The song debuted at number thirteen on the New Zealand Singles Chart. It started at number thirty-two on the Australian Singles Chart, and peaked at number twenty after five weeks, and stayed in the charts for twelve weeks in total. The song had debuted at number twenty-four on the UK Singles Chart and then fell to seventy-three. Pop Songs chart and number seven on the U.S. The song was the album's third single to reach number one in Canada and peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, charting high from strong airplay following 'Ironic'. There it goes again with its iconic beauty and all.' Chart performance John Murphy, of MusicOMH, wrote, ''You Oughta Know' and 'You Learn' have a lightness of touch that nicely balance the darkness of the subject matter.'' A reviewer for PopStasche wrote 'After 'Right hrough You' and 'Forgiven' display the vocal talent at hand, we're graced with the wonder of 'You Learn.' It provides a break from the fiery frustration yet still proves to have soul through its repetition and humility. Glad it's still popular!' Music Week gave it four of five, describing it as a 'mellower, more mainstream single'. It's another great track and was well worth the single status. A reviewer for CultureFusion wrote, of the song, 'It highlights the album fairly well, creating a mood of 'pissed but positive.' I guess it could be more 'devil may care' but that's not the point. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, of AllMusic, highlighted it as an album standout, but separately gave the song two and a half of five stars. 'You Learn' got positive reviews from music critics, with many finding the lyrics' message positive. Another acoustic version was recorded for the album Jagged Little Pill Acoustic (2005). An acoustic version of the song from Morissette's live album Alanis Unplugged (1999) was released as a single in some countries in 2000. Because the CD single includes a live version of ' You Oughta Know' from the 1996 Grammy Awards as an A-side, Billboard credited the chart position to 'You Learn'/'You Oughta Know'.

To promote it, 'You Learn' was chosen as the fourth single.

Jagged Little Pill was not an instant success. According to Morissette, Ballard was her first collaborator who encouraged her to express her emotions.

As she later said in interviews, Morissette focused all her inner problems on the soul-baring lyrics of the album, for her health. She was hospitalized and attended psychotherapy sessions, to no avail. A music video was shot for the single, showing Morissette walking through the streets.Дuring Morissette's stay in Los Angeles to record 'You Learn' and other parts of Jagged Little Pill, she was robbed on an empty street by a man with a gun, after which she developed intense general anxiety and suffered daily panic attacks. In Canada, it was the most successful single of 1996, according to RPM. It was a commercial success globally, topping the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and entering the top 40 in Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Released in the United Kingdom in February 1996 and issued around the world later in the year, the song received generally positive reviews from most music critics, many highlighting the song as an album standout. The album title is taken from this song's line 'Swallow it down (what a jagged little pill)'. The lyrics state that valuable lessons are learned from poor decisions. Records released the song as the album's fourth single (third in the United Kingdom). It was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard, the album's producer. ' You Learn' is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette from her third studio album, Jagged Little Pill (1995).

Alanis morissette you learn