Are you having issues with TikTok’s follow back feature? Finding that people aren’t following you back when they should be? Well, you’re not alone. The follow back feature can be a bit finicky at times, leaving many users frustrated when it doesn’t work properly.
Not to worry, though! In this guide, we’ll walk you through some of the top reasons the TikTok follow back feature may not be working and the steps you can take to troubleshoot the issues. With a few simple fixes, you can get your profile back up and running smoothly again.
Why Isn’t TikTok Letting Me Follow Back?
Before we dig into solutions, let’s first cover some of the potential reasons why TikTok won’t let you follow back:
TikTok’s Servers Are Glitching
Like any app, TikTok can have performance issues on their end. Server glitches could temporarily stall features like follow backs. In such instances, the TikTok follow button may not work at all. Try again later to see if the issues persist.
You Aren’t Following Back Promptly
TikTok has limits set up to curb spam and bot activity. If you don’t reciprocate follows within a certain time frame, TikTok may flag your account and stop sending you new followers. Stay on top of giving back follows.
You Violated Community Guidelines
If your account has been flagged for violating any of TikTok’s community guidelines, you can be shadow banned or have account features limited. Ensure you fully understand and adhere to the rules.
You Hit TikTok’s Hourly or Daily Follow Limit
Yes, TikTok caps the amount of accounts you can follow per hour. Many users have reportedly contacted the TikTok support team about this and they responded “You can follow 30 accounts per hour, without raising a flag.”
Hence, if you can’t follow back on TikTok, it’s likely because you are following relatively quickly.
How to Fix TikTok Follow Back Not Working
If the follow back feature isn’t working for you, try these troubleshooting steps:
1. Check If You Hit the Hourly Follow Limit
TikTok allows users to follow up to about 30 accounts per hour. If you tried following back a flood of new fans in a short period, you may have gotten locked out once you hit that ceiling.
Going forward, tactically spread out when you follow others rather than doing batches. Follow just 10-15 fans back at a time, with breaks in between for engaging with content.
Throttling your activity stays under TikTok’s thresholds, keeping your account in good standing and features like “follow back” working smoothly.
2. Check Your Settings
Go into your TikTok account settings by tapping on your profile icon in the bottom right. Tap the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner and choose “Settings”.
On the Settings page, check the following:
- Private Account Toggle: Make sure this is turned OFF so your account is public. The follow back feature doesn’t work for private accounts.
- Suggest your account to others: This should be ON so your account is discoverable by new followers.
- Allow others to find me: Also ON to maximize your chances of being found by potential new fans.
Make tweaks as needed to your profile visibility settings here related to being found by others. This can all impact the follow back feature functionality.
3. Update Your App and/or Clear Cache
An outdated version of TikTok or overloaded cache could also cause hiccups with recent functions like follow backs offered. To update and clear cache:
- Update the TikTok app on your iOS or Android device to ensure you have the latest version. New versions often patch bugs.
- Clear cache and data by going into your phone or tablet’s App settings, selecting TikTok, then choosing to Clear Cache and Clear Data. Resetting this information often smooths out glitches.
Alternatively, you can clear TikTok cache through the app’s settings. To do this:
- Open your TikTok profile and tap on the hamburger icon (☰) in the upper right corner.
- Tap on “Settings and privacy.”
- Choose “Free up space” under the “Cache & Cellular” tab.
- Tap the “Clear” button next to “Cache” to clear the cache.
Give the follow back feature another try after updating/resetting your app cache and data. Sometimes this simple reboot is all you need to resolve temporary bugs!
4. Analyze Your Following Activity for Suspicious Patterns
Tap into your profile and analytics to investigate what may be going on under the hood that’s impacting your follow backs…
Go to your profile and tap “Following” to analyze who you currently follow. If you see an abnormal amount of spam accounts or celeb/influencer accounts you didn’t choose to follow, your account may be compromised.
Change your password immediately and remove any suspicious followed accounts. Also scan your profile analytic stats for any abnormal traffic spikes related to followers, likes, comments etc. Report suspicious activity if found. Clearing your account of spam followers often gets normal TikTok features working properly again.
Keep an eye out after resetting things to ensure suspicious activity doesn’t immediately recur, signaling someone continues to access your account without permission. Report it if found!
5. Wait Out Server Outages
If you are not able to follow back on TikTok, one of the causes could be due to TikTok bugs or server issues. Issues with TikTok’s server can lead to various glitches in the app such as the TikTok follow button not working.
Check third-party sites like Downdetector to see if others are reporting TikTok outages for your area. If widespread issues are found, there’s unfortunately nothing you can do but wait it out!
Follow back features will automatically begin working again once TikTok engineers work out any kinks on their end. No account adjustments needed on your part.
6. Appeal Any Guidelines Violations
If you received an alert that your TikTok account has been banned or limited for violating community guidelines, you can submit an appeal!
Click the alert within the TikTok app and follow the prompts to submit an appeal request. Provide any details or context needed about the situation for review.
The TikTok team may overturn a violation finding if a mistake was made or you can prove you didn’t intentionally break the rules. Having a violation overturned should restore full account functionality.
7. Contact TikTok Support
If you still experience TikTok follow back problems after trying all the above troubleshooting, reach out directly to TikTok for assistance.
In the TikTok app, go to your profile icon > Settings > Report a Problem to submit a support request to the team.
Explain your situation in detail noting what you’ve done already to attempt fixing the issues yourself. Provide your username, email, device info.
The TikTok support team may be able to provide personalized help getting your specific account back up and running, follow backs included! They have advanced internal tools at their disposal.
Prevent Future TikTok Follow Back Problems
Once you get your account back up and running, implement some best practices to be able to follow back on TikTok without any issues.
- Don’t spam follow/unfollow. Tempting to gain followers quickly but this looks suspicious to TikTok algorithms.
- Like and engage with follower content. Don’t just collect fans without engaging back.
- Schedule follow backs. Use TikTok’s built-in scheduler so you give reciprocal follows within the expected time windows.
- Review guidelines regularly. Ensure your content never violates TikTok rules, putting your account at risk of restrictions.
Using TikTok responsibly makes you far less likely to have your account and its nifty features (like follow backs!) stall out.
Implement these troubleshooting tips and prevention methods to keep your TikTok profile in peak working condition! Reach out to TikTok support if you continue struggling with follow back functionality despite your best efforts.
