If you switched to a private account on TikTok, people will have to send you a follow request to follow you.
For them to see your videos, you need to accept their follow requests.
Otherwise, they won’t be able to see your feed.
If your account is set to public, you don’t have to worry about accepting follow requests.
This is because anyone will be able to follow you on TikTok.
On the other hand, if you have a private account and you’re not sure whether your follow requests are, this guide is for you.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to see follow requests on TikTok.
You’ll also learn how to send follow requests on TikTok if you want to follow a private account.
How to see follow requests on TikTok
To see follow requests on TikTok, you first need to switch to a private account.
After you’ve switched to a private account, navigate to your inbox and tap on “Follow requests”.
Switching to a private account means that people will have to send you a follow request before they can follow you on TikTok.
These follow requests will be sent to your inbox.
If you don’t want random people to see your TikTok videos, switching to a private account is a good idea.
Otherwise, anyone will be able to see your TikTok videos on your profile.
However, do keep in mind that your videos will not be shown on anyone’s “For You” page if your account is set to private.
In addition, hashtags will not work as your videos will not be shown on the hashtag search results.
So, before switching to a private account, do note that your views and engagement will drop severely.
Below is a 3-step guide on how you can see your follow requests on TikTok (with screenshots).
1. Switch to a private account
Open TikTok > “Me” icon > three dots > Privacy > Private account > enable.
Skip this step if you’ve already set your TikTok account to private.
The first step to seeing follow requests on TikTok is to switch to a private account.
If you have a public account, you won’t be able to see follow requests.
This is because anyone who follows you will automatically be your follower.
In other words, people do not need your approval to follow you.
To switch to a private account on TikTok, tap on the “Me” icon on the bottom navigation bar.
After you’ve tapped on the “Me” icon, you’ll land on your TikTok profile.
On the right corner of your TikTok profile, you’ll see three dots.
Tap on the three dots to open a menu.
On the menu, tap on “Privacy” under the “Account” header.
Under the “Discoverability” header, you’ll see a “Private account” option.
Turn the “Private account” option on to switch to a private account on TikTok.
If you currently have a business account, TikTok will warn you that you will lose access to business features like analytics.
If they do, tap on “Switch to Personal Account” to confirm the switch.
Proceed to the next step to learn how to find your follow requests.
2. Go to your inbox and tap on “Follow requests”
Inbox > Follow requests.
If you’ve set your TikTok account to private, people that follow you will be marked as follow requests.
For people to follow you, you need to accept their follow requests.
To see your follow requests, tap on the “Inbox” icon on the bottom navigation bar.
Once you’ve tapped on your inbox, you’ll land on the activity page.
On the activity page, you’ll see all of your TikTok notifications (e.g. likes, comments, replies).
You’ll also be able to see your follow requests.
Your follow requests can be seen at the top of the activity page.
For example, if you have 10 follow requests, you’ll see the number “10” next to a red dot.
Tap on “Follow requests” to see your follow requests.
3. Accept or delete your follow requests
Accept or delete follow requests.
Once you’ve tapped on “Follow requests”, you’ll see a list of people who’ve sent you a follow request on TikTok.
You can either accept or delete a follow request.
Accepting a follow request will make the person follow you.
On the other hand, deleting a follow request will prevent them from following you.
You’ve successfully learned how to see your follow requests on TikTok!
How to send follow requests on TikTok
Navigate to a private TikTok account > tap on the “Follow” button to send them a follow request.
To send follow requests on TikTok, navigate to a private TikTok account.
Then, tap on the “Follow” button to send them a follow request.
After you’ve tapped the “Follow” button, your follow request will be sent to the person’s inbox.
The “Follow” button will then change to a “Requested” button.
If you tap on the “Requested” button, you can cancel your request.
But if you didn’t cancel it, the person can choose to accept or delete your follow request.
If they’ve accepted your follow request, you will be able to see their videos.
On the other hand, if the person deleted your follow request, the “Requested” button will change to a “Follow” button.
When that happens, you can tap on the “Follow” button to send a follow request to them again.
Conclusion
Follow requests on TikTok can be only seen if you’ve set your TikTok account to private.
If your account is set to public, anyone will be able to follow you on TikTok without your approval.
Hence, you won’t be able to see follow requests in your inbox.
Keep in mind that there are many negatives to switching to a private account on TikTok including a drop in views and fewer comments.
But if you don’t want random people viewing your TikTok videos, then switching is a good idea as it allows you to control who can follow you on TikTok.
Further Reading
101 TikTok Fairy Comments to Copy and Paste
How to Turn On or Off “Save Video” on TikTok
How to Save a TikTok Draft Video in Gallery
Lim How Wei is the founder of Followchain. Feel free to follow him on Instagram.
