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What is direct messaging on TikTok? • How to view your direct messages • How to send a direct message • How to share content through a direct message • How to manage direct messages • How to manage privacy settings for direct messages • How to turn read receipts on or off • Flagged or reported direct messages
What is direct messaging on TikTok?
Direct messaging or DM allows you to send and receive messages on TikTok.
A few things to know about direct messaging:
• Direct messaging on TikTok is only available to registered account holders aged 16 and older. Parents and caregivers of 16 to 18-year-old users can set restrictions on this feature through Family Pairing.
• Private videos can't be shared. If the creator of the video changed the video status from public to private after you shared it in a message, the video will be unavailable and you won't be able to watch it.
• Content created outside of TikTok can't be shared in a direct message.
• You can choose who, if anyone, can send you direct messages in your Privacy settings.
Keep in mind, if you update your direct message setting to No one, you won't be able to receive direct messages. You can still access your message history in your Inbox, but you can't receive new direct messages in those message threads.
How to view your direct messages
To view all your direct messages on TikTok:
1. Tap Inbox at the bottom of your screen.
2. Direct messages are displayed under Messages with the most recent at the top.
3. To view an entire message thread, tap on a chat you want to view.
How to send a direct message
To send a direct message to someone on TikTok:
1. Tap Inbox at the bottom of your screen.
2. From here:
༚ If you have recent messages, tap a name below Messages to send a direct message.
༚ If you follow someone and they follow you back, tap the direct message icon in the top right, then tap their name to send a direct message.
༚ You can view the delivery status of your message and see if the person has read it.
༚ You can resend a failed message.
Alternatively, if you follow someone and they follow you back, you can go to their Profile and tap Message to send a direct message.
Note: You will not be able to send a direct message to someone that follows you if they have their direct message privacy setting set to No one.
How to share content through a direct message
To send a TikTok video through a direct message:
1. Tap the share icon on the right of the video you'd like to share.
2. From here:
༚ Below Send to, tap the profile photo of the user you wish to share with
༚ Tap TikTok friends, then tap the circle next to who you want to share it with.
You can select multiple people to share with.
3. Enter an optional message and tap Send.
Note: Private videos can't be shared. If the creator of the video changed the video status from public to private after you shared it in a message, the video will be unavailable and you won't be able to watch it.
To share an effect, hashtag, or sound:
1. Find the effect, hashtag, or sound you'd like to share.
༚ To search, tap the search icon in the top right of your screen and enter what you're looking for in the search bar.
༚ You can also tap an effect, hashtag, or sound directly from a video to share.
2. Tap the share icon in the top right.
3. From here:
༚ Below Send to, tap the profile photo of the user you wish to share with.
༚ Tap TikTok friends, then, tap the circle next to who you want to share it with.
You can select multiple people to share with.
3. Enter an optional message and tap Send.
How to manage direct messages
You can delete or mute notifications for a message thread from your message list. If you delete a message thread, it only deletes it for you. The person you sent the messages to can still see the messages.
To delete a message thread:
1. Tap Inbox at the bottom of your screen.
2. Below Messages:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe left on a message thread and tap Delete.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold, then tap Delete.
To mute direct message notifications:
1. Tap Inbox at the bottom of your screen.
2. Below Messages:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe left on a message thread and tap More, then tap Mute to stop getting notifications.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold, then tap Mute to stop getting notifications.
or, to mute notifications directly from a message thread:
༚ Tap the three dot icon in the top right of the message thread, then tap the toggle icon next to Mute notifications to turn on or off.
To report a message thread or block someone:
• Report direct messages. If you receive a message that you think goes against our Community Guidelines, we encourage you to report it to us.
• Block someone on TikTok. You can also block someone so they can't send you direct messages or view your videos on TikTok.
How to manage privacy settings for direct messages
To turn on your direct messages or change who can send you direct messages:
1. Tap Profile in the bottom right.
2. Tap the 3-line icon in the top right.
3. Tap Settings and privacy.
4. Tap Privacy, then tap Direct messages.
5. Choose who you'd like to allow to send you direct messages.
Keep in mind, if you update your direct message setting to No one, you won't be able to receive direct messages. You can still access your message history in your Inbox, but you can't receive new direct messages in those message threads.
How to turn read receipts on or off
Read receipts allow you to see if someone has read your direct message and vice versa.
To turn read receipts on or off:
1. Tap Profile in the bottom right.
2. Tap the 3-line icon in the top right.
3. Tap Settings and privacy.
4. Tap Privacy, then tap Direct messages.
5. Below Message preferences, tap the toggle icon next to Read receipts to turn on or off.
Note: The other person will know when you read their message only when both of you have read receipts turned on.
Flagged or reported direct messages
If you can't send a direct message on TikTok, it could be because your content or message has been flagged or reported, or your account is temporarily suspended.
Our Community Guidelines provide guidance on what is and what isn't allowed on TikTok to help foster a welcoming, safe, and entertaining experience. If a direct message contains content that violates our Community Guidelines, it may be automatically removed or flagged for additional review by our Safety team.
If a direct message violates our Community Guidelines, we may:
• Send a warning in the app the first time your content violates our Community Guidelines.
• Permanently ban your account if the violation is a zero-tolerance policy. We may also block a device to help prevent future accounts from being created.
• Suspend your account's ability to send direct messages for a period of time (typically between 24 and 48 hours), depending on the severity of the violation and previous violations.
• Restrict your account to a view-only experience (typically between 72 hours and one week). This means your account can't send direct messages.
• Notify you that your account may be permanently banned after several violations. This means that if the behavior persists, the account will be permanently banned.
Learn more about content violations and bans and how to report a direct message.
Note: Direct messages on TikTok are encrypted at rest and while in transit. End-to-end encryption is not currently available. We place a premium on ensuring that our younger users have a safe experience by default on TikTok. Like many companies, we maintain the ability to decrypt user data in response to valid legal process and to enforce our Community Guidelines, and we regularly publish Transparency Reports to provide visibility into this work. We maintain internal controls to ensure that only personnel with proper authorization and a demonstrated need to perform their job have access to certain decrypted data like contact information or direct messages.