She received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the West End revival of Guys and Dolls (2005).

[9] Krakowski grew up immersed in the local theater scene as a result of her parents' involvement, saying in one interview: "Instead of hiring baby sitters, they brought me along with them.

[11][12] Following a 1981 television commercial for the video game Solar Fox, Krakowski's first major role and feature film debut came at the age of 14, when she played Cousin Vicki Johnson in the 1983 road comedy National Lampoon's Vacation.

She appeared in the 1989 Broadway musical Grand Hotel as the typist and would-be film star Flaemmchen, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.

From 1997 to 2002, Krakowski played office assistant Elaine Vassal in the Fox comedy-drama series Ally McBeal; she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1999.

At the 2000 American Comedy Awards, Krakowski won rave reviews when she performed a sexually charged musical tribute and love letter to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

[17] In 2005, Krakowski performed her own cabaret show, Better When It's Banned, at Lincoln Center,[18] and starred as Miss Adelaide in Michael Grandage's West End revival of Guys and Dolls at London's Piccadilly Theatre, for which she received the 2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

From 2006 to 2013, Krakowski played the role of Jenna Maroney, a clueless and narcissistic actress, on the Tina Fey-created NBC comedy series 30 Rock.

[23] Krakowski starred as Ilona Ritter in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2016 Broadway revival of Jerry Bock's and Sheldon Harnick's She Loves Me.

[25] Since 2021, Krakowski has hosted a Fox reboot of the 1950s game show Name That Tune, with former American Idol judge Randy Jackson as bandleader.

[32] In January 2021, the Daily Mail alleged that Krakowski had a nine-month relationship with Mike Lindell, the inventor of My Pillow, between late 2019 and the summer of 2020.