It can be hard to keep track of what you’re allowed to keep private from other TikTok users, at least until you’ve been on the social media platform for a while.
You can make your entire account private, of course. You can prevent most users from seeing if you’ve visited their TikTok profile. You can stop people from downloading your TikTok content or using it to make Duets or Stitches. On the flip side, you can’t stop people from seeing your TikTok videos unless you block them or go private.
What about the likes you’ve given to other TikTok posts? Those may be visible to all users right on your profile page; they’re generally available to anyone who taps the “heart” icon. Changing one setting lets you lock the icon and hide the likes, though.
Here’s how to do it. Go to your TikTok profile, open the menu by tapping the three horizontal lines at the top right of the screen, choose “Settings and privacy,” tap “Privacy,” and then click on “Liked videos.” You’ll have the option to restrict your like views to “Followers” or “Only You” if you’d like.
That’s a good way for you to protect some of your activity on the app, but it doesn’t mean that somebody doing good detective work can’t discover at least some of your likes.
Can You See Another User’s Private TikTok Likes?
It’s not easy, it’s not foolproof, and you can’t specifically see whether the user has liked a video. However, there’s a hack that may let you deduce whether they have. Be warned: it only works if you’re mutual followers (that is, you follow them and they follow you).
The content you see in your TikTok feed is determined by many components; the types of videos you’ve already watched are the most important. However, the posts liked by your mutual followers are also given greater weight and will show up in your feed more often than random content.
That’s where the detective work comes in. If you’re regularly being shown videos from a content creator you don’t follow, and you can see that the user you’re interested in follows or comments on the creator’s TikTok account, there’s an excellent chance that the user has liked the videos that you’re being shown.
Sorry, but that’s all we’ve got. TikTok’s privacy controls aren’t easy to circumvent, and hidden likes are no exception.
About the Author
Peter Hasselworth is a contributor at iDigic, sharing valuable insights about Instagram growth and social media marketing strategies.