How To Download Your Data From TikTok, With Photos

Key Points

• To access your information, you will need to access your user profile first of all.
• You will also need to request for your information to be prepared.
• Finally, you will be able to download it. However the data file will only remain valid for four days.

Understanding your data privacy rights is important as a user! Consumer data is used and sold to companies all over the world, users should have the right to understand what kind of data is being kept. Thankfully, most technology companies that compile data allow a user to download their personal data, even if the file can be quite large. Today, we are going to take a look at how to download your data from TikTok, plus give some photo guidance to help you along! Let’s get started.

A Brief Introduction to TikTok

TikTok was launched in September 2017, by ByteDance a Chinese-owned company, which also owns Douyin, a version which has a similar interface but is only used in China. Douyin itself was launched a year earlier. Exactly four years after it had been launched, TikTok reached one billion users and earned $4 billion in revenue. As a result, ByteDance attained the status of most successful startup.

TikTok Functionality

As a short form video hosting service, the platform permits users to create 15 second videos, however, it has since extended that duration to three minutes. Users can interact with videos by clicking on hearts below them. While you do not need an account to watch videos, you do need one to interact with videos and other users.

How to Download and Access Your TikTok Data

There are two primary steps you need to take when downloading your TikTok data. First is requesting the data to be prepared, and second is actually downloading and accessing the data. We’ve outlined both segments in a simple guide (with photos) below. Keep in mind that once you have requested your data, it could take up to 3 days for TikTok to prepare it.

Here we go!

Step 1: Open TikTok and access your Profile

In order to access your data from TikTok, the first thing we need to do is open the app. As it stands, there doesn’t seem to be a way to download your data from their web browser, and each of these steps will need to be done through the mobile app.

Once you’ve opened the app, look to the bottom right of the screen and tap on the small avatar icon shaped like a human. This will give you access to your personal profile and settings.

Step 2: Access the Settings and Privacy Menu

From your profile, look to the top right of the screen and look for a hamburger menu, or three horizontal lines. Tap that menu and look for the menu option that reads “Settings and Privacy” with the small gear icon next to it. Go ahead and tap that menu option.

Step 3: Manage your account and Download your Data

Once you tap this option, a larger settings page should open up. There are a lot of options here, but we are looking for the first one on the list, titled “Account”. Simply tap that and wait for the next screen to appear.

From here, you should see a smaller page with fewer options. Listed among these options is the “Download your data” option with a small subtitle under it. Once you tap on this icon, you will need to go through a small data form that will essentially order your data to be processed and prepared for you to read. The easier way to download the data is to select the TXT file option, although other applications may require the JSON file.

Step 4: Wait for your data to be ready and Repeat Steps 1-3

Once you order your data to be processed, you will need to wait for it to be prepared. This usually isn’t too long, but TikTok says that in some instances it could take as many as 3 days to get it ready. There really isn’t anything you can do to speed this up, unfortunately, although most people don’t have to wait all that long.

Once it’s ready, you should get a notification that your data file has been prepared for you.

Step 5: Download Data

Once your data file has been prepared for you, repeat steps 1-3 in order to get back to your downloaded data screen. From here, look to the top of the screen for the secondary screen option that reads “Download data” next to the “Request data” screen. Once your file is prepared, you can download and view the file from this menu.

Keep in mind that the file expires after four days or if you order your data again.

Up Next…

Interested in similar articles? Click on the links below:

• What Are ‘Data Brokers’ and Are They Evil? Your personal information is an invaluable asset to these companies which sell them for a profit. Do they have the right to do so? Find out here.
• How to See All Your Google Activity And Delete It Forever: Although large tech companies seem to be able to peer into everyone’s private lives, you have a measure of control. Find out how to exert it here.
• How to Delete Your Reddit Account Permanently: Have you decided to walk away from Reddit and feel a clean break is best? Find out how to delete your account for good.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Konstantin Savusia/Shutterstock.com.