How to download your favorite TikToks ahead of the ban

TikTok logo displayed on a laptop screen and TikTok logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on February 7, 2024.

An important date is approaching: Sunday, Jan. 19, also known as Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday.

I’m just kidding. That heartbeat in the floorboards? It’s TikTok’s. The Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. If the court upholds the law, it will go into effect on Jan. 19.

SEE ALSO:

TikTok ban countdown: See the latest updates as time runs short

The app won’t be automatically deleted from your phone, but, as NPR reports, it might not be as great as you’re used to. Maybe you’ll get a prompt indicating the service isn’t available in the U.S., and videos won’t load. Maybe you can use the app, but it’ll be buggy. It’s difficult to know what, exactly, that will look like. Still, we know you won’t be able to update the app or delete and redownload it because app stores on Apple and Google and internet hosting companies will be penalized by the government if they offer those services.

If you’ve spent the past few years curating a perfect collection of TikTok videos in your favorites folder, you can still save them to your device. However, this method requires a Chrome extension, and the videos will take up a significant amount of space, so you might want an additional hard drive.

Total Time

5 min

What You Need

TikTok app
optional hard drive
MyFaveTT

Step 1:
Add the Chrome extension

Find MyFaveTT or another Chrome extension that will save your TikTok apps.

Credit: MyFaveTT browser extension

Step 2:
Log into your TikTok account and download away

MyFaveTT offers three options: Download all my Likes, Download all my Favorites, and Download from people I follow. Choose the option that works best for you, and follow the prompts.

Credit: MyFaveTT browser extension

If you’d like to download your data from TikTok, you can do that without a Chrome extension. The process is fairly straightforward.

Total Time

5 min

What You Need

TikTok app

Step 1:
Navigate to privacy

Click the settings button on your profile and navigate down to privacy.

Credit: TikTok privacy

Step 2:
Request your data

Now you’ll request your data. You can download all of your data, or you can specifically only download your Profile and posts, Activity, or Messages. Click request once you’ve decided how to move forward. Once your data is ready to be downloaded, it will be available for four days under the “download data” tab.