As the TikTok ban nears, users can download their data to save their videos, profiles and transactions. Once your videos are downloaded you can upload them to wherever you please.
TikTok said it will “go dark” on Sunday, unless President Joe Biden offers an explicit promise not to enforce a law banning the app or forcing a sale.
This week, the Supreme Court upheld the 2024 law, which allows the government to regulate American use of foreign social media platforms and force divestment of foreign ownership in the name of national security.
So far, there are no signs serious talks are underway to sell TikTok to a U.S. buyer, though Frank McCourt and Kevin O’Leary have publicly announced a bid. That diminishes hopes for a last-minute delay on the ban.
It wasn’t immediately clear what exactly going “dark” on Sunday would mean. But even if the app remains operational on users’ devices when the ban takes effect, Apple’s App Store and Google Play are unlikely to continue supporting TikTok updates, eventually rendering it inoperational.
As users across the country worry about losing their data and videos, TikTok offers means to save their history.
How to download your data from TikTok:
- On your web browser, access TikTok’s website
- Click the Log In button in the bottom left corner
- Select your profile picture
- Go to Settings
- Under Privacy, select Download your Data
- Once you have accessed the Download your Data page, you can select your desired statistics. You can choose to download only your posts, profile, or all your data, including search history, direct messages, or TikTok shopping transactions.
- Select Request Data
Once TikTok has gathered your data, the platform gives you four days to download your information. Your downloadable data will appear under the Download Data tab, the file will run as a zip file.
Your information and posts will appear in text files and have accessible links to view the requested data. To view your old videos, copy the link, and paste it into your web browser. Your videos will not be able to be downloaded directly to your device; it will be a TikTok link. Users can still download videos via their web browsers.
Although TikTok does not allow you to directly post its videos to other social media platforms, once your videos are downloaded you can upload them to wherever you please.
Released in 2016 by Chinese parent company ByteDance, TikTok gained traction in the United States in 2019. The platform’s popularity began with short viral dance snippets giving rise to artists and influencers such as the D’amelio sisters, Tate McCray, and Addison Ray.
In 2022, TikTok became the most downloaded app worldwide.
As the platform will shut down across the U.S., “TikTok refugees” are turning to other platforms seeking a similarly-styled social media platform. Due to TikTok’s adoration, rival social media platforms have tried to iterate their own version of the app’s famed feature such as Instagram, Youtube, and Snapchat.
Other Chinese-based platforms have begun to fill TikTok’s shoes like RedNote and Lemon8. Both apps currently sit in the first and second position in the App Store, respectively.
Many “TikTok refugees” have taken to RedNote as the platform has seen a 194% increase in new accounts since last week, according to Sensor Tower. Reuters reported this week that a person close to the company said that in a two-day period RedNote had more than 700,000 new users.
