Can People See Your Drafts on TikTok? Manage TikTok Privacy

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Carolyn Howell

Last Updated: Jun 06, 2024

TikTok 101
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It’s normal to run out of good ideas for unique and compelling content. Fortunately, you can easily create TikTok drafts to save whatever creative ideas you come up with at any given time. But you may wonder, “Can people see your drafts on TikTok?”

Is there a trending TikTok effect you’re eager to try but are unsure how to use in your video? Is inspiration eluding you, or did a spark of an idea suddenly fizzle out? Keep reading to learn more about creating drafts on TikTok. 

How To Create a TikTok Draft

TikTok drafts can be pretty helpful when you need more time polishing your content or need to create content in advance. Saving your video as a draft lets you explore other video editing tools

For those times when your creative juices aren’t flowing as smoothly as you like, you can always create a draft first. Or, if you’re not sure which creative direction to take, your draft video can serve as a good reference. 

Follow these five simple steps to create a TikTok draft: 

  1. Tap the Create button and record a new video or upload one from your device. 
  2. Edit your video as you like. 
  3. At any stage during your editing process, you can tap Settings on the editing screen and then tap Save to download your unpublished video
  4. When you’re finished editing for the time being and ready to save your draft, tap Next
  5. Tap Drafts

Can People See Your Drafts on TikTok? Where To Find Your Drafts

Can anyone see my drafts in TikTok? Your drafts folder is on your profile page, in the first box under the first video tab. Your drafts are only visible to you — until you publish them. So, no, other people can’t see your drafts when they visit your profile page. 

Can Tiktok see my drafts? In a sense, yes, TikTok can see your drafts. Every time you save a draft to your TikTok drafts folder, TikTok keeps track of the edits you made. These include the filters, effects, stickers, and sounds you use. 

Is absolute privacy important to you? Make it a habit to save your draft videos to your device instead of in your TikTok drafts folder. 

Take note, however, that some sounds may not be available for download. If you use a certain sound in your draft and save the draft to your device, the downloaded video won’t have the sound. 

How Long Can You Keep TikTok Drafts?

You can keep drafts in your TikTok drafts folder indefinitely. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind:

  1. If you keep a draft for several weeks or more, some of the creative assets you use may become unavailable. TikTok constantly introduces new filters, effects, sounds, etc., which means some creative assets get replaced/retired.
  2. If you keep too many drafts in your TikTok drafts folder, your app storage and cache may become full and cause app issues. Either download or delete older draft videos to free up more space on your device. 
  3. Instead of saving a video as a draft, you can publish it and limit the audience to Only me. Making it a private video is a good option to preserve your selected creative assets. However, publishing the video means your editing options will be limited should you wish to make changes to it later. You can download the video and add elements to it using TikTok or a third-party app. You can’t edit the existing creative elements. 

How To Create a Private Video

Sometimes, you may want to create a TikTok video just for fun, especially when you want to try a new filter or effect. Other times, you may simply want to practice a new editing technique

What can you do when you have content you don’t want your audience to see yet? You can save it as a TikTok draft, download it, or publish it as a private video. 

Here’s how to create a private video on TikTok:

  1. Tap the Create button and record your video or upload one from your device. 
  2. Edit the video as you wish. 
  3. When you’re finished editing, tap Settings
  4. Under Who can view this post, select Only you.
  5. Tap Next.
  6. You can also change your audience on the Post page. Tap Everyone can view this post, then select Only you
  7. You can leave the post description blank, as this is a private video. Tap Post to publish your video. 

Add the post description if you decide to make the video available to your Friends or Everyone. After posting a video, you can only edit the video caption within seven days. 

To find your private videos:

  1. Tap the profile icon at the bottom right of the screen to go to your profile page. 
  2. Tap the folder with the padlock icon. This folder contains all videos that are visible only to you. 

To change the audience of a published video:

  1. Open the video and tap the three dots in the bottom right for more options. 
  2. Tap Privacy settings
  3. Under Who can see this post, select your preferred audience. 

Use TikTok Drafts Sensibly in Your Content Strategy

Consistent posting on TikTok is crucial to maintaining high visibility on your target audience’s For You feeds. This means you need to produce new content regularly. Creating videos in advance and saving them as drafts will help you stick to a regular posting schedule. 

As viewer interests often change from one day to the next, you must be just as quick to adapt to remain relevant. Using TikTok drafts can also help you quickly tailor your content to your audience’s new preferences. 

Can people see your drafts on TikTok? Your TikTok drafts are private and only visible to you. If you tend to create a lot of drafts, however, it’s best to download them regularly. 

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TikTok 101