TikTok has become the most popular video-sharing service in the world over the past couple of years. However, you won’t be able to share or watch videos on the platform if you are locked out of your account. So what are you supposed to do if you are locked out of your TikTok account?
If your TikTok account is locked, contact TikTok Support to get help. Open the app and tap the ? in the top right corner. Next, tap the paper icon in the top right and tap it again. Fill out the “Tell us your feedback” box with the relevant information and hit Report.
This will solve the issue in most cases, but what if your account was locked due to a stranger trying to log into it? How do you protect your login details? Let’s discuss recovering your account in more detail to help you watch videos without worrying.
What Causes a Locked TikTok Account?
There can be a couple of reasons someone can be locked out of their TikTok account. The most common is when you or someone else gets the password wrong too often when logging in to your account.
If you locked the account by getting the password wrong too many times, you have to let TikTok know via their Report a Problem page and reset the password to your account.
If it was not you who was trying to log into your account, you might need to set up some essential security features. (You will still need to contact TikTok via the Report a Problem page and reset your password.)
You may also have been locked out of your TikTok account due to some community guidelines violation. For example, your account has been banned after breaking one of TikTok’s rules, such as inciting violence, nudity, or using bots to gain views and likes.
If you believe this was done by mistake, you must file an appeal to restore your account. Once again, this will involve you contacting TikTok and waiting for them to either reinstate your account or reject your appeal, in which case your TikTok account will have been officially banned.
How Do You Unlock a TikTok Account?
If your TikTok account has been locked and you don’t know why, the first step is to contact TikTok yourself. Thankfully, TikTok has built this feature into their app using the “Report a Problem” page.
To do this:
- First, begin by opening the TikTok app on your mobile device.
- Next, tap the ? icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
- After that, tap the icon that looks like a sheet of paper in the top right corner, and then tap it again on the next screen.
- Once you’ve done this, you should be on the Report a Problem page. Here, tap the Tell Us Your Feedback text box and type a message that explains your problem.
- Once you have adequately explained your issue, hit the red Report button to submit your explanation.
Usually, TikTok support will respond to any reports somewhere between 24 and 72 hours later. However, if this time passes and you have received no updates, you can try messaging TikTokSupport on Twitter.
Simply go to the TikTokSupport Twitter page and click on the mail icon (you may need to make a Twitter account if you haven’t). Once you’ve done this, you need to type a message detailing your issue to TikTokSupport and wait for them to respond.
TikTokSupport typically has the same waiting period as TikTok does on the app (about 24 to 72 hours after you send the message. So be patient, and they will hopefully get back to you.
How to Reset Your Password
Once you get access to your account back from TikTok support, it’s tempting to log back into your account and pretend as if nothing happened. However, if someone else was trying to log into your TikTok account and got your account locked, manually changing your password is the correct move.
This is also a good option for people locked out of their TikTok accounts because they forgot their password. Again, this is because you are not asked for your old password at any point in this process.
To do this:
- Begin by opening the TikTok app on your mobile device.
- Once the app is open, you should be at the login screen (if you aren’t, you will need to log out of your account first).
- Next, tap the Log In button at the bottom.
- After that, select Use Phone/Email/Username and then select Email/Username.
- From here, select Forgot Password?
- Then, choose whether you want to do this using your phone number or email address.
- After you make your selection, you will receive instructions on resetting your password via text or email based on what you chose.
- From here, all you have to do is follow these instructions, and you will be able to reset your password.
This is a secure method of resetting your password, as any malicious actors would be unable to reset your password without access to your email or phone.
Troubleshooting Tips
If you think that your TikTok app is not letting you log in or is acting strangely due to some bug or malfunction with the app itself (for example, if you can’t log in on your phone but you can log in on your computer) then you may need to do some troubleshooting on the app. These are some relatively simple methods to get the app working again.
Reset Your Device
If your phone is having any issues, the best thing to start with is to try resetting your device. This will restart all processes on your device and the troubled app, hopefully resolving any issues.
To do this, all you have to do is completely shut down the phone. But first, ensure the device is shut down and not simply in sleep mode. Once the device is shut down, turn it back on again, and hopefully, TikTok will work again.
Update the App
Another thing that could prevent you from logging in is an outdated version of the app. Sometimes, certain app makers will make it so obsolete versions of the app won’t be able to connect to their servers. But, again, this is to motivate users to try out their newer updates.
All you have to do to resolve this issue is update the app. Simply open either the App Store or the Google Play Store and see if the TikTok app has any pending updates.