Written by Savan Kotecha and producer Rami Yacoub, the song was released by Syco Records on 11 September 2011.

The song won the 2012 Brit Award for British Single of the Year and was generally complimented by contemporary music critics, who highlighted the appeal to the teenage audience and the pop sensibility.

It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart after setting a Sony Music Entertainment pre-order record and selling 153,965 copies in its first week.

Band member Liam Payne called the song "perfect",[6] and Harry Styles said, "When we were recording in the studio we knew instantly that we wanted this track to be our first single.

"[8] "What Makes You Beautiful" premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 10 August 2011,[7] and was released by Syco Music in Europe, Australia and New Zealand via digital download on 11 September 2011.

[9] A CD single was released in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2011,[10] and followed in Australia and Germany on 25 November 2011 and 2 December 2011, respectively.

[15] For the North American release of Up All Night on 13 March 2012, Columbia Records executives used social media to shape the marketing campaign.

Columbia Records co-chairman Steve Barnett and his team decided to reverse the usual pattern of releasing a single on radio.

Instead the label mounted a four-month marketing campaign aimed at building a fan base through social media before a single was ever released or played on the radio.

The social media campaign asked fans to sign petitions and to enter video competitions to win a concert in their town.

[20] "What Makes You Beautiful" has a guitar-based chorus whose notes range from C to E; Digital Spy's Robert Copsey likened it to a cross between Pink's "Raise Your Glass" and McFly's "All About You".

Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave "What Makes You Beautiful" four out of five stars, praising its catchy melody and summarising it as "adorable, completely innocent and bound to cause a stir amongst your mates".

"[21] Ailbhe Malone of NME commended the song's appeal to the teenage audience and its chord progression for being "simple enough to be played on an acoustic guitar at a house party.

"[23] AllMusic's Matthew Chisling called it an "effervescent and fresh tween love song", and chose it as one of the best tracks on Up All Night.

[25] Student's Jack Murray rated "What Makes You Beautiful" five out of five stars and called it "not only the best pop single of the year so far, but potentially of any X Factor contestant ever".

[28] Stephanie Abrahams of TIME assessed, "The group takes cues from the boy bands of yesteryear with bubblegum lyrics about young love — "The way you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed" they croon in their breakout single – which any parent can get behind.

"[29] The Observer editor Kitty Empire wrote in an assessment, "With the exception of their persuasive No 1 single, "What Makes You Beautiful", their songs aren't wildly distinctive.

[32] Newsround called the song "fun, upbeat and incredibly catchy" while commenting "there's no way these boys won't be a hit".

[36][37] In the UK, "What Makes You Beautiful" received the highest ever number of pre-orders for a Sony Music Entertainment single.

[48] It was certified quadruple platinum by the Swedish Recording Industry Association (GLF), denoting sales of 80,000 copies.

[50] "What Makes You Beautiful" has been certified six times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting sales of 420,000 units.

[53] It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), denoting sales of 30,000 units.

[55] The single peaked at number 7 on the Canadian Hot 100 and has been certified quadruple platinum by Music Canada, denoting sales of 320,000 copies.

[60] The track sold 3,881,000 copies in the United States in 2012, becoming the best-selling song by a boy band in digital history.

[61] The song was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 21 February 2013,[62] and it has sold 4.8 million copies in the US as of June 2016.

Filmed over two days in July 2011,[66][67] it opens with scenes of One Direction spending time on a Malibu, California, beach and driving an orange campervan.

[76] The performance started with hosts Ant & Dec announcing that the band was supposedly running late for their appearance, and cut to a video of One Direction boarding a London Tube carriage full of fans, as the studio version of the song began playing.

[79] After "Gotta Be You" and "One Thing", One Direction performed "What Makes You Beautiful" at Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball on 4 December 2011, at The O2 Arena.

[83] In the United States, One Direction performed the song along with "More than This" and "One Thing" for the first time on The Today Show at Rockefeller Center on 12 March 2012.

[88] It was included on the set list of the group's headlining sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on 3 December 2012.