We want our users to have their best experience on TikTok, which means being able to create and have fun while feeling safe and comfortable. This post is part of our Community Well-Being series that aims to educate users on how to customize their TikTok experience using the various safety, privacy, and well-being tools available in the app.

At TikTok, we’re on a mission to help people capture and present their creativity, knowledge, and precious life moments to the world. In order to do this, it’s important that you feel safe and comfortable within the TikTok community. We created a Safety Center to help you learn about many of the options TikTok offers, plus helpful online resources more generally – but in this blog series we want to explain all of this step-by-step!

A big part of establishing a great TikTok experience is understanding how to secure your presence on the app from the get-go. There are numerous settings at your fingertips that allow you to control what you want your TikTok experience to look like, and in this post, we’re going to start from the beginning: setting up your account.

Use a strong password

Strong passwords are essential for protecting your personal information and identity online. While you’re probably familiar with what makes a password strong, here are some tips — just in case you need a refresher — to keep in mind when creating your TikTok account.

  • Don’t use the same password across multiple sites or apps
  • Skip common phrases or easy-to-guess info like your name, 1234, etc.
  • Combine upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
  • Make your password longer and more complex (you might also consider using a password management tool)
  • Avoid choosing passwords that could be guessed by people you know or by someone glancing at your TikTok profile

Be thoughtful about the info you put in your profile

Even with a private account, your profile information – including profile photo, username, and bio – will be visible to all users. So while it's a good idea to avoid including things like your city or other identifiers, there's plenty of other ways to express yourself in your profile. Think about options like:

  • A quote or song lyrics
  • Your favorite hobbies or sports
  • Hashtags or emojis
  • The strangest flavors of ice cream you’ve ever combined

Choosing a public or private account

Whether you want to share your videos with the world or just your closest friends, the choice is up to you.

By default, your account starts as public, which means any TikTok user can view your videos and post comments, reactions, or duets to engage with the content you've created and shared – but you can easily change this in your Privacy Settings.

If you switch to a private account you can approve or deny follower requests, and only users you’ve approved as followers can see your content.

Whether you have a public or private account, anyone can choose to make a specific video private. Private videos are visible only to you, and you can select this setting when you originally upload the video or by later making an uploaded video private.

Remember:

  • Information you put in your profile will be visible to all users
  • You can edit your privacy settings by visiting the Privacy and Safety tab on your profile page
  • You may not use TikTok if you are under 13, or the minimum age for your country or region if designated differently in the Terms of Service