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About direct messaging on TikTok • Who can send direct messages on TikTok • How to find your direct messages • How to send a direct message • How to send a message request • How to use stickers in a direct message • How to manage your direct messages • How to turn read status on or off • Safety features for direct messaging • Why can't I send or receive direct messages?
About direct messaging on TikTok
Direct messaging (DM) helps you connect with your friends and community on TikTok. Messaging means you can send and receive messages and TikTok videos directly on TikTok.
With direct messaging on TikTok, you can:
• Share TikTok videos with others.
• Send and receive messages with mutual followed friends, suggested friends and contacts, and people you may know.
• Adjust privacy settings to determine who can send you direct messages.
• Adjust notification settings.
• Report accounts and content that violates our Community Guidelines.
• Check who has read your direct messages.
• Find out who is active or was recently active.
Who can send direct messages on TikTok
Direct messaging on TikTok is available to:
• Registered account holders aged 16 and older. Parents and guardians can set restrictions on this feature through Family Pairing.
• Anyone who has permission to send a direct message to others. You can control who can send you direct messages in your privacy settings. Keep in mind, if you update your direct message setting to No one, you can't receive direct messages. You can still access your message history in your inbox, but you can't receive new direct messages in those chats.
How to find your direct messages
To view your direct messages on TikTok:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. Tap a name from the list to go to the chat.
How to send a direct message
You can share content such as TikTok videos, effects, hashtags, or sounds through a direct message.
To send content through a direct message:
1. In the TikTok app, go to the video or other shareable content, like an effect, hashtag, or sound that you'd like to share.
༚ To search, tap the Search button at the top 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 button. For videos, you can also press and hold on the video you'd like to share.
3. Tap the profile photo of the person you'd like to share with. You can select multiple people to share with.
4. Enter an optional message, then tap Send.
Keep in mind that 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 send a direct message from your inbox:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ If you have recent messages, tap a name from the Messages list to go to the chat.
༚ If you follow someone and they follow you back, tap the Chat button at the top, then search or tap their name to go to the chat.
3. Type a message. You can also tap the Emoji button to send GIFs, emojis, and stickers.
4. Tap the Send button.
5. To reply to a message, you can also use the suggested replies displayed above the message bar or below a shared video after you've watched it. Suggested replies for shared videos are based on the content of the video. This feature is currently not available to everyone.
Alternatively, if you follow someone and they follow you back, you can go to their profile, then tap Message to send a direct message.
Keep in mind that you can't send a direct message to someone that follows you if they have their direct message privacy setting set to No one.
How to send a message request
Before you can send a direct message to someone who doesn't follow you, they'll need to accept a message request from you.
To send a message request:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. Tap the Chat button at the top, then search or tap a name to go to the chat. Their name only displays if you follow them, regardless if they follow you back. You can also go directly to someone's profile, then tap Message.
3. Type a message. You can also tap the Emoji button to send an emoji.
4. Tap the Send button.
Once your request is accepted, you can send more messages.
A few things to know about message requests:
• You must be aged 18 years or older to receive message requests.
• You can only send one message request or, if the recipient's direct message privacy setting is set to Everyone, you can send up to three requests.
• You can only send direct messages to someone who accepts your message request. If the recipient deletes your request or doesn't respond, you won't be able to message them.
• You can't send message requests to someone if you've been banned from sending direct messages, if the recipient has blocked you, or if their direct message privacy setting is set to No one.
How to use stickers in a direct message
To send stickers in a direct message:
1. In the TikTok app, go to the chat in your inbox.
2. Tap the Emoji button in the message bar.
3. Tap the Sticker store button.
4. Choose a sticker you'd like to use from the Video stickers or Sticker sets tabs.
For video stickers
༚ Tap a video sticker to send it in a direct message.
༚ Tap the filters at the top to sort by most popular, newest, or trending stickers.
༚ To add a sticker to your messaging favorites ☆ tab, tap the messaging favorites ☆ button on the sticker. Tap it again to remove it from your favorites.
༚ To view the sticker details, press and hold on the sticker. From here, you can choose to view all stickers by the creator on their profile, view the original video, or report the sticker.
For sticker sets
༚ To save a sticker set, tap Add. The sticker set will be added to the sticker panel to use in a direct message.
༚ Once you add a sticker set, tap Use. You'll be directed to the sticker panel where you can send a sticker in a direct message.
༚ To view all your saved sticker sets, tap Added at the top. From here, you can drag and drop the sticker set to change the order, or tap the Delete button next to the sticker set to remove it.
To create a video sticker in a direct message:
1. In the TikTok app, go to a direct message in your inbox.
2. Tap the Emoji button.
3. In your messaging favorites ☆ tab, tap the Create sticker button.
4. Choose a video from the Liked, Posted, or Favorites tabs.
5. Edit the sticker as needed. You can choose to add text or crop the video. When you're done, tap Next.
6. From here:
༚ To choose who can discover and use your video sticker in TikTok, turn the Make public setting on or off. This setting is turned on by default.
༚ If you choose to keep the sticker public, you can add up to 10 keywords to make it easier for others to find your sticker. Only text and emojis are allowed.
7. Tap Create sticker. Your sticker is added to the messaging favorites ☆ tab in your direct messages and is ready to be used. To remove the sticker from your messaging favorites ☆, press and hold on the sticker, then tap Remove.
Any stickers that you create are also available from your profile where you can send them in a direct message, view the original video, add them to the sticker store, or delete them. Learn more about stickers on TikTok.
How to manage your direct messages
You can manage your direct messages from your inbox on TikTok.
How to delete, mute, and filter direct messages
To delete a chat:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe left on a chat, then tap Delete.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold on a chat, then tap Delete.
To delete a single direct message:
1. Go to the chat in your inbox.
2. Press and hold on the direct message, then tap Delete:
༚ To delete the message only for you, tap Delete for me. The receiver(s) will still see the message.
༚ To delete the message for both you and the receiver(s), tap Delete for everyone within 3 minutes of sending the message.
To mute direct message notifications:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe left on a chat and tap More, then tap Mute to stop getting notifications.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold on a chat, then tap Mute to stop getting notifications. You can also mute notifications directly from a chat by tapping the More options button at the top of the chat, then turning the Mute notifications setting on or off.
To filter direct messages:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. Tap Message requests, then tap the Settings button.
3. Choose your filter preferences:
༚ Filtered requests: Filter messages that appear to be from unsafe sources. Once you accept these messages, they appear in your inbox.
༚ Always allow business messages: Receive messages from TikTok Creator Marketplace brands. They can send you up to 3 messages before you accept their requests.
How to manage message requests
To accept or delete a message request:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. Tap Message requests, then tap the chat request.
3. Tap Accept to receive the message or Delete to remove the request from your inbox. You can also tap Report to report the message. If you accept the request, the person is notified in the chat.
Keep in mind that accounts you've blocked can't send you message requests.
How to manage who can send you direct messages
To turn on your direct messages or change who can send you direct messages:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu ☰ button at the top, then select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Privacy.
4. Tap Direct messages, then tap Direct messages and choose who you'd like to allow to send you direct messages. Keep in mind, some of these settings are not available to everyone.
༚ Everyone: Anyone can send you a direct message. Messages from mutual friends and people you follow appear in your inbox.
༚ Suggested friends: Matched friends, including synced Facebook friends and phone contacts, and followers who you follow back, can send you a direct message.
༚ Friends: Any followers that you follow back can send you a direct message.
༚ No one: You can't receive direct messages from anyone. Keep in mind that if you choose this setting, you can't receive direct messages. You can still access your message history in your inbox, but you can't receive new direct messages in those chats.
If your direct message setting is set to Everyone, Suggested friends, or Friends, messages from people you don't follow may appear in your inbox as a message request. You can choose to accept, delete, report, or block these messages.
How to turn read status on or off
Read status lets you see if someone has read your direct message and vice versa.
To turn read status on or off:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu ☰ button at the top, then select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Privacy.
4. Tap Direct messages, then turn the Read Status setting on or off. For people aged 18 years and older, this setting is turned on by default.
Keep in mind that the other person will know when you read their message only when both of you have the read status turned on.
Safety features for direct messaging
There are several safety features for direct messaging to ensure messages adhere to our Community Guidelines and to give you the opportunity to take action against unwanted messages or people, including:
• Reporting a message.
• Blocking someone from sending you messages.
How to report a direct message
If you receive a message that you think goes against our Community Guidelines, we encourage you to report it to us.
To report a direct message:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe left on a chat, then tap Report and follow the instructions.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold on a chat, then tap Report and follow the instructions.
3. (Optional) Tap on a chat for more report options:
༚ Tap the Report button at the top and follow the instructions.
༚ Tap the More options button at the top, then tap Report and follow the instructions.
༚ Press and hold on a direct message, then tap Report and follow the instructions.
How to block someone from sending you a direct message
You can block someone so they can't send you direct messages or view your videos on TikTok.
To block someone in your inbox:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe left on a chat and tap More, then tap Block.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold on a chat, then tap Block.
3. Tap Block again to confirm.
You can also go to the direct message, then tap the More options button at the top to turn the Block setting on. A Block label displays on chats that you've blocked from your inbox.
Why can't I send or receive direct messages?
If you can't send or receive 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 blocked or, if reported, 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 direct message violates a zero-tolerance policy.
• 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, your account will be permanently banned. Learn more about content violations and bans on TikTok.
Note: Your direct messages on TikTok are kept safe through encryption as they're being sent and stored. However, at the moment, end-to-end encryption isn't currently available. We're committed to making TikTok a safe place, especially for our younger users. Like many companies, we have the ability to decrypt user data in response to valid legal processes and to enforce our Community Guidelines, and we regularly publish Transparency Reports to provide visibility into this work. We also maintain internal controls to ensure that only employees with proper authorization and a demonstrated need to perform their job have access to certain decrypted data, such as contact information or direct messages.