Çağla Şimşek was born on August 1, 2001 in Istanbul, Turkey. Her mother's side is from Gümüşhane and her father's side is from Samsun. She completed her education by graduating from Private Uğur Anatolian High School.

When Çağla Şimşek was only 3 years old, she was discovered by the famous actor and producer Osman Yağmurdereli and started to play in commercials. In this way, she was encouraged to acting at that age.

The first project of her acting career was Naz in the series Elveda Derkan, which was broadcast on television in 2007 and attracted a lot of attention. A year later, she took part in the series called Lost Princess with the character Duru. In 2010, she gave life to the character of Çağla in Friday'ya kalsa.

Şimşek played the younger version of Fatma Aliye Hanım in the movie Nisvan Tarihe Adını Printan Kadınlar, which was released in 2010, for her first acting performance on the big screen.

In 2012, she gave life to the character of Lavin Bakırcı in the series Hayat continues. In 2013, she played the character of Zehra Kırman in Küçük Gelin, the production that made more people recognize her. She is especially known for her role as Zehra in the series Küçük Gelin, which is among the most watched and longest-running series.