How to Change Your TikTok Privacy Settings?

Want To Control Who Sees Your TikTok Videos? Here’s How.

Maybe you prefer to share some posts with everyone while keeping others just for close friends. TikTok offers plenty of privacy settings to help you decide who can view, comment on, and share your videos.

Understanding how to adjust these settings can make your TikTok experience more secure and enjoyable. Whether you want a completely private account or just fine-tune individual video settings, making these changes is quick and easy. Here’s everything you need to know about controlling your TikTok privacy.

How to Set Your TikTok Account to Private or Public

Setting your TikTok account to private means only approved followers can see your content, while a public account allows anyone to view it. By default, accounts for users under 16 are private, but anyone older can choose to make their account public. Changing this setting takes just a few steps.

Open the TikTok app and tap Profile at the bottom of the screen.
Tap the Menu button (☰) in the top right corner.
Select Settings and Privacy, then tap Privacy.
Toggle Private Account on or off, depending on your preference.

If your account is public, anyone can follow you, watch your videos, and interact with your profile. If it’s private, only approved followers can see your content.

How to Change the Privacy of Individual TikTok Videos

If you don’t want to make your entire account private, you can still control the visibility of each video. TikTok allows you to set different privacy settings for individual videos, whether they’re new or already posted. Using a VPN Chrome extension can add an extra layer of privacy by masking your location and IP address, which helps prevent tracking and ensures your content is only seen by the audience you choose.

To set privacy while posting a new video:

Create your video and go to the post screen.
Tap Who Can Watch This Video under the privacy settings.
Choose between Everyone, Friends (followers you follow back), or Only Me.

To change the privacy of an existing video:

Go to your Profile and find the video.
Tap the three-dot menu on the side.
Select Privacy Settings, then tap Who Can Watch This Video to update the settings.

Even if you switch a video from public to private, the view count stays the same. If you’re accessing TikTok from a browser, using a VPN Chrome extension can also help bypass regional restrictions while keeping your browsing secure.

How to Manage Comments on Your TikTok Videos

Managing comments on TikTok lets you control who can interact with your videos. You can allow comments from everyone, limit them to friends, or turn them off completely.

To change comment settings:

Go to Settings and Privacy from your Profile.
Tap Privacy, then Comments.
Select Everyone, Followers, Friends, or No One based on your preference.

You can also adjust comment settings for individual videos before posting or after they’re live.

How to Control Who Can Send You Direct Messages

TikTok lets you decide who can message you to avoid unwanted conversations. The options range from allowing everyone to message you to completely disabling DMs.

To change your direct message settings:

Open Settings and Privacy from your Profile.
Tap Privacy, then Direct Messages.
Choose from Everyone, Friends, Suggested Friends, or No One.

Users under 16 cannot receive direct messages, and for ages 16-17, the default setting is No One until changed.

How to Restrict Who Can Duet and Stitch With Your Videos

If you don’t want others to use your videos in their own content, you can limit or disable the Duet and Stitch features. These options let users create split-screen reactions or remix clips from your videos.

To adjust Duet and Stitch settings:

Go to Settings and Privacy, then tap Privacy.
Select Duet or Stitch and choose Everyone, Friends, or Only Me.

You can also change these settings for each video individually before or after posting.

How to Manage Who Can See Your Activity Status

Activity Status shows when you were last active on TikTok, but you can turn this feature off for more privacy. This setting only applies to mutual followers, meaning both users must have it enabled to see each other’s activity.

To turn Activity Status on or off:

Open Settings and Privacy from your Profile.
Tap Privacy, then Activity Status.
Toggle the switch on or off.

If you disable this setting, you won’t see anyone else’s activity status either.

How to Stop People from Downloading Your TikTok Videos

TikTok allows users to download public videos, but you can disable this option to prevent your content from being saved. If downloads are off, people can still share a link to your video, but they won’t be able to save it.

To disable downloads:

Go to Settings and Privacy, then tap Privacy.
Tap Downloads.
Toggle the setting off.

For users under 16, video downloads are disabled by default and cannot be turned on.

How to Control Who Can Find Your TikTok Account

TikTok suggests accounts to users based on contacts, mutual friends, and shared links. If you don’t want your account to be recommended to others, you can turn off this feature.

To change your account suggestion settings:

Open Settings and Privacy, then tap Privacy.
Tap Suggest Your Account to Others.
Toggle off any groups you don’t want your account suggested to.

For users under 18, this setting is off by default.

FAQs

Can I change my TikTok privacy settings after posting a video?

Yes, you can update the privacy settings of any video after it has been posted by going to your Profile, tapping the video, and selecting Privacy Settings.

What happens if I switch my TikTok account from private to public?

If you switch to a public account, all your existing and future videos will be visible to everyone unless you manually adjust their settings.

Can people still share my videos if downloads are off?

Yes, even if downloads are disabled, users can still share a link to your video.

Why can’t I receive direct messages on TikTok?

Users under 16 cannot receive DMs. For ages 16-17, the default setting is No One, but it can be changed in privacy settings.

Does changing video privacy settings reset the view count?

No, the view count remains the same even if you switch a video from public to private.

TikTok makes it easy to control who can see your videos, interact with your content, and contact you. Taking a few minutes to review your privacy settings ensures that your account is set up exactly how you want. Whether you’re sharing videos with the world or just keeping them for yourself, you have full control over your TikTok experience.