What does it mean to have a private account on TikTok?
Having a private account on TikTok means your profile, videos, likes, and following lists will be hidden from the public. With a private account, you have full control over who can view and interact with your content.
When your account is set to private, your profile, videos, likes, and followers/following lists will not be visible to users who are not approved followers. This allows you to approve exactly who gets access to view and engage with your account activity and content.
Essentially, a private TikTok account gives you the ability to limit your audience only to people you approve, keeping your account activity and content hidden from random users or the general public. You have complete discretion over who gets to see your profile and videos.
Why make your TikTok account private?
There are a few key reasons you may want to make your TikTok account private:
Protect your privacy and anonymity – A private account means only people you approve can see your profile and videos. This allows you to maintain more privacy and anonymity versus having a public account.
Avoid unwanted attention or interactions – Keeping your account private can prevent unwanted comments, messages, or interactions from strangers. This gives you more control over who engages with your content.
Control who can view your content – With a private account, you decide exactly who can see your TikTok videos and profile. You’re not sharing content publicly for anyone to access. This allows you to be selective about your audience.
Overall, a private account gives you more power to protect your privacy, avoid unwanted attention, and control who interacts with your content on TikTok.
How to make your TikTok account private
Making your TikTok account private is simple to do within the TikTok app. Here are the steps:
1. Open the TikTok app and go to your profile page by tapping the “Me” icon in the bottom right.
2. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner.
3. Select “Privacy and safety” from the menu options.
4. Toggle the switch for “Private account” on so it turns green. This makes your account private.[1]
Once you toggle your account to private, only users you approve will be able to view your videos and follow you. Your existing followers will remain followers even if your account is now private.
How to unprivate your TikTok account
If you want to make your private TikTok account public again, the process is straightforward:
Go to your profile page by tapping the “Me” icon on the bottom right. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner of your profile. Select “Privacy and safety” from the menu. Toggle “Private account” off – this will immediately make your account public.
Once your account is public, anyone will be able to view your profile and videos without needing approval to follow you. You can always switch back to a private account later if you change your mind.
For more details, refer to TikTok’s support article on making your account public or private.
Who can see your account if it’s not private?
If your TikTok account is public, then anyone can view your profile, videos, likes, followers, and following lists without needing approval. Your account is completely open and accessible to anyone on or off the TikTok platform.
Some key things to know about public TikTok accounts:
- Your profile bio, username, profile photo, and posts are visible to all users.
- Any user can watch, like, and comment on your videos without following you.
- Any user can see who you follow and who follows you.
- Your videos have the chance to be viewed and shared more broadly since they are open to the entire TikTok community.
Having a public account gives you the widest possible audience on TikTok. But it means you lose control over who can access your profile and activity. If you prefer to limit access, making your account private is the way to go.
Things to consider before unprivating
There are some important factors to think about before making your TikTok account public again:
You’ll lose control over who can access your account – With a private account, you can vet followers and approve who sees your content. By unprivating, anyone will be able to view your profile and videos without your approval.
More exposure can lead to unwanted attention – While a public account can help you gain more followers, it also opens you up to possible harassment, unwanted messaging, and negative comments from strangers.
Your account content will be searchable and viewable by all – When your account is private, your videos and profile information are not indexed by search engines or visible to people you have not approved. Unprivating makes everything on your account public, searchable and accessible to the TikTok community.
How to approve/deny followers on a private account
With a private account on TikTok, you can manually approve or deny each request from someone to follow you. This allows you to curate who gets access to view your content. Here’s how to approve/deny follower requests:
Go to your profile and tap Followers. This will show you a list of pending requests from users asking to follow your private account. Tap the user you want to approve or deny. You’ll see options to “Approve” or “Remove” the request. Select approve if you want to accept the request and allow that user to view your private content. Select remove if you want to deny the request and prevent that user from accessing your private profile.
Once you make your selection, the user will be notified whether you approved or denied their request. If approved, they will be added as a follower. If denied, they will no longer be able to request to follow you again. This enables you to curate exactly who can see your content while maintaining a private, secure account on TikTok.
Tips for Managing a Public Account
Even with a public account on TikTok, it’s important to be mindful about what you share and who can interact with you. Here are some tips:
Be selective about sharing personal information like your real name, location, school, workplace, etc. Keep details private that could allow strangers to identify or contact you.
Use TikTok’s account privacy settings wisely. For example, you can restrict Duets and Stitches to vetted followers only.
Block any followers exhibiting abusive, harassing, or inappropriate behavior using the block feature. This prevents them from viewing or interacting with your content.
Report offensive videos, comments, accounts etc. by tapping the Share button and selecting Report. This helps keep the TikTok community safe.
With the right precautions, you can enjoy connecting with followers on TikTok while maintaining your privacy and safety.
How to switch back to a private account
If you decide you want to make your TikTok account private again after unprivating it, the process is very simple:
- Go to your profile page
- Tap the three-dot menu icon
- Select “Privacy and safety”
- Toggle “Private account” on.
That’s it! TikTok will immediately make your account private again and only your approved followers will be able to see your content.
Switching back and forth between a public and private account is easy to do at any time, so don’t worry about needing to stick with one option forever.
Key Takeaways
Unprivating your TikTok account makes it public, meaning anyone can view your profile and content without needing your approval. You lose control over who can see your videos, likes, comments, etc when your account is public.
Be cautious about your privacy settings and what you share if you have a public profile. Consider who may be viewing your content before posting.
The good news is you can always switch your account back to private at any time. Just go to your settings and toggle the “Private Account” option to on.
Overall, it’s important to understand the implications of having a public profile versus private. Make informed decisions about your privacy based on how comfortable you are sharing content openly.
