My TikTok Video Still Has 0 Views – What’s Wrong?

It’s an awful feeling.

You put lots of time and effort into creating a TikTok video that you’re sure will be popular, and might even go viral. You carefully wrote a great description, used the right hashtags, chose the perfect cover photo, hit “post,” and sat back to watch all of the likes, comments, and reposts come streaming in.

They don’t show up. In fact, the view counter on your TikTok post sits tauntingly at “0” for minutes, then hours, then a second day.

What in the world happened?

There are quite a few reasons why your TikTok might be stuck at zero views. Assuming your video was posted properly and the system isn’t having brief technical issues, here’s what might be going on and what you can do about it.

1. Under Review

It can take a little while before your video is approved by the system and made visible to TikTok users. If you’re antsy after just a few minutes, be patient.

2. Account Verification

If you’ve just recently gotten a TikTok account, it may not have been given the full green light by the system yet and your visibility may be restricted. Once you’ve posted more quality content the restrictions will be removed.

3. Excessive Posting

Accounts that post a ton of content in a short period can also have their visibility restricted. There’s no way to know if this has happened to you, so if the shoe fits…

4. Privacy

Your TikTok account may be set to “private,” meaning no one can see your post. Visit your TikTok profile, tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines at the top left of the screen), then go to Settings and Privacy > Privacy, and make sure the toggle switch is set to “public.”

Or you may have accidentally posted the video as a private one, so no one can see it. Go to your profile, click on the video thumbnail in question, and tap the three-dot “more” icon. (Not the three dots in a circle, which is for comments). Choose “Privacy settings,” look for “Who can watch this video,” and make sure that “Everyone” is selected.

5. Violating Community Guidelines

If you’ve received a message in your TikTok notifications that your account has violated community guidelines, the offending post will be removed so it won’t receive views, and your other content’s exposure may be dramatically limited.

Penalties for first violations usually only last for a day or two, so your account’s visibility may be restored quickly. (If it was a serious violation or you already have several strikes, penalties can be more draconian.) The notification you receive will tell you the severity of the penalty and how to appeal.

6. A Shadow Ban

Problematic content, copyright infringement, spam activity, or other troublesome behavior (like bullying other users) that isn’t a formal violation of community guidelines can lead to what’s known as a “shadow ban.” You won’t get an official notification and there’s no way to confirm that you’ve been shadow-banned, which results in your visibility being dramatically limited.

The action usually lasts about two weeks, and there’s no way to appeal it. If you suspect you’ve been hit with a shadow ban, remove any content that’s flagged or may violate TikTok rules, behave yourself, and your posts should be visible again soon.

7: They’re Just Not Into You

There are no guarantees that people will watch or like your TikTok content.

Very often, newer users create a video, post it, and expect views and other interactions to come flooding in. It doesn’t always work that way, particularly if you have few followers and few people engage with your account.

Growing an audience on TikTok is often a long, slow process, and creating videos that random surfers will want to watch is more of an art than a science.

It could be that your description or cover photo isn’t compelling or interesting enough to get people, even your fans (if you have any) to stop scrolling and check out your content. It could also be that the post looks good, but the video is glitchy and won’t play.

Most likely, the TikTok algorithms — which allocate visibility — don’t think your account is popular enough to warrant giving your post much exposure. In that case, iDigic can help. Check out our TikTok follower service, which can get your account’s organic growth started and bring in lots of new viewers for your videos and followers for your account — and let’s get your video seen!