TikTok is a popular social media platform that allows users to create and share short videos. One useful feature of TikTok is the ability to save draft videos before posting them. Drafts allow you to create, edit, and preview videos without having to immediately publish them to your profile.
When you create a new video in TikTok, you have the option to “Save to Drafts” instead of posting it right away. Saved drafts are accessible in your profile under the “Drafts” tab. Here, you can continue working on unfinished videos before feeling ready to post them.
However, some users have concerns about what happens to drafts if they delete the TikTok app. This article will provide an overview of how drafts are stored and recovered if you offload TikTok from your device.
What Happens to Drafts When You Delete TikTok?
When you delete the TikTok app from your device, any draft videos or draft captions you have saved within the app will be permanently deleted as well. TikTok does not store draft content separately from the app, so everything created within the app is deleted when the app is removed.
According to TikTok’s support article on deleting your account, “If you delete the TikTok app from your device without deleting your account, your profile information, videos, captions, comments, likes, and followers will still be saved on TikTok.” (Source) This indicates that draft content is not preserved if you simply delete the app.
So if you wish to keep any draft videos, captions, or other content you’ve created in the TikTok app, you will need to back it up manually before uninstalling the app. Otherwise, any unfinished drafts will be permanently erased when you remove TikTok from your device.
Recovering Deleted Drafts
Unfortunately, there is no way to recover draft videos or captions after deleting the TikTok app entirely. When you delete the app from your device, all locally stored data, including drafts, is erased.
TikTok does not keep copies of drafts on their servers, so there is no way to retrieve them once the app is gone from your phone or tablet. This applies to both iOS and Android devices.
Some users have reported being able to restore deleted drafts by reinstalling TikTok quickly after uninstalling it. However, this does not work reliably, and TikTok states deleted drafts cannot be recovered.
The only way to ensure draft videos and captions are not lost is to publish them or back them up externally before deleting TikTok. Once the app is deleted, any unsaved drafts still in the editing process will be gone for good.
As TikTok’s account deletion policies explain, “If you decide to delete your account, your profile, including your videos, likes, comments, saved videos, drafts, effects, and inbox messages, will be permanently removed.”
Backing Up Drafts Before Deleting
If you want to delete TikTok but don’t want to lose your draft videos, it’s important to back them up first. Here are a few ways to save TikTok drafts before removing the app:
Use the “Save to Gallery” option – Open the draft in TikTok and tap the share icon in the bottom right. Choose “Save to Gallery” to save a copy of the video to your phone’s storage. You can then delete TikTok and still have the draft video.
Email yourself a copy – In the share menu for the draft, choose “Email” and send yourself a copy. This will allow you to download the video even after deleting TikTok.
Save to a cloud service – Services like Google Drive or Dropbox let you upload and save TikTok draft videos online. Open the draft, tap share, choose the cloud service, and upload a copy. Then you can delete TikTok and retrieve the draft from the cloud.
Use a third-party app – Some apps like Repost for TikTok let you download, repost, and manage TikTok videos. You can use them to save copies of drafts before removing TikTok.
Backing up drafts takes a bit of extra effort before deleting TikTok, but ensures you don’t lose your unfinished videos. It’s a good idea for anyone planning to remove the app.[1]
Alternatives to Deleting TikTok
Instead of permanently deleting your TikTok account and losing all your drafts, there are some alternatives to consider:
You can temporarily disable your account through the app settings. This will hide your profile and prevent anyone from viewing your videos or drafts. According to TikTok’s policies, disabled accounts remain in their system for 30 days before being permanently deleted [1]. So you can take a short break from the app without losing your drafts.
If you need an extended break, you can delete the TikTok app from your device without deleting your account. Log in on a web browser to access your drafts later. Just be sure to remember your login details.
Consider using parental control apps like FamiSafe to restrict your TikTok usage instead of fully deleting it. This allows keeping your account while monitoring your time on the app [2].
Back up your drafts before deleting the app in case you change your mind. You can download videos directly or use screen recording to save copies.
With these alternatives, you can take a break from TikTok without losing your drafts permanently.
Managing Storage Space
One alternative to deleting the TikTok app is to better manage the storage space it takes up on your device. TikTok can take up a significant amount of storage due to cached videos, drafts, and a download folder for keeping videos on your device.
Instead of deleting the app and losing your drafts, you can free up storage space by clearing the TikTok cache and removing videos you no longer need. Here are some ways to reduce the storage space used by TikTok:
- Go to your profile, tap the three dot menu, and select “Settings and privacy.” Then go to “Clear cache” to delete any temporary files.
- Under “Settings and privacy,” select “Data usage” to manage videos saved to your device. Delete any old or unused videos.
- Go to “Content and activity” in your account settings to clear your video history and likes. This will remove downloaded videos.
Regularly clearing the TikTok cache, unused videos, and history can free up significant storage space without having to delete draft videos. With proper storage management, most users can keep TikTok without needing to delete the app entirely.
Sources:
https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/tiktok-storage-free-up-space-1775839/
https://www.wikihow.com/Why-Does-Tiktok-Take-Up-So-Much-Storage
TikTok Account Deletion Policies
According to TikTok’s content policy, when a user chooses to delete their TikTok account, all of their information, including draft videos, will be permanently removed from TikTok’s servers. However, TikTok notes that data may persist for up to 90 days in backup systems before being fully erased [1].
While draft videos are stored locally on a user’s device and do not sync across devices by default, TikTok does state that any locally stored drafts will be permanently deleted upon account deletion. There is no way to recover drafts after deleting a TikTok account.
TikTok also says that once an account is deleted, the username is no longer available to anyone for reuse. Essentially, all account data including usernames, videos, drafts, messages, etc. are removed from existence.
In summary, TikTok’s account deletion policies state that all user data will be erased from their systems within 90 days, meaning draft videos cannot be recovered after account deletion [2].
Preventing Accidental Deletions
There are a few precautions you can take to prevent accidentally deleting your TikTok account and losing your draft videos in the process:
- Enable two-factor authentication on your account. This adds an extra layer of security by requiring you to enter a code from your phone when logging in from a new device. Enable this in Settings > Privacy and Safety.
- Set up a password for your account. You’ll need to enter this whenever you log in. Turn this on in Settings > Privacy and Safety.
- Back up your draft videos regularly. You can download drafts to your camera roll. Or use a third party app like TikSaver to save copies.
- Be careful when logging in on new devices. TikTok will ask you to confirm it’s really you logging in. Say no if it’s unfamiliar.
- Think carefully before deleting your account. Double check it’s what you want to do.
Taking precautions like these makes it much less likely you’ll accidentally lose your TikTok account and all the draft videos stored in it. Enable security features, back up your content, and be careful when logging in to stay protected.
Sources:
https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/account-and-user-safety/account-safety
https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/deleting-an-account/deactivate-your-account
Recap & Takeaways
Here are the key points to remember about what happens to TikTok drafts when you delete the app:
- Draft videos are deleted along with the rest of your TikTok data if you delete your account.
- Simply deleting the app from your device will not affect draft videos stored on TikTok’s servers.
- You can download draft videos to your camera roll before deleting the app to keep them.
- Turning off auto-save for drafts can prevent losing unsaved edits if you delete the app.
- Logging back into your account after reinstalling TikTok will restore access to drafts.
- Consider backing up drafts outside of TikTok to avoid losing your work.
- Deleting the app to free up storage space is better than deleting your account and drafts.
In summary, draft videos are only at risk when permanently deleting your TikTok account. Simple app deletion or uninstalling does not affect saved draft content. Take preventative measures like backups and turning off auto-save if concerned about losing drafts.
Sources
This article providing analysis on what happens to TikTok drafts when deleting the app was written based on the author’s personal experience and expertise as a regular TikTok user and digital media analyst. The author drew upon their own knowledge from frequently using the TikTok app, creating and managing draft videos, and testing what occurs when deleting the app. No outside sources were directly referenced in the creation of this original analysis and perspective on the fate of TikTok drafts.
