Do you feel the sudden need to save your TikTok videos in case the site abruptly disappears? Here are a few methods for non-technical users who want copies of the videos they personally uploaded or created on TikTok. You can also download a copy of your TikTok data directly from your account. You won't get the video files themselves, but you will get other items, including your direct messages and the list of followers.
Here's how.
Download individual videos
If you just want to save a few favorite videos that you shot right away, it's pretty easy to grab them one by one. To download a video on an Android or iPhone, go to your TikTok profile page, select a clip, tap the three-dot menu icon on the right side of the screen and tap Save Video. You can then email it to yourself, upload it to Google Drive (or another cloud service), or save it to your phone's Files app or designated download section. Repeat as necessary until you have all the videos you want.
You can also download videos to a computer by logging into your account on the TikTok site and right-clicking on a video. You should see a pop-up menu with the Download Video option. Please note that when you download directly from the web browser, the clips will typically have the TikTok watermark embedded.
If you don't see a download option in the menu or are having trouble saving a video, make sure the video or your account is set to public and not private.
Download all your videos
YouTube and other sites (including TikTok itself) are full of tutorial videos on how to download all your TikTok clips at once using various third-party apps, websites, and techniques of varying technical sophistication. But keep in mind that third-party apps may differ in security and reliability – and some bulk download software may violate TikTok's terms of service. Additionally, certain audio soundtracks are copyrighted and cannot be uploaded elsewhere.
But if you just want to quickly get archive copies of your personal videos out of your account, one solution is to use a computer browser extension designed to download all videos on a page without watermarks. For example, using Google Chrome, search the Chrome Web Store for TikTok Downloader; there are many extensions with descriptions and reviews. Install the one you like best and read the instructions. (This example used TikTok Video Keeper.)
Once you install the browser extension and return to your TikTok profile page, click the Download All button to put copies of your clips on your computer. Some extensions also give you a download button for individual videos if you have trouble downloading everything at once.
Download your data
Like other social media sites, TikTok allows you to download information about your account to your phone or computer. This data dump includes your activity on the site (browsing history, comments, your follower list, and more), your direct messages, and a text file of your messages with links to the videos.
To request your account information, open the TikTok app, go to your profile page and tap the three-line menu icon in the top right corner. From the menu select Settings and Privacy and on the next screen select Account. Then choose Download your data from the menu. (If you prefer to do this on the TikTok website using a computer browser, click your profile icon in the top right corner, choose Settings, and in the Privacy menu under Data, click Download your data.)
On the Download TikTok Data screen, choose All Data or tap Custom to request only certain files, such as the direct messages you've sent and received. Choose a file format: plain text (the default choice and easier for non-technical users) or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), a standard that other social media sites can import. Once you've made your selections, tap the Request Data button.
Depending on your account, retrieving the files may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. When your files are ready, TikTok will notify you and a download button will appear in the Download Details tab. Click on it to get your files, which are compressed into a folder called TikTok that goes where you use downloads, like the Files app on your phone or the Downloads folder on your computer.
If you chose the default text format, you should see a series of nested folders once you open the downloaded TikTok folder. Open the folders and then open a document to view your messages. The Posts.txt file contains a list of all your videos posted to TikTok. You can paste the link to any video into your web browser and download the video from there.
TikTok's situation may be more unstable than other social media sites, but it can also serve as a reminder to keep backups of the things you share on the go on any site – so you don't risk losing your creations if something unexpected happens. .
