Save Your TikTok Data Before It’s Banned in the U.S.

Honestly, I have been super weepy this week thinking about losing TikTok. Granted, there are more real-life people that I interface with on Meta’s platforms because of the legacy of those social networks; I had Facebook since college and Instagram since it was iOS only—I switched from Android to the iPhone 4S one summer because I wanted access to that app. WhatsApp allows me to keep in touch with anyone from another part of the world. But TikTok is a community I check in when I have time to lock into the algorithm.

TikTok is how I stayed connected with international communities when I couldn’t be there in person, on continents I don’t know if I’ll ever have a chance to visit. It’s where I was adopted by Gen Zers when I got hyper-fixated on that Joost Klein. It’s where I started to piece together why people thought I had ADHD for so long, and everything that I learned on TikTok informed me enough to go to my doctor and say, “I think this is what’s going on after all.” During this latest wildfire disaster, which is happening in the southern half of my home state, TikTok lets me keep an eye on which communities are being affected and where I can donate money and supplies to help the victims.

Reader, I am triste. I haven’t entirely accepted that TikTok is going the way of the Dodo—in the U.S., as it did in Russia a few years back—and I keep logging in and hoping for a miracle. But I’m also facing the reality that I have no idea what will happen come January 19. So, like every time a company has announced its website or social network is on the outs, I am going to take a beat to back up my data on TikTok. And we’re going to all do it together right now.

How to backup your data on TikTok

A few nights ago, I looked through the TikTok account settings to see if I could download my data. It seems the only way to do so is through the mobile app, as I can’t reproduce this next set of instructions on the web app. In the TikTok app, go to your profile page and tap the button to bring up the Settings and Privacy menu. Tap into there, then select Account. Scroll down to where it says you can Download your data.

You must request a dump of your data before it can be downloaded. This process takes a couple of hours, and TikTok will offer a TXT or JSON file of your data for download from the same window. The package is available for four days from the time you request it.

I downloaded my data in both formats. A ton of stuff gets exported, like the names of accounts I follow, which will help me find them elsewhere, the comments I’ve left on other people’s pages, and direct messages. Embarrassingly, TikTok also enshrined the data on my TikTok Shopping habits and the number of vouchers I missed out on using.

I don’t know what to do with the JSON file. Lifehacker suggests using the file with third-party apps to extract specific data and export it elsewhere. There’s a GitHub helper you can tinker with that will take the JSON file and export videos as you choose. But it is all flying over my head as I try to multitask on the other five things I’m supposed to do.

If you’re like me and would rather pay your way to ensure all your personal TikTok videos are locally downloaded, you can use a service like TokBackup to do the deed. It’s a minimum $5/month transaction to get up to 6,000 of those videos, and that’s after it’s done a full scan of your account. TokBackup is still scanning my profile, so I can’t yet report on its efficacy in saving videos. The popular consensus seems to be that the easiest way to back up TikTok videos you’ve posted is to save them one by one individually. I hope this TokBackup works out because I don’t have time this week!

Suppose you want to save all your favorite TikTok videos before the app is obliterated, like Alderaan in Star Wars: A New Hope. This neat Chrome extension will do it for you in the background. I have about 650 videos that need downloading, but I only made it to 145 before I closed the screen to pause them. After we’re done chatting here, I will return to save every video I’ve ever loved on the TikTok platform.

Where to go next?

I guess people are going to RedNote to find their community in China’s version of TikTok. I haven’t jumped ship quite yet, but that’s because I’m not too enticed by the idea of translating every conversation between English and Mandarin. Other folks are simply resigning themselves to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, though no one has yet jumped ship. The community still hopes for a last-minute agenda change before abandoning the platform.

The TikTok alternatives that have sprouted recently are so nascent that it’s hard to tell if they will offer the same magic that TikTok did. Apps like Byte and Lemon8 (Android, iOS), owned by Tiktok’s parent company, might be places to try if Meta’s platforms are no longer your cup of tea. There’s also Triller, though I’m reticent to suggest you go there since it’s where TikTok’s haters have congregated since 2020.