app, it sits under the profile icon at the bottom of the screen or in the menu), tap Create a List, enter a name, and tap Create List.
To change the list's settings later, open it, tap the three dots, and choose Manage List.
How to add items to your list
On any product page, use the Add to List button and pick the list you want. Tapping the heart icon on an item also saves it, to your default list.
Once something is on the list, the three dots next to it let you add a comment, a quantity and a priority. Use them. "Size M, the green one" in a comment saves the people buying for you a message, and a priority tells them which gift you'd actually be happiest to open.
Amazon's help page lists a few kinds of items that can't be added: out-of-stock products, out-of-print books, cell phones with service plans, items without a release date, items with quantity restrictions and pharmacy items. Items from third-party sellers on Amazon can be added too, and their product page shows See Buying Options instead of Add to Cart.
How to share your Amazon wish list
- Open the list. Go to Your Lists and select the one you want to share.
- Select Invite. Choose + Invite, or the share icon.
- Pick who can do what. View only means anyone with the link can see the list but can't change it. View and edit means the people you invite can add or remove items, change quantities and priorities, and comment.
- Send it. Copy the link and paste it wherever people are asking, or select Invite by email.
For the people buying you gifts, choose View only. View and edit is for someone building the list with you, like a partner planning a list for your home together.
Your lists stay private until you share them, and a private list switches to Shared once you do. Only you, as the owner, can change the privacy setting, share or delete the list, or see and change the shipping address.
How to find someone's Amazon wish list
This is where most people get stuck. Amazon's own help page for finding a list is plain about it: if you want to see a friend's Amazon list, you ask them to share it. Amazon even gives you a way to ask: go to Your Friends and select Send a message, then copy the request or email it. When the link comes back, you can save it in Your Friends so it's there next time.
Amazon's name search, Find a registry or gift list, covers registries and Amazon Gift Lists. A Gift List can be looked up by the name of the person who made it (for a child's list, search the parent's name), and it becomes searchable within 24 hours of being created. If an ordinary wish list doesn't turn up in that search, that's expected. It doesn't mean the person doesn't have one.
Amazon wish list or Amazon Gift List
Amazon has two different lists for gifts, and they're easy to mix up.
- Wish list: the everyday list in Your Lists. Good for a running list of what you want, shared by link.
- Gift List: a registry-style list found under Your Registries and Gift Lists. Amazon offers it for a child's birthday, and for the holidays as one list for the whole household.
To make a Gift List, go to Your Registries and Gift Lists, select Create a Registry or Gift List, and follow the steps. Items go on it from the Add to Registry & Gifting menu under Add to Cart on a product page.
A Gift List works differently from a wish list in a few ways that matter:
- Privacy has three settings: Public, Shareable and Private, and a new Gift List starts as Private. You have to switch it to Public or Shareable before you can share it.
- You choose whether to see purchases: a Show what's been purchased toggle lets you keep it a surprise until you're ready. People shopping from the list always see what's been bought.
- It keeps a record for thank-you notes: Amazon keeps a list of who bought what and when.
- Purchases have to go through the list: an item is marked as purchased only when the giver adds it to their cart from the Gift List itself. Buy the same thing from the product page, and the list doesn't know.
If you want people to be able to find your list by name, or you're making a list for a child, the Gift List is the better fit. For everything else, the wish list is simpler.
Your gift address and privacy
In a list's settings, you choose whether to include a shipping address. It's worth doing: people buying from your list can send the gift straight to you without asking where you live.
Amazon doesn't show your street address to them. Gift buyers see only your name, city and state. To fulfill an order, Amazon may share your address with the seller and the delivery company, as it would for any order.
To change the address on a list, go to Your Lists, open the three-dots menu, choose Manage List, add a new address in the shipping address section, and select Save Changes. If you move, check it there.
How purchased items show, and the surprise problem
When someone buys from your list, the item moves to the list's purchased section, so the next person doesn't buy it again. What you see depends on one setting.
Don't spoil my surprises is on by default. With it on, gifts bought for you keep showing as Unpurchased on your own view of the list for several weeks, and if you try to buy one yourself, Amazon warns you that it's already been gifted. You'll find the setting under Manage List.
There are two catches worth knowing:
- The surprise only holds while you're signed in. Amazon's help page says it plainly: if you don't sign in, your list may reveal a surprise.
- The list only knows about purchases made through it. If someone buys the same thing at a store down the street, the list still shows it as available unless they mark it. For some items, Amazon shows a Buying this elsewhere link next to the item for exactly that.
The one thing an Amazon list can't do
An Amazon list holds Amazon's products. That's its whole design: you add things with the Add to List button on an Amazon product page. The browser add-on that once let you add things from other sites, Amazon Assistant, was discontinued in 2023.
If almost everything you want is on Amazon, that's no limit at all, and an Amazon list is a very good way to ask for it. It's only a problem when the thing you actually want comes from a small maker, a specialist store or a ticket site. That's the gap a universal wishlist fills. Target's and Walmart's lists have the same limit, and there's a separate guide on how to make a Target or Walmart wish list.
When your list spans more than one store
Tools like Wishes are built for exactly that. It's free on iPhone, Android and the web, and it does three things an Amazon list doesn't:
- It takes a link from any store: Amazon included. Paste a product link and the photo, name and link come in, so one list can hold the jacket, the print from the independent maker and the concert tickets.
- Friends open it without an account: the list is a web page. Nobody has to download anything, sign up or be signed in to see what you want.
- You see what's booked, not who booked it: when someone books a gift, it shows as taken to everyone, so nobody doubles up. On your own list you'll see that it's booked, but no Wishes app or page shows you who booked it. Booking takes a free sign-in with Apple or Google, and nobody pays to book a gift.
Your first three wishlists are free, and Wishes Plus lifts that limit. If you'd rather not install anything to try it, the free wishlist maker lets you type a list out in your browser before you decide to save it. And if you're weighing up more than one tool, there's our look at the wishlist apps worth looking at.
Amazon wish list questions
How do I make a wish list on Amazon?
Go to Account & Lists, select Your Lists, then select Create a List, type a name and select Create List. In the app, open Your Lists and tap Create a List. Then use Add to List on any product page to fill it, and check the address and surprise settings under Manage List.
How do I share my Amazon wish list?
Open the list in Your Lists and select + Invite or the share icon. Choose View only for gift givers, then copy the link or send it by email. A private list switches to Shared when you share it.
How do I find someone's Amazon wish list?
Ask them for the link. Amazon's help page says that to see a friend's list, you ask them to share it, and Your Friends has a Send a message option for exactly that. The name search on Amazon is for registries and Gift Lists, not everyday wish lists.
Can people see my address on my Amazon wish list?
No, not your street address. People buying from your list see only your name, city and state. Amazon may share the full address with the seller and delivery company to deliver the order, as it does for any purchase.
Will I see what's been bought from my Amazon wish list?
Not by default. Don't spoil my surprises is on when you create a list, so gifts bought for you keep showing as Unpurchased for several weeks. It only works while you're signed in, and you can turn it off under Manage List.
What is the difference between an Amazon wish list and a Gift List?
A wish list is the everyday list in Your Lists, shared by link. A Gift List is a registry-style list for a child's birthday or the holidays, with Public, Shareable and Private settings, and it can be looked up by the creator's name.
Can I add items from other stores to an Amazon wish list?
No. An Amazon list holds products from Amazon's store, and the Amazon Assistant add-on that once added items from other sites was discontinued in 2023. For a list that holds a link from any store, use a universal wishlist such as Wishes.
The list that gets you the right thing
A wish list is a kindness to the people buying for you. It turns a guess into a sure thing.
The book you keep meaning to buy. The headphones in your cart since spring. The concert tickets you'd never get yourself.
Start your wishlist, or read what a universal wishlist is if what you want lives in more than one store.
