Your privacy tools
We offer a variety of privacy tools that enable people to choose who they allow to see the content they create and share and who they allow to interact with them.
Public versus private account
On TikTok, you can choose whether to have a private account or a public account.
Public account
Depending on your selected privacy settings, your posts may be visible to anyone on or off the platform and can be shared by anyone on or off TikTok, whether or not they have a TikTok account. Anyone can:
- Follow you
- Watch your public videos or LIVE videos
- See your followers and following lists
Depending on your privacy settings, other people may also be able to Duet, Stitch and download your videos.
Private account
If you have a private account, you approve the people you allow to:
- Follow you
- Watch your videos or LIVE videos
- See your followers and following lists
Other people won't be able to Duet with, Stitch with or download your videos.
Visibility settings
Your visibility settings help play a role in how your content is seen on TikTok. We provide tools that allow you to control who can see your posts and select the audience of each post. You can choose to make your posts available to everyone, restrict them to friends or followers, or make them private. You can also adjust your settings later if you've changed your mind.
Comment settings
You can choose to allow people to comment on your posts as a way to interact and build connections with the TikTok community. We provide controls at the account-level and individual video level that allow you to choose how people can interact with your posts.
Account level: You can choose from the following options regarding who can comment on your posts: everyone, no one or followers that you follow back. If you are under 16, then by default, only the followers that you follow back can comment on your posts.
Video level: You can turn allow comments setting on or off. You also can choose whether to allow comments on a video that you create before you post it, delete and hide unwanted comments, and filter and hide comments containing specific words.
Direct messages
Direct messaging helps you connect with your friends and community on TikTok. Messaging means you can send and receive messages, and TikTok videos, directly on TikTok. You can choose to adjust your privacy settings to determine who can send you direct messages.
Direct Messages are only available to people aged 16 and up. Parents can also exercise control over direct messages for linked teen accounts through our Family Pairing feature. You can learn more about Family Pairing here.