Can You Record A TikTok Video Without Holding The Button?

Public Service Announcement for readers who’ve found this article after a Google search: you don’t have to keep holding the Record button down when you’re shooting TikTok content.

Simply tap it and your phone will keep recording until you hit the button again to stop filming (or unless you’ve reached the time limit you’ve chosen for your video). You can even hit the button a second time if you want to resume filming.

However, it can often be difficult to record exactly what you want to capture if you have your finger hovering over your phone for the entire time. Shooting “hands-free” is the best way to record yourself moving around, or to get yourself mentally prepped for your video without having to worry about hitting the Record button.

There are several easy ways you can avoid the annoyance of having to manually start and stop your recording session. Let’s check them out.

How to Record Hands-Free on TikTok

The first option works best for most content creators.

Use the App’s Timer

You don’t have to be near your phone if you record your TikTok video this way.

1. Open the social media platform’s Record screen by tapping the “+” icon at the bottom of your home screen.
2. Position your phone to capture what you’ll be filming.
3. Click the “Timer” icon (it looks like a stopwatch) on the right-hand menu.
4. Drag the red line on the video timeline to set the length of time you want your recording to last. The camera will automatically shut off at your selected endpoint.
5. Hit the “Start countdown” button. You’ll have three seconds to get into position before the recording starts.
6. If you’ve finished before the timer stops recording, you can stop it manually by hitting the Record button again.

Edit After Recording

This is the best option if you need more than a three-second countdown to get ready.

1. Position your phone and hit the Record button.
2. Get into position and start your content creation whenever you’re ready.
3. Stop recording by hitting the Record button a second time, and tap the checkmark to move to the Editing screen.
4. Find and click the “Edit” icon (a small monitor).
5. Move the timeline toward the bottom of the screen so the white line is right where you want the final version of your video to begin (perhaps when you begin speaking). Tap “Edit” and then “Split” in the bottom menu, and the “dead space” before the start of your content will be deleted.
6. You can remove any dead space at the end of your video the same way.

Shoot With Your Phone and a Remote

One final way to create TikTok content without worrying about the Record button is to shoot it directly in your phone with a remote control that’s connected to the phone via Bluetooth. That allows you to hold the remote discreetly in your hand so viewers can’t see it, and start the recording whenever you’re ready. Then, just upload the video to the TikTok editor and post it.

This method requires a small extra expense, since you’ll have to purchase a remote. If you’re going to regularly create complicated TikTok content, though, it will be worth the cost!