TikTok Says “Account Not Found” — What Does That Mean?

It can come as a shock when you try to DM a friend or visit their TikTok profile, and the app returns the message “Account Not Found.” You might also see that response if you’re searching for TikTok videos from your favorite content creator or trying to find a Facebook acquaintance on TikTok but come up empty.

Seeing the “Account Not Found” message usually isn’t good news, but several issues can trigger it. Let’s check them out.

1. You’ve Been Blocked

This is what most people fear when they get the dreaded “Account Not Found” response. The person you’re trying to contact may have decided that they don’t want to be friends with you anymore, or at least, they don’t want to see your content clogging their TikTok feed or have you bothering them on the app.

When you’re blocked, you’ll get the “Not Found” message if you look for the user’s TikTok content or access their profile. The fastest way to check is to ask a friend who’s on TikTok to search for the user you think has blocked you. If they can see the user’s profile and content, but you can’t, you’ve been blocked.

2. It’s Not You, It’s Them

You’ll see “Account Not Found” when you search for a TikTok account that’s been banned from the app. The person who’s “disappeared” may have violated Community Standards or TikTok’s terms and conditions, and you can’t find them because they’ve lost their account.

It’s also possible that the user has left the app on their own and deactivated their account. That’s perhaps the simplest explanation for seeing an “Account Not Found” message.

3. The Person Has Changed Their Username

Here’s another possibility: you’re searching for someone under the wrong username. People regularly change their handles on the app for a variety of reasons. Try tapping an old DM you exchanged with them, or search for them by their real name (if you know it) and you might get lucky.

The user may also have been inactive on the platform for more than six months. After that length of time, TikTok usernames are reset to “generic” ones. The policy is designed to prevent TikTok users from “squatting” on good names with no intention of using them, but it can result in real users being “Not Found” if they’re away from the platform for more than 180 days.

4. Technical Glitches

TikTok occasionally experiences tech issues that prevent the app from working properly, but they don’t last long. TikTok may also not work right if you have an outdated app version, your Internet connection is poor, or your TikTok cache is full. In all of those cases, you may be unable to search for users and will see an “Account Not Found” message instead.

Do a little troubleshooting to see if any of those problems are to blame, or take the approach we mentioned in the first section and ask another user to see if the issue is only with your app.

Seeing “Account Not Found” can be frustrating, but there’s always a good explanation for why the system is displaying that message. Sadly, chances are good that the explanation isn’t one that you want to hear.