Free tool

Airbnb check-in instructions generator free

Fill in the fields and the preview updates as you type. Copy the message into the platform inbox, or print it and leave it in the property. The message language is independent from the site language.

How it works

What a guest should read in thirty seconds

1

Getting in, from the street

Door color, street number, code, floor. This is the one point where a guest can end up locked out.

2

Keys and WiFi

Where the keys are and how to reach them, then the network and password. These are the first two questions you get.

3

Copy or print

Paste the message into the platform inbox, or print it and leave it on the entry table.

Check-in instructions guests actually read

A check-in message is not a welcome note. It has one job: letting a tired person with a suitcase, sometimes without a signal, get inside without calling you. Anything that does not serve that makes it longer and harder to read. Restaurant tips, neighborhood history and house rules belong somewhere else, in the guidebook. Our article on why guests do not read instructions covers what makes them tune out.

Order matters as much as content. Address, street-level access, keys, WiFi: the first four lines should be enough to get in and get online. Everything else follows. Send the message the day before rather than on the day itself, while the guest is planning the trip and can still ask a question. Scheduling the message automatically keeps it from slipping on a busy evening.

Two useful extensions. If you host international guests, the bilingual mode outputs both versions back to back, which avoids the translation round trip described in our guide to hosting international guests. And if the property has a smart lock, the code changes with every stay: regenerate the message rather than editing the old one by hand. For the rest of the stay, the guidebook takes over.

An Airbnb check-in instructions example

This is what the generator returns for a lockbox arrival. Change every detail, keep the order.

Hello, and welcome!

The Harbor Studio: here is everything you need for your arrival.

Address: 214 Bay Street, Savannah, GA 31401
Times: Check-in from 4:00 PM, check-out before 11:00 AM.
Getting in: Blue door at number 14, left of the bakery. Code 24B71, then press A. 3rd floor, door on the right.
Keys: Lockbox. On the wall right of the gate, code 4821.
WiFi: Network Harbor-8A2F, password welcome2026
Parking and transit: Public garage on Bay Street, 5 min walk.
Contact: Marie, (912) 555-0134. Text me if anything goes wrong on arrival.

Enjoy your stay!

Self check-in, written for someone who has never seen the door

Self check-in removes the handover, not the explaining. Describe each step as if the guest had never stood on that sidewalk, and name what the thing looks like rather than where you think it is. Then plan for the failure: a number they can call, and a second way in if the code does not work. That fallback is the whole difference between a bad review and a short phone call.

When Airbnb sends them, and when you should

Airbnb holds your detailed instructions back until 48 hours before check-in. Guests see the check-in method and nothing more before that, which the help page on check-in and check-out instructions states plainly. A guest on an overnight flight wants the address and the door sequence well before that window opens, and this message is how they get it. The same text pastes into the Vrbo and Booking.com inboxes without a change.

The other half, check-out

Switch the generator to check-out and the same details produce the departure message: the time, what to do with the keys, the four chores worth asking for. Airbnb offers five preset options in its own check-out field plus 140 characters of detail, and the generator mirrors that list so one text serves both places. Our guide to Airbnb check-out instructions covers what to ask for and what to leave to the cleaner.

FAQ

Common questions about check-in instructions

When should check-in instructions go out?

The day before arrival, in the evening. Early enough for the guest to plan the trip and ask questions, late enough that the information is still fresh when they walk up to the door. A second send on the morning of arrival costs nothing and catches the ones who missed it.

Should the access code be in the message?

Yes, otherwise the message serves no purpose. The right practice is changing the code between stays, which a smart lock or a combination lockbox makes easy. If you cannot change it, send the code separately on the day of arrival rather than in a message kept after checkout.

How is this different from a guidebook?

Check-in instructions get the guest inside; the guidebook serves the rest of the stay. The first fits in fifteen lines and is read on a phone in the street; the second covers appliances, rules and recommendations. You can then turn these instructions into a welcome guidebook for the stay itself.

How do you handle self check-in?

By describing every step as if the guest knew nothing about the place, and by planning for failure: a number to call, a fallback if the code does not work. Our guide to setting up self check-in covers the full setup.

Do the instructions need a second language?

As soon as part of your guests come from abroad. Bilingual mode outputs one version after the other in a single message, so you only maintain one document. The broader topic is covered in our article on hosting international guests.

Can a WiFi QR code be attached?

Yes, and it saves more arrival time than anything else: the guest scans, the phone connects, no twenty-character password to type. The button in the form opens our WiFi QR code generator with the network and password already filled in.

Go further

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