Hiding Your TikTok Followers: Is It Possible?

Most TikTok users want to build a large follower count, whether it’s to validate the time they spend on the social media platform, impress their friends, find an appreciative audience that loves what they create, or monetize their account.

It can be helpful to scan someone else’s list of followers, too. It can be a good way to find other people who may enjoy your TikTok videos, discover which influencers might be willing to follow accounts like yours or collaborate on content creation, or reconnect with an old friend who you didn’t realize was on the app.

Not everyone wants their followers to be visible to random users, though.

Some people are concerned about privacy and don’t want any information about them to be publicly available. Others don’t want “outsiders” to have access to their carefully controlled and curated TikTok account info. Businesses and content creators may not want information about their followers or growth strategies to be available to competitors.

And of course, some users are understandably worried about stalkers.

Is there a way to prevent people from seeing who’s in your TikTok fan base? Let’s find out.

Hiding Followers on TikTok

The app doesn’t provide any way that lets you make your follower list completely invisible. However, you can greatly restrict access to that list.

These are your options.

Make Your Account Private

TikTok accounts are “public” by default (unless you’re under 16, when your account is automatically set to “private”). If you change your settings to take your account private, though, you have to manually approve anyone who wants to become your follower.

The users you approve will be able to watch your videos and TikTok Live streams, create Duets and Stitches with you, see your bio and likes — and view your follower and following lists.

This approach doesn’t stop everyone from seeing who you follow, but it does stop almost all of the app’s 2 billion users from viewing that information.

To make your account private:

1. Visit your TikTok profile by tapping the icon at the bottom right of your home screen.
2. Open the menu by clicking the icon with three horizontal lines at the top right corner of your profile.
3. Choose “Settings and privacy” from the pop-up, tap “Privacy,” and use the toggle switch next to “Private account” to change the setting.

Protect Your Follower List

This method places slightly different limits on who can view your list of followers. There’s a TikTok setting that gives you two choices for who can see your followers: “Everyone” and “Only you.” However, the latter choice is somewhat misleading.

“Only you” means that you’re the only user who can see your complete fan base, but other users will still see their mutual friends who appear on your follower list. In other words, if one of the people they follow also follows you, they’ll be able to see that fact. They just won’t see any of your other fans.

To use this method:

1. Visit your TikTok profile by tapping the icon at the bottom right of your home screen.
2. Open the menu by clicking the icon with three horizontal lines at the top right corner of your profile.
3. Choose “Settings and privacy” from the pop-up, tap “Privacy,” and then scroll down to choose “Following list.”
4. Click the button labeled “Only you.”

Block Specific Users

If you only need to prevent specific users (like a former friend or an ex) from seeing your following list, blocking their account on the app will prevent them from seeing your posts, profile, or anything else — including the rundown of who follows you.

1. Visit the user’s profile.
2. Tap the “Share” icon (a curved right arrow) at the top right of the screen.
3. Click the “Block” icon at the bottom of the pop-up, confirm your choice, and you’re done.

One final note: No matter which of these methods you choose, it only affects people’s ability to see the list of your followers. Your follower count will always be visible to everyone on the platform, except users who you’ve blocked.