In December 2005, he/she was selected to join AKB48.

In 2007, she starred in the film "The Method of Making My Future Self". On December 31, 2007, she made her debut as AKB48 at the 58th NHK Red and White Song Festival, performing "Will た った".

In 2008, she starred in the TV drama "Classroom of the Sun and the Sea".

In 2010, he starred in the NHK Taiga drama "Ryoma Den". In the same year, she starred in the TV drama "Q10" and won the 48th Galaxy Awards for Outstanding Work of the Year.

On November 22, 2011, she was selected as the "Beauty of the Year" by the women's fashion magazine VOCE.

On March 2, 2012, she won the Topic Award (Actor category) at the 35th Japanese Academy Awards for her leading role in the film "If Dura", and officially graduated from AKB48 on August 27.

On January 3, 2013, she was shortlisted for the Blue Ribbon Award for Supporting Actress in Japanese films. On March 10, she won the Best Newcomer Award in the film category of the 67th Japan Broadcasting Film Art Awards for her role in the film "The Hard Labor Train". On May 18th, the horror film "Black Lily Residential Area" in which he starred was released. On November 23rd, she starred in the film "Tamako Who Doesn't Strive for Progress" and won the 2013 Kinema Junpo Annual Top Ten Awards.

In 2014, starred in the film "Seventh Code".

In 2015, her personal essay collection "Atsuko Maeda's Movie Notes" was published and officially released by Asahi Shimbun.

On June 22, 2016, her first solo album "Selfish" was released.

In 2024, he starred in the Japanese premiere of the film "The Immortal Lover" directed by Daigo Matsui.