The women's single sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 23 to 30 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway.

[2] This was the 12th appearance of the event, which has been held every year since women's rowing was introduced in 1976.

The World Champions since the 2016 Games are Jeannine Gmelin of Switzerland, (2017) and Sanita Pušpure, (2018 and 2019) of Ireland.

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) is limited to a single boat (one rower) in the event.

The "scull" portion means that the rower uses two oars, one on each side of the boat; this contrasts with sweep rowing in which each rower has one oar and rows on only one side (not feasible for singles events).

The repechage is a round which offers rowers a second chance to qualify for the quarterfinals.

[4] The first two in each heat qualify for the quarterfinals; the rest go to Semifinals E/F (out of medal contention).