8 Simple Tips to Enhance Your TikTok Account Privacy

No one wants their personal details or online activities exposed on a massive platform like TikTok. If you’re looking to enhance your privacy, here are eight settings I’ve adjusted on my TikTok account.

1 Make Your Account Private

The first and most straightforward way to increase your TikTok privacy is by switching your account to private. This feature allows you to manage who can follow you, view your videos, access your Live streams, and see your liked content, as well as your following and followers list. Here’s how to do it:

1. Navigate to the Profile tab.
2. Tap the three-line icon in the upper right corner.
3. Select Settings and privacy.
4. Tap on Privacy within the Account section.
5. Finally, enable the switch next to Private account under Discoverability.

It’s important to note that existing followers won’t be impacted by your account’s switch to private; they will still have access to your current and future posts. If you want to remove someone who already follows you, you’ll have to do it manually.

2 Conceal Your Liked Videos

If you’re concerned about exposing your quirky tastes or simply prefer to keep your interests under wraps, you can hide your liked videos. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Profile tab.
2. Tap the three-line icon in the top right corner, and choose Settings and privacy.
3. Navigate to Privacy and tap on Liked videos under Interactions.
4. Select Only you when prompted in the Who can watch your liked videos menu.

3 Disable Your Activity Status

We’ve all had those moments when we tell a friend we’re “going to bed,” only to find ourselves scrolling through TikTok for hours. To avoid that awkward scenario where your friend calls you out for still being online, you can turn off your activity status:

1. Navigate to the Profile tab in the bottom right corner, then tap the three-line icon in the top right.
2. Select Settings and privacy, followed by Privacy.
3. Finally, toggle off the switch next to Activity status under Discoverability.

However, keep in mind that by disabling your activity status, you’ll also lose the ability to see when others are online or when they were last active.

4 Limit Direct Message Senders

I enjoy sending and receiving TikTok videos through direct messages with friends, but I don’t want to be bombarded with messages from strangers simply because I commented on a video. Thankfully, TikTok gives you control over who can send you direct messages:

1. Open your Profile tab, then tap the three-line icon.
2. Go to Settings and privacy > Privacy.
3. Tap on Direct messages under Interactions.
4. Select Allow direct messages from, where you can choose between Everyone, Suggested friends, Friends, or No one. Opting for Friends is generally preferable, or you can choose No one to stop all messages.

5 Turn Off Read Status

I sometimes find myself watching TikTok videos sent by family and friends and thinking, “I’ll respond later,” only for days to pass without a reply. This can make it seem like I’m ignoring them, especially since they can see I’ve viewed their messages. To prevent this misunderstanding, you can disable the read status:

1. Tap Profile at the bottom, then the three-line icon.
2. Navigate to Settings and privacy > Privacy > Direct messages.
3. Toggle off the switch next to Read Status under Message preferences.

6 Conceal Your Following List

At times, you might not want to field questions about the accounts you follow on TikTok. Keeping your following list private can help avoid uncomfortable conversations. Here’s how:

1. Tap Profile at the bottom, and then the three-line icon in the top right.
2. Go to Settings and privacy > Privacy.
3. Tap on Following list under Interactions.
4. Select Only you for the Who can see your following list option.

7 Prevent TikTok from Suggesting Your Account

If your account is public, you might prefer to keep it a secret from friends, family, and acquaintances. By default, TikTok suggests your account to people in your contacts, Facebook friends, and anyone who accesses links from you. Luckily, you can adjust these settings:

Head to Profile, tap the three-line icon in the upper right, then go to Settings and privacy > Privacy. Tap on Suggest your account to others under Discoverability. You’ll see options for Contacts, Facebook friends, and People who open or send links to you. To enhance your privacy, simply toggle off all of these options.

8 Disable Profile View History

Let’s face it, there have been times when I’ve snooped on friends or acquaintances on TikTok. Many don’t realize that TikTok tracks and shows who views profiles when the Profile View History feature is activated. If you want to browse without others noticing, here’s how to disable it:

1. Go to the Profile tab at the bottom and tap the three-line icon.
2. Navigate to Settings and privacy > Privacy, then to Profile views under Interactions.
3. Finally, toggle off the switch next to Profile view history.

While turning off this feature means you won’t see who visited your profile, it’s a worthwhile privacy safeguard.

For me, safeguarding my privacy on social media is crucial, and thankfully, TikTok offers a variety of settings that allow me to enjoy the platform without compromising my personal space.