The women's 10 metre platform was one of four diving events included in the Diving at the 1996 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was split into three phases: Preliminary round 26 July — Each diver performed five dives without any limitation on the difficulty degree. The 18 divers with the highest total score advanced to the semi-final.Semi-final 26 July — Each diver performed four dives with difficulty degree limitation. The 12 divers with the highest combined score from the semi-final and preliminary dives advanced to the final.Final 27 July — Each diver performed five dives without limitation on the difficulty degree. The final ranking was determined by the combined score from the final and semifinal dives.