Making Folders On TikTok: What And Where Are They?

People get comfortable with the terminology they grew up with.

Those who spent years on their computers are accustomed to calling storage areas “folders.” The term was familiar in the early days of computing, of course, because businesses and even individuals had previously put information into file folders, stored in cabinets. It was only natural for Apple and Windows to use “folders” to describe where users stored files on their machines.

Some TikTok users still use the word “folders,” even though the social media platform doesn’t. Those people talk about putting videos into folders — leaving others shaking their heads and wondering, “What are they talking about?”

In most cases, they’re describing TikTok videos as files, and calling the places on the app where they’re stored “folders.”

It’s still not making sense? Think about what’s on your TikTok profile.

What Are Folders on TikTok?

You probably know folders better as “collections.”

When you bookmark TikTok content, it all winds up in a separate area of the content grid on your profile page. That’s a handy way to be able to find and revisit your favorite TikTok posts (which is why bookmarks on TikTok are often called “favorites”). The videos are all saved on the app, and they can be viewed by tapping the Bookmark icon above the content grid.

The average TikTok user spends about an hour scrolling their feeds on the app every day. That’s a lot of videos watched, and potentially, a lot of videos bookmarked. It doesn’t take long for the average user to add a huge number of posts to their favorites.

You probably know how difficult it is to scroll through anything to find one particular file or piece of information. It’s just as hard to make your way through hundreds or thousands of video thumbnails to find that “one post” you bookmarked a few months ago and just have to watch again.

Collections (or by their old-time name, folders) solve that problem. You can create as many collections as you’d like, and then move your favorited videos into appropriate collections where they’re much easier to find.

How To Create TikTok Collections

Just like labeling files and putting them into file cabinets, creating collections takes a few minutes. However, it’s well worth the time you have to invest.

1. Visit your TikTok profile and tap the Bookmarks icon.
2. You’ll see thumbnails of your favorited videos. Click on the word “Collections,” and then tap “Create new collection” at the bottom of the screen.
3. Give your collection a name and decide whether you want it to be public to visitors.
4. Click “Next,” and all of your bookmarked videos will appear on a page you can scroll. Tap the circle in the corner of each post you want to put into the collection, and hit “Add videos” when you’re done.
5. Repeat the process as many times as necessary to create all of the collections required to “fill” your bookmarks section with “folders.”

You may not be quite done with your housekeeping, though. Adding favorites to a collection doesn’t move them, it just copies them. In other words, the videos in your collections stay in your general bookmark list as well. You’ll have to go through and delete them separately if you want to clean out that big folder of favorites and start fresh.

Come to think of it, “folder” isn’t a bad name for collections, after all!