TikTok lets you download a data archive of everything you've posted — the dates, captions, locations, sounds, like counts, and the public link to each video. You request it once, wait 1–4 days, and download a .zip containing a single JSON file.

Heads up — TikTok doesn't give you the actual video files. This is different from Instagram and Facebook. TikTok's export is metadata only: captions, hashtags, dates, and links to each of your public videos. We use those links to fetch the videos separately so they end up in your gallery at full quality. You don't need to do anything extra — just upload the .zip and we handle the rest.

Different handle on TikTok than on Instagram or Facebook? That's totally normal — a lot of creators do. Just upload whichever TikTok account goes with the brand you're building. If you have more than one TikTok account, pick the one that has the work you want on your site and request its export separately. We link everything by the export file itself, not by your username.

Request your export

You can do this on the TikTok app (slightly faster UI) or at tiktok.com (easier if you're already at a computer). Same result.

On the TikTok app (iOS or Android)

1. Open TikTok and tap Profile (bottom-right tab).
2. Tap the three lines (☰) in the top-right corner.
3. Tap Settings and privacy.
4. Tap Account.
5. Tap Download your data.
6. At the top you'll see two tabs: Request data and Download data. Make sure you're on the Request data tab.
7. Under "Select data to download", tap All data. (Custom data works too, but the size savings aren't worth the extra choosing — the whole archive is small without the videos.)
8. Under "Select file format", tap JSON - Machine-readable file.
   Do not pick TXT. TXT gives the same data in a format we can't parse — if you pick TXT we'll have to ask you to re-request.
9. Tap Request data.

On tiktok.com (desktop web)

1. Go to tiktok.com and log in.
2. Click your profile icon (top-right corner) → Settings.
3. In the left sidebar, click Privacy.
4. Scroll to the Data section → click Download your data. (Shortcut: tiktok.com/setting/download-your-data)
5. Choose All data.
6. Choose file format JSON.
7. Click Request Data.

Wait for it to be ready

TikTok takes anywhere from a few hours to a few days — official guidance says up to 30 days, realistic is usually 1–3 days. Unlike Instagram, TikTok does not reliably email you when it's ready. You may get an in-app notification; you may not. The safe move is to set yourself a reminder to check back in 2 days.

Once the archive is ready, it sits available for 4 days. After that, it disappears and you have to request a new one. Try not to request right before a trip.

Download the .zip

From the TikTok app

1. Go back to Settings and privacy → Account → Download your data.
2. Tap the Download data tab (the second one, next to "Request data").
3. Tap Download next to the most recent request.
4. TikTok will ask you to re-enter your password to confirm.
5. The .zip downloads to your phone. Filename is usually TikTok_Data.zip or user_data_tiktok_YYYYMMDD.zip.
6. For most creators the file is small — 2–50 MB. (It's just metadata, no videos.)

From tiktok.com

1. Go to tiktok.com/setting/download-your-data.
2. Click the Download data tab.
3. Click the Download button next to your latest request.
4. Re-enter your password when prompted.
5. The .zip saves to your computer's Downloads folder.

Upload to your intake

1. Come back to your intake page (the link Bryce sent you).
2. Scroll to Upload your platform exports.
3. Drag the .zip into the TikTok upload zone, or click the zone and choose it.
4. It'll finish fast — TikTok archives are small.
5. You'll see Uploaded ✓ when it's done.

That's it. We parse the JSON inside, grab your captions and post dates, and follow the links to pull the video files from TikTok so they end up in your gallery. You don't have to download individual videos yourself.

Things that can go wrong

"I picked TXT by accident"

No problem — just start over from Request data and pick JSON this time. Your old TXT request can sit there unused; it doesn't block the new one.

"There's no 'TikTok file' option anymore"

Correct — TikTok removed that option. The only current formats are JSON and TXT, and neither one includes the actual video files. This is normal. We fetch the videos separately using the public links in the JSON. If an older guide somewhere tells you to pick "TikTok file" — that guide is out of date.

"I have a private or deleted account"

TikTok will still give you the data export of what you posted while the account was live, but we can only fetch videos that are currently public. If your account is set to private, switch it to public before we process the archive — or tell Bryce and we'll work from captions + metadata alone.

"I posted from a secondary / spam / test TikTok account"

Just skip it. Only export the account(s) you actually want represented on your site. If you're not sure, tell Bryce which handle is the "real" one and we'll work from there.