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Default privacy settings on TikTok • Managing account privacy on TikTok • Suggest your account to others on TikTok • Manage video downloads • Who can send you direct messages on TikTok • Who can Duet with your videos on TikTok • Who can Stitch with your videos on TikTok • Who can comment on your posts and Stories on TikTok • Who can create stickers with your posts on TikTok
Default privacy settings on TikTok
At TikTok, we want to create a safe and welcoming community for everyone. As teens start to build a presence online, it's important for them to learn about and review their privacy settings and controls.
TikTok is available for people 13 years and older (or other ages as indicated in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service). To safeguard your experience, we have default privacy settings for features based on your age and some features may not be available to you until you turn 16 or 18. Depending on your age, you can adjust the privacy settings at any time, including when you sign up for TikTok or when a feature becomes available to you.
Learn more about TikTok for people under the age of 18 in the Youth Portal and managing your privacy in our Safety Center.
Manage account privacy on TikTok
You can change your account to public or private with the Private account setting.
Ages 13 to 15
• Your account is set to private by default. Only people you approve can follow you and view your videos, bio, likes, as well as your following and followers lists.
• Others can't Duet, Stitch, download your videos, or add your posts to their Stories.
Ages 16 to 17
When you sign up for TikTok, your account is set to private by default. If you don't choose a public account or select Remind me later, you can adjust it at any time in your privacy settings.
If you choose a private account:
• Only people you approve can follow you and view your videos, bio, likes, as well as your following and followers lists.
• Others won't be able to Duet, Stitch, or download your videos, or add your posts to their Stories.
If you choose a public account:
• Anyone can choose to follow you.
• If you don't adjust your privacy settings, your profile and videos will be visible to, and shareable by anyone on or off TikTok, whether or not they have a TikTok account.
• Your content may appear in search engines, blogs, social media posts, and news sites.
• People may be able to Duet, Stitch, and download your videos depending on your privacy settings.
Remember, whether your account is private or public, your nickname, username and profile photo will always be visible to anyone on or off TikTok. You can always restrict the visibility of your posts individually by changing your privacy settings, and your posts will be limited to the audience you select.
Suggest your account to others on TikTok
The Suggest your account to others setting allows you to manage some of the ways we suggest your account to others on TikTok.
Ages 13 to 17
• Whether your account is private or public, these settings are turned off. You can turn them on in your privacy settings.
• If you're under the age of 18, your account won't be suggested to mutual connections.
Ages 18 and older
• This setting is turned on by default. You can turn it off in your privacy settings.
• You can review your Suggest your account to others settings if you'd like to change how we suggest your account to others.
Manage video downloads
You can manage if other people are allowed to download your videos and share them on other apps and websites with the Video downloads setting.
Ages 13 to 15
• This control is set to off and can't be changed, even if you have a public account.
Ages 16 to 17
• If your account is private or if you're under the age of 16, this control is turned off by default.
• If you have a public account, you can turn this on if you'd like to allow your videos to be downloaded by other people on TikTok.
Note: If this setting is off, people can still share a link to your video.
Who can send you direct messages on TikTok
You can manage who can send you direct messages from your privacy settings.
Ages 13 to 15
• Whether your account is private or public, direct messaging isn't available.
Ages 16 to 17
Whether your account is private or public:
• This control is set to No one by default.
• You can change this control to Suggested friends (followers you follow back and people you may know) or Friends (followers you follow back) in your privacy settings.
Who can Duet with your videos on TikTok
You can choose who can use your video in a Duet. A Duet video combines two videos (your video and a video from another person) into one split-screen video.
Ages 13 to 15
• No one can Duet with your videos and this can't be changed. This control is set to Only you in your privacy settings.
• You can Duet with other people's videos.
Ages 16 to 17
If you choose a private account:
• No one can Duet with your videos and this can't be changed. This control is set to Only you in your privacy settings.
If you choose a public account:
• This control is set to Friends (followers you follow back). This means that people you follow on TikTok and who follow you back can Duet with your videos.
• You can change this control to Everyone or Only you in your privacy settings.
• When you post a video, you can turn off Allow Duet so others can't Duet with your videos.
Note: You must have a public account to allow others to Duet with your videos.
Who can Stitch with your videos on TikTok
You can choose who can use your video in a Stitch. A Stitch video allows another person to use a part of your video as a part of their own video.
Ages 13 to 15
• No one can Stitch with videos and this can't be changed. This control is set to Only you in your privacy settings.
• You can Stitch other people's videos.
Ages 16 to 17
If you choose a private account:
• No one can Stitch with your videos and this can't be changed. This control is set to Only you in your privacy settings.
If you choose a public account:
• This control is set to Friends (followers you follow back). This means that people you follow on TikTok and who follow you back can Stitch with your videos.
• You can change this control to Everyone or Only you in your privacy settings.
• When you post a video, you can turn off Allow Stitch so others can't Stitch with your videos.
Note: You must have a public account to allow others to Stitch with your videos.
Who can comment on your posts and Stories on TikTok
You can change who can comment on your posts and Stories from your privacy settings.
Ages 13 to 15
Whether your account is private or public:
• This control is set to Friends (followers you follow back). This means that people you follow on TikTok and who follow you back can comment on your posts.
• You can change this control to No one in your settings. You can't change this to Followers (if you have a private account) or Everyone (if you have a public account).
• When you post, you can turn off Allow comments to stop other people from commenting on your videos.
Ages 16 to 17
If you choose a private account:
• This control is set to Followers. This means that people who follow you on TikTok can comment on your posts.
• You can change this control to Friends (followers you follow back) or No one in your settings.
• When you post, you can turn off Allow comments to stop others from commenting on your posts.
If you choose a public account:
• This control is set to Everyone. This means that anyone with a TikTok account can comment on your posts and Stories.
• You can change this control to Friends (followers you follow back) or No one in your settings.
• When you post, you can turn off Allow comments to stop others from commenting on your posts.
Who can create stickers with your videos on TikTok
You can change who can create stickers from your videos.
Ages 13 to 15
• Whether your account is private or public, others can't create stickers from any of your posted videos and future videos. This control is set to Only you in your privacy settings.
Ages 16 to 17
If you choose a private account:
• Others can't create stickers from any of your posted videos and future videos. This control is set to Only you in your privacy settings.
If you choose a public account:
• This control is set to Friends (followers you follow back) by default. Keep in mind that the control to Allow stickers when posting a video is turned off by default. This means that people you follow on TikTok and who follow you back can create stickers from your videos as long as you turn on the Allow stickers setting for each of your videos.
• You can change this setting to Everyone or Only you in your privacy settings.
Learn more about how to manage sticker privacy settings for your TikTok videos.
Keep in mind that if your parent or guardian manages your account through Family Pairing, this might change how you adjust your privacy settings by yourself. Learn more about Family Pairing on our Safety Center.