Shin Hye-sun debuted as an actress in the KBS2 teen series School 2013. In 2016, she bagged the Rookie of the Year trophy at the Scene Stealer Festival for her work in the KBS2 family drama Five Kids and the movie A Violent Prosecutor. She was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best New Actress at the 2016 KBS Drama Awards for Five Kids. In 2017, she landed her first leading role in the hit KBS2 family series My Golden Life, which won her acting trophies at the 31st KBS Drama Awards and the 6th APAN Star Awards. Her performance in the series also earned her a Best Actress for TV nomination at the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2018, she starred in the SBS romantic comedy Thirty But Seventeen, which scored her a Top Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards. In 2019, she took home another Top Excellence Award at the KBS Drama Awards for fantasy romance Angel’s Last Mission: Love. In 2020, she headlined the tvN fusion sageuk Mr. Queen, opposite Kim Jung-hyun. The series gave her another Best Actress for TV nomination at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards.

Shin Hye-sun majored in Film Arts at the Sejong University, where was classmates with actors Lee Jong-seok and Kang Haneul.