Kanikka Kapur was born on 4 March 1995 in New Delhi, where she completed her schooling at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, before earning a degree in Journalism and Public Communication from the University of Delhi. Drawn to performance from a young age, she began appearing in short films at just 13 and stayed active in theatre through her college years.

She made her acting debut in 2015 with the Telugu film Tippu, playing Vaishnavi, and went on to appear in a music video and the 2019 Hindi film A Gift of Love: Sifar. She gained wider recognition as Suman Tiwari opposite Mohit Kumar in Sony TV's Ek Duje Ke Vaaste 2, and made her Bollywood debut in Dono (2023), produced by Rajshri Productions and Jio Studios. She has also featured in the popular web series ImMature.

Kapur takes on a pivotal role in Rajkumar Santoshi's period drama Batwara 1947 (2026), her first major Bollywood ensemble outing alongside Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, and Ali Fazal. She has spoken about her personal connection to the film's subject - her grandparents lived through Partition, migrating from present-day Pakistan, with her grandmother from Lahore and grandfather from Lyallpur.