How To Zoom Out On TikTok

After you’ve shot your first few TikTok videos, you’ll probably want your content to look at least a little more professional.

There are tons of cool effects and filters you can use to enhance your masterpiece, and the editing tools on the app let you do everything from adding music and voiceovers to producing cool transitions and overlaying photos and videos.

Let’s start simple, though. Like most TikTok users, you probably recorded your first few vids by just talking into your phone’s camera. The next natural step is learning how to zoom in for a close-up or zoom out to show a wider view.

These techniques can come in handy when showing viewers how to prepare a meal or do simple repairs, or when revealing something funny and unexpected in a video that’s shot tongue-in-cheek. It can also be used to highlight a facial reaction, a surprising detail not visible at the start of a clip — the possibilities are endless.

Here’s how to do it right on your phone.

How to Zoom In

We’re beginning here because your phone’s camera is zoomed out by default when you hit the red circle to begin recording. Your only option is to zoom in.

To zoom in before you begin recording, put two fingers next to each other in the middle of the screen (it’s easiest to use one finger from each hand), press down, and slowly slide them apart toward the edges of the screen. The further they get from each other, the closer and closer the camera will get to the subject of the video.

You can do the same thing to zoom in while you’re recording, but that will obscure your view of what you’re shooting. Try this instead. Press the record button firmly, hold it down, and slide your finger toward the middle of the screen to zoom in. Warning: if you lift your finger, the camera will stop recording. When using this method, keep pressing on the screen.

You can zoom in on videos you’ve already recorded, too. Tap the “Edit” icon on the editing screen, and then use the same techniques.

How to Zoom Out

You’ve probably either guessed how to zoom the camera out, or you’ve discovered it by accident while trying the method we’ve just described.

You zoom out by putting your fingers on the left and right edges of the screen and moving them toward each other, or by pressing the record button and sliding your finger toward the bottom of your phone. Since the camera is zoomed all the way out initially, you can only zoom out after you’ve zoomed in on a subject or scene.

It may require a little practice to be able to zoom in and out quickly, but once you’ve got the hang of the technique, it works well.

Other Zooming Tips

Some TikTok filters and effects have zooming “built in,” so you may unknowingly post a video that zooms in or out when you don’t want it to. Before completing and uploading your post, preview it completely to make sure there’s no zooming that you didn’t expect.

Zooming this way on TikTok is admittedly a rudimentary process, and many people have trouble making it look smooth. If you want your productions to look truly professional, take time to learn how to use the zoom effect and keyframes during editing, or think about trying a third-party editing app with automatic zoom effects that make the process effortless and perfect every time.