My TikTok App Keeps Glitching. What’s Causing It?

Some might blame a system glitch if their TikTok post takes a while to appear on feeds (it’s probably just being reviewed), or if they’re not receiving the number of video views they’re used to seeing (the TikTok content may just not be very good).

Other types of technical issues are more commonly referred to as glitches. They include slow loading or playback times, app lags and crashes, video that “skips” or is mismatched with its audio track, and videos that get stuck in the upload process.

Those types of problems can occasionally be blamed on brief system glitches, but issues with the TikTok platform only occur rarely and are always solved within seconds or minutes. Bad video or audio quality may be due to poor production practices used by the content creator.

In virtually all other cases, TikTok glitches stem from tech troubles at the user’s end. They fall into three categories.

Connection Glitches

The TikTok app is constantly communicating with the social media platform, and even a brief interruption in the exchange of information can cause major glitches in a TikTok user’s experience.

The first thing to check is whether you have a strong and stable Internet connection. If you don’t continuously have five bars on your phone, that’s a good sign that your signal is to blame for the glitches.

Move closer to the modem or router or to a part of the building to see if the signal improves. If not, try using a different network or switching to mobile data instead of WiFi.

App Glitches

Most of the problems we discussed at the start of this article are likely to be caused by your TikTok app. Here are the common culprits:

• A full cache (the location where temporary files are stored) or a corrupted file in the cache.
• An app that hasn’t been updated or is an old version, either of which can prevent some TikTok features from working properly.
• The app simply “choked” on a file and has locked up or lost full function.

To troubleshoot these potential issues, take these steps.

1. Log out of TikTok and then log back in.
2. Clear your cache by opening your TikTok profile, tapping the “Menu” icon (three horizontal lines at the top right), choosing “Settings and privacy,” and clicking on the “Free up space” link. Tap the button to clear your cache, and while you’re at it, clear your saved downloads, too. They can fill up memory quickly.
3. Make sure regular app updates are enabled; that’s done in either the Google Play Store or the App Store, depending on whether you have an Android or iOS device. While you’re there, make sure you have all of the latest updates that have been released.
4. Uninstall the TikTok app (be sure to download any saved drafts to your phone first, since they’ll be lost in this process), and then install the latest TikTok version.

Phone Glitches

Technical issues with your phone that may cause TikTok glitches are quite similar to those that involve your app. Try restarting your phone, clearing your cache, and deleting saved files you no longer need, and making sure that all operating system updates have been received and installed.

If none of these steps work, the glitch you’re experiencing may just be a production problem with the TikTok video you were watching — or the issue is on the platform’s end and it will be resolved shortly. As a last resort, you can try contacting TikTok support for advice; just be prepared to wait quite a while for a response.