One of TikTok’s key features is the ability to favorite videos you like so you can easily find and watch them again later.
However, many users have reported issues with their TikTok favorites not loading or showing up properly.
If you’ve experienced this frustrating problem, this guide will walk you through some troubleshooting steps to hopefully get your TikTok favorites working again.
Why Your TikTok Favorites Are Not Loading
Here are some common reasons why TikTok favorites may not load properly:
- Poor internet connection – Slow or unstable connections can disrupt loading of favorites. Check your wifi or cellular data connectivity.
- Outdated app version – An old version of the TikTok app may have bugs preventing favorites from working. Update to the latest version.
- Server issues – Temporary outages or glitches with TikTok’s servers can affect functionality. Check TikTok’s status pages for any reported issues.
- App data corruption – Corrupted cache/data files on your device could affect the app. Try clearing the app data/cache.
- Account problems – Issues with your TikTok account itself (like being blocked) may impact favorites. Try logging out and back in.
- Restrictive settings – Things like Data Saver mode on Android can disrupt favorites loading. Check your device settings.
- Storage issues – Lack of storage space on your device can cause performance problems. Free up space if needed.
- Software conflicts – Other apps interfering with TikTok’s processes can cause glitches like no favorites loading.
- Buggy app release – A recent TikTok app update may introduced new bugs affecting favorites. Wait for fixes.
- Excessive favorites – Reaching the 10,000 favorite videos limit can prevent adding new ones. Unfavorite old videos.
- Device compatibility issues – Very old or unsupported devices may have trouble running TikTok properly.
Checking for these common causes can help narrow down why your TikTok favorites aren’t loading correctly on any given device.
Fixes For TikTok Favorites Not Loading or Working
Here are some troubleshooting steps you can use resolve it when your TikTok favorite videos won’t load.
Confirm Your Internet Connection is Working
The first thing to check is whether you have an active internet connection on your device. TikTok requires an internet connection to load any content, including your favorites feed.
- On your iOS or Android device, check that you have working WiFi or cellular data. Try disabling WiFi and switching to cellular data, or vice versa, to see if that fixes it.
- On a computer, make sure you’re connected to a working network and can access other websites. If not, try reconnecting or switching networks.
- Restart your router if you’re having general internet connectivity issues.
- Run a speed test on Speedtest.net to check your download and upload speeds. If your speeds are very slow, this could prevent TikTok from loading properly.
Once you’ve confirmed you have a solid internet connection, try force quitting and reopening the TikTok app to see if that fixes the favorites issue.
Check for TikTok Server Issues
TikTok experiences occasional server outages which can prevent certain features from working properly. Check sites like Downdetector to see if others are reporting problems with TikTok at the same time you are experiencing favorites not loading.
There may be a temporary widespread technical issue that just requires some patience until TikTok can resolve it on their end.
Restart Your Device
Sometimes a simple device restart can clear up temporary glitches with apps like TikTok. Completely power off your phone, tablet, or computer and then restart it. Then launch TikTok again to see if your favorites now load correctly.
This reboot clears out any stray processes that may be interfering with TikTok’s functionality.
Disable Data Saver Mode
On Android devices, having Data Saver mode enabled can interfere with the loading of media content in apps like TikTok.
Data Saver mode restricts background mobile data usage and may prevent TikTok from fully downloading your favorites feed. This causes favorites to show up empty or fail to load new content properly.
To fix this, go to your Android device’s Settings menu and find the Data Saver option:
Settings > Network & Internet > Data Saver
Toggle the switch for Data Saver mode so it is disabled or turned off.
With Data Saver disabled, TikTok will be able to use unrestricted mobile data in the background to fully retrieve your favorites feed data. This allows the favorites content to load correctly so you can view all the videos you have marked as favorites within the app.
Disabling Data Saver is an important troubleshooting step for Android users who find their TikTok favorites are not loading new content. The unrestricted data usage allows TikTok to pull favorites data in the background as needed.
Update the TikTok App
An outdated version of the TikTok app could also cause problems loading your favorites feed. Make sure you’re running the latest version of TikTok on your device:
- On iOS: Open the App Store app, tap your profile icon in the top right, and scroll down to see if TikTok has any pending updates. Install any available updates.
- On Android: Open the Google Play Store app, tap the menu icon in the top left, go to My Apps & Games > Updates pending. Install any updates available for TikTok.
Updating to the newest TikTok version can potentially fix bugs that may be preventing your favorites from loading correctly.
Log Out and Log Back In
If TikTok favorites aren’t loading properly on just one device, try fully logging out of the TikTok app and then logging back in. This can clear out any cached data that may be causing conflicts.
To log out of TikTok:
- Tap the Profile icon in the bottom right (on mobile) or in the top right (on web)
- Tap the three dots icon in the top right
- Choose “Log out.”
Confirm that you want to log out. Then close the app fully and relaunch it. Enter your username and password to log back in. Now check if your favorites will load.
Logging out resets the app’s data on that device which could potentially resolve any favorites loading issues.
Check Your Favorites Privacy Settings
TikTok allows you to control the privacy settings for your favorites feed. It’s possible you accidentally toggled it to private, which would prevent it from loading for anyone else.
To show your favorites publicly:
- Go to your Profile and tap the three dots icon in the top right
- Select “Settings and privacy”
- Tap “Privacy”
- Under “Favorites”, toggle “Private favorites” off
This will make your favorites public so they’re viewable by anyone. Toggle it back on if you only want yourself to see them.
Reset Your Advertising Identifier
The advertising identifier on your device could also be causing conflicts with loading TikTok data like your favorites. Resetting this identifier clears out any corrupted data.
On iOS:
- Open Settings > Privacy > Advertising > Reset Advertising Identifier
On Android:
- Open Settings > Google > Ads > Reset advertising ID
This process will reset your identifier and any associated TikTok data. Restart the app and check now if favorites will load.
Clear the App Cache and Data
If the previous troubleshooting steps don’t work, try clearing the TikTok app’s cached data and files. This forces the app to start fresh which could resolve favorites loading issues.
On iOS:
- Open Settings > General > iPhone Storage
- Tap TikTok and then Offload App to clear the cache. Don’t worry, your TikTok data will not be deleted.
- Reinstall TikTok from the App Store. Log in and check your favorites.
On Android:
- Open Settings > Apps & Notifications > See all apps
- Tap TikTok > Storage > Clear Cache and Clear Data
- Open TikTok to reinitialize the app. Log in and check favorites.
On a Computer:
- Open the TikTok website in your browser.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to open the clearance options.
- Check the boxes for “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files”
- Click Clear Data
- Reload TikTok in your browser and re-login.
Clearing the caches forces TikTok to reload your data fresh, which should hopefully resolve any favorites loading errors.
Contact TikTok Support
If you still can’t get your TikTok favorites to load properly after trying all the troubleshooting steps, you’ll need to reach out to TikTok’s support team.
You can contact TikTok by:
- Tapping the Profile icon > Settings and Privacy > Report a Problem to start a report.
- Requesting support from @TikTokSupport on Twitter
Explain your situation in detail, including the steps you’ve taken to try fixing it yourself. The TikTok support team may be able to resolve hidden issues or push specific fixes for your account.
Wait for App Bug Fixes
In some cases, TikTok favorites not loading could be due to a wider bug in the app that TikTok is working on fixing. Server outages and app bugs do happen, preventing certain features like favorites from working properly for some period of time.
If it seems like a widespread issue, you may simply need to wait until TikTok rolls out an app update that addresses the bug. Be patient and keep checking for TikTok updates that can get favorites working again for you and other affected users.
Review Favorites Limit
Finally, make sure you haven’t hit TikTok’s limit on how many videos you can favorite. You can only favorite up to 10,000 videos in total.
If you’ve favorited that many videos, your feed may fail to load any new ones. Try unfavoriting some old videos you no longer need in your favorites.
This will free up space to be able to favorite new videos without hitting TikTok’s cap. Having fewer favorited videos can also help your specific feed function faster.
Conclusion
Not being able to access your TikTok favorites can be really annoying, but hopefully through some app troubleshooting you can get it working again.
Check your internet connectivity, update TikTok to the latest version, log out and back in, adjust privacy settings, clear TikTok cached data, and contact TikTok support if needed.
With some patience and working through different fixes, you should once again be able to view all those great videos you’ve favorited.
