According to a TRL interview, Bedingfield chose to make the scene where she gets wet because while filming the North American version of her "These Words" video it was a very hot and sunny day in Rio de Janeiro.

[2] For BBC Music, David Hooper commented: "A Trumpton-like acoustic guitar permeates the marvellously uplifting title track 'Unwritten', with more of those fabulous harmonies and a gospel choir added in for good effect.

"[3] MusicOMH critic David Welsh wrote that the song showed Bedingfield to have "an uncanny knack for the hooky chorus.

"[4] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters praised the song as "downright joyous, buoyed by a lilting acoustic guitar and a sing-along chorus".

[6] Virgin Media, in contrast, had a more mixed review, suggesting similarity to Alanis Morissette and concluding: "It may sound like something from the self-help section, but it's a relief to discover that the cliches are kept to a minimum.

[9] This was the third highest ranking for a female artist for 2006 behind "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira and Wyclef Jean, and "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado and Timbaland.

"Unwritten" was not as successful in the United Kingdom as her previous chart-topping hit "These Words", but made an impressive showing on the charts, peaking at number six.

Bedingfield performed this, alongside "Pocketful of Sunshine" in the season 7 finale of the Canadian series Degrassi: The Next Generation.

[12] Bedingfield later re-recorded another, slower version of "Unwritten" with production team Carney for use in the final episode of The Hills.

The song appears in the video games Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Thrillville: Off the Rails and as downloadable content for Rock Band 4, while the Johnny Vicious remix appears in Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2 alongside its original video.

[16][17] The song saw a resurgence in popularity following its inclusion in the film Anyone but You in late 2023; it was subsequently used to soundtrack a number of TikTok videos.