TikTok is a social media app that allows users to create and share 15-60 second short-form vertical videos. Users can create entertaining, creative, and sometimes viral content. However, users do have the option to delete their videos. Some users may delete something they regret posting or that didn’t perform well, but still want that video to be completely erased. While users may assume deleted videos are gone forever, that may not necessarily be the case.
Once something is on the internet, it can often be recovered or found. This leads to the question – if I delete a TikTok video, is it really gone for good? Or are there ways it can still be viewed? This article will examine if deleted TikTok videos can still be accessed and how.
Saving TikToks
There are a few different ways TikTok users can save videos from the platform:
Screen Recording – Users can record their screen while playing a TikTok video to save it. This captures the video and audio directly from the app.
Downloading – TikTok has an option to allow video downloads right in the app. Users can enable downloading in their app settings. Then when viewing a video, tap the Share button and select “Save video” to download it (source).
Third-Party Apps – There are various third-party apps and sites that allow saving TikTok videos by entering the video URL. These work by scraping the video file from TikTok’s servers.
Most users save favorites for their own personal use. But downloading or screen recording also allows sharing videos outside of TikTok’s closed ecosystem.
TikTok’s Delete Function
When a TikTok video is deleted by the user, it is removed from public view on the platform. According to TikTok’s Help Center, deleting a video can be done by tapping the three-dot icon next to the video and selecting “Delete.” 1 This removes the video from the user’s profile and prevents it from showing up on other users’ For You Pages or in search results.
Deleting a video on TikTok is designed to fully remove it from public visibility, unlike other platforms that move deleted content to a trash folder. Once deleted by the user, the video cannot be viewed by anyone else on TikTok. This applies to videos deleted directly within the TikTok app on mobile devices as well as those removed via the web dashboard or API.
In summary, TikTok’s delete function is intended to completely eliminate a video from public access on their platform after it is removed by the user. The process involves simply tapping the delete option which takes down the video across TikTok unanimously.
TikTok Caches
When you watch videos on TikTok, they are temporarily stored locally on your device in cache files. This is done to improve performance so videos load faster when you scroll through your For You Page. According to Quora, deleted videos may still exist in these local caches briefly after deleting.
TikTok caches can be cleared through the app’s settings. On iOS, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > TikTok and select “Offload App.” On Android, go to Settings > Apps & notifications > TikTok > Storage > Clear Cache. However, clearing the cache does not guarantee deleted videos will be removed from caches.
In summary, there is a short window after deleting a video where it may still be viewable if it exists in local device caches. However, it will not be publicly available on TikTok.
FYP Algorithm
TikTok’s FYP (For You Page) algorithm is known for being able to recommend deleted videos that users have never seen before. Even if a video is deleted by the creator, TikTok’s algorithm can still include it in recommendations if it determines the video aligns with a user’s interests.
This is because TikTok stores all uploaded videos on its servers, even after they are deleted by the creator. The FYP algorithm can still access and analyze these deleted videos when generating recommendations.
According to sources, keeping and deleting a lot of videos can confuse the FYP algorithm and cause it to stop recommending your content. So while deleted videos may still appear for some users, constantly deleting videos can actually hurt your FYP reach (source).
In summary, TikTok’s powerful algorithm can recommend deleted videos if they are relevant to a user. But creators who excessively delete their own content may see a decline in FYP recommendations.
Third-Party TikTok Archives
There are some third-party websites that archive TikTok videos, allowing users to search for and view TikToks even after they have been deleted from the platform. One popular TikTok archiving site is Tik.fail, which claims to be “A TikTok Downloader, Archive, and Sharing Platform” (SiteLike). Tik.fail allows users to download and share TikTok videos, including potentially deleted ones if they were archived on the site before deletion.
Other sites like Savett and TTSave also archive TikTok videos similarly to Tik.fail, aiming to serve as TikTok video archives. There are additionally some Reddit threads such as this one discussing various TikTok archiving sites.
In summary, these third-party archive sites scrape and store TikTok videos, so it’s possible for deleted TikToks to still be viewable on them if they were archived before being deleted from TikTok itself.
Google Archives
Although deleted TikTok videos are no longer viewable on the platform, there are some scenarios where the videos can still be accessed through Google’s search engine archives. When a TikTok video receives enough engagement and views, Google will sometimes cache a copy of the video in their search results. Even if the original video is later deleted from TikTok, Google’s cached version may still be viewable if someone had searched for it previously.
For example, let’s say a popular TikTok video went viral and then the creator decided to delete it a few days later. If during the time it was public, enough people searched and found that video through Google, Google likely saved a cached copy. Then, even after deletion on TikTok, someone may still be able to find and watch the cached video using specific Google search queries.
According to this Reddit thread, some users have had success locating deleted TikTok videos by searching phrases unique to the video in Google, and filtering results to only show cached pages. However, there is no guarantee that Google has cached the video, and this method is not reliable for finding most deleted content.
In summary, while Google caching provides one potential avenue to uncover deleted TikTok videos, it only applies to highly viral videos already indexed by Google before takedown. For most deleted content, Google archives will not have retained a copy.
Takeaways
While TikTok’s delete function removes videos from public view, there are still several ways deleted TikToks can be seen:
- If you’ve watched a video before it was deleted, it may still be available in your phone’s cache or download folder.
- TikTok keeps deleted videos on its servers for 30-90 days before permanently deleting them, according to Reddit users.
- Third party sites and apps archive TikTok content, so deleted videos may persist there.
- Google and other search engines cache copies of videos that can still be surfaced after deletion.
In summary, once a TikTok is posted publicly, it’s difficult to guarantee it’s permanently deleted across the internet. But the main TikTok app and For You page will no longer show removed videos.
TikTok’s Statement
TikTok has issued public statements addressing the visibility of deleted videos on their platform. In October 2023, TikTok reported removing over 775,000 videos promoting violence, terrorism, hate speech, and misinformation. In November 2023, TikTok stated they had removed over 925,000 inappropriate videos since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
These statements demonstrate TikTok’s commitment to removing harmful content and limiting the visibility of deleted videos. While cached and archived versions may persist, TikTok aims to prevent the spread of inappropriate videos that violate their community guidelines.
Overall, TikTok acknowledges deleted content may still be accessible through third parties, but takes active measures to curb this on their platform directly. Their stance focuses on upholding community standards through content moderation and removal.
Conclusion
In summary, while deleted TikTok videos are removed from a user’s profile and cannot be found through searches or the main For You feed, remnants of deleted TikToks may persist through third-party archives, server caches, and the user recommendation algorithm. However, the full videos are typically not retrievable. While fragments or screenshots may remain, this is an unavoidable byproduct of the internet. Ultimately, users who wish to remove their past TikTok content can rest assured the core video will not be accessible. TikTok’s systems are designed to honor deletions requests to protect user privacy.
This article aimed to shed light and provide clarity on what happens when a TikTok is deleted. We examined the key technical aspects at play, as well as the stance of TikTok itself. The nuanced persistence of traces of deleted content is not exclusive to TikTok – rather, it is a reality of all online platforms. With knowledge and understanding, users can employ deletion judiciously when necessary while feeling reassured their core video will vanish.
