As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

Changes were made to the boundaries in the Orkney Islands but the six wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 remained.

At the previous election in 2017, independent councillors retained control of the council after taking all but three seats.

However, independent councillor John Ross Scott did announce he had joined the Greens in 2021, which did not change his affiliation on the council.

The Act allowed single- or two-member wards to be created to provide better representation of island communities.