Guide 1 of 3 · Everyone
Setting up your new account.
Please follow these steps in order. If you don’t, you may not be covered under our guarantee.
15 minutes, then a few days of warm-upDo you live outside the US?
Set your phone up first. Otherwise TikTok shows your videos to people in your country, and they can’t buy since they’re not from the US.
Read the International Setup guide, then come back here.
In the US? Skip this.
Your phone (most important)
Use a phone that has never had a banned TikTok on it.
Best: a new or different phone.
Only have one phone? iPhone: DFU restore it first. Android: use a different phone.
Your phone’s done. Go to Step 2.
The deepest reset an iPhone has. It wipes the phone’s software and settings completely, so TikTok sees it as a brand-new phone.
A normal “Erase All Content and Settings” is not enough.
How (iPhone):
- Back up your photos.
- Plug the phone into a computer (Mac: Finder · Windows: the Apple Devices app, or iTunes on older PCs).
- Quickly press and release Volume Up, then Volume Down.
- Hold the Side button until the screen goes black. Then keep holding Side and also hold Volume Down for 5 seconds.
- Let go of Side. Keep holding Volume Down for about 10 seconds.
- The computer says it found a phone to restore. Click Restore.
- Set it up as a new iPhone. Don’t restore your old apps from a backup.
The screen must stay black. See the Apple logo? That’s not DFU. Start again.
Search YouTube for “DFU restore” + your exact iPhone model (e.g. “DFU restore iPhone 13”) and follow along.
There’s no DFU. Use a different phone.
Check your internet is OK to use
TikTok can see where you are from your internet. If your connection was used for anything dodgy before, TikTok may not trust it, even if it wasn’t you.
- Go to whatismyipaddress.com. Copy the number at the top.
- Go to scamalytics.com. Paste it in and press enter.
- You’ll see a “fraud score”. That’s how risky your connection looks.
A score under 38.
Switch to mobile data or a different wi-fi.
Don’t log in until it’s under 38. Can’t get it down? Open a ticket.
Log in for the first time
Use the phone from Step 1.
Getting your login code:
- Open TikTok and tap Log in.
- Choose email and enter the email from your ticket.
- TikTok sends a code to that email. To see it, go to the website after the
@and type in the full email address.
The part of your email after the @.
Email is name@mailforspam.com? Go to
mailforspam.com and type name@mailforspam.com
to see the code.
Accounts can use different websites, so always use the one in your email.
- Tap Log in → Use phone and enter the number from your ticket.
- Open the Code Link from your ticket to get the 6-digit code.
- Code not showing or expired? Ask in your ticket.
It’s usually one of two things:
1. Typo in the email. Copy it from our message.
2. Wrong website. Use the part after the @.
Seeing “Maximum attempts reached”, or got logged out? Here’s what to do.
Settings and privacy → Security → Manage devices
Remove every device except the phone you’re on. Our team logged in to check the account, so it may still show there. TikTok trusts an account most on one phone in one place.
Check the account isn’t restricted
Link in bio accounts don’t come with TikTok Shop. Skip this step and Step 6. Every other step is the same.
Go to TikTok Studio → TikTok Shop for Creator and check it lets you
in.
Stop and open a ticket right away. Don’t post, change or try to fix anything.
If it arrived restricted, it’s covered. Tell us within the 14 days.
Change the email and password
Do this as soon as TikTok lets you.
That’s normal. TikTok locks these after a login on a new phone.
- Change the password first, then the email.
- It can take 3–5 days, sometimes longer. Try once a day.
- “Maximum attempts reached”? Stop, try again tomorrow.
- Still stuck after a week? Add a phone number first, then change the email.
- Don’t keep retrying. Lots of attempts look like someone stealing the account.
Check Manage devices again: only your phone should be there.
Verifying your TikTok Shop account
Skip this step. Link in bio accounts don’t come with TikTok Shop. Go to Step 7.
Skip this step. It’s already done.
Verified accounts are for people outside the US. You get paid with the 1% method: brands set you to 1% and pay your real commission directly.
Unverified account (for people in the US)? Verify early so you can withdraw:
TikTok Studio → TikTok Shop for Creator → Verify
Full steps in the Getting Verified guide.
Warm up the account for 2–3 days
The first week matters most. Warm up exactly like this. Don’t rush posting or selling.
Warming up means using the account like a normal person for a few days before you change or post anything.
TikTok watches new logins closely. An account that changes its name and photo and starts posting all in one day looks hacked, and TikTok bans it.
Skip this and the account gets banned? It’s not covered by the guarantee.
For 2–3 days, do:
- Scroll your feed like normal
- Watch videos to the end
- Like a few videos, leave the odd comment
- 15–20 minutes a day, spread out
Don’t:
- Change your name, photo or bio
- Post videos
- Like or follow lots of things fast
Old videos you don’t want people to see? Hide them:
Settings and privacy → Activity centre → Manage post visibility
Hide, don’t delete. 50 at a time max. Deleting lots of videos at once makes TikTok suspicious.
iPhone only — check for Passkey
A passkey lets you log in with your face or fingerprint. TikTok offers it on iPhone once it trusts the account.
Check once a day. “Try a different device” is normal. Try again in a day or two.
Android has no passkey. Skip this step.
Make it yours and start posting
After 2–3 days of warm-up, or once your iPhone offers a passkey, you can:
- Change the username and display name
- Add your own profile photo and bio
- Unfollow the accounts it already follows
- Post your own videos
10 videos a day max. More than that looks like a bot to TikTok.
Add shop links to your videos after the warm-up.
Not before. Shop links during the warm-up are one of the fastest ways to get banned, and that’s not covered by the guarantee.
TikTok may only let you post a few shop videos a week at first. That’s normal and lifts on its own.
Shop links are for TikTok Shop accounts (100k and 200k). Link in bio accounts don’t come with TikTok Shop: use your link in bio instead.
Trouble logging in?
Getting this with email + password? Log in with your username + password instead.
It’s a TikTok glitch, not your account.
Still stuck? Wait a few hours, then tell us in your ticket. Don’t keep retrying.
It’s a TikTok glitch, not your account.
Log back in with your username + password.
If your account gets banned
- 1. Appeal the ban right away.
- 2. Wait for the appeal and change the login back to the original email + password we gave you.
- 3. “Maximum attempts reached” when changing the email? Add a phone number first, then change the email.
- 4. Open a ticket with what happened and a screenshot.
Things people ask
Why aren’t my followers American?
The account was grown internationally, so its followers are from all over. The warm-up retargets it to a US audience. Once you post, your views and sales come from US buyers, since the account is set up for US TikTok Shop. More in the Reaching a US Audience guide.
My first videos only got 50 views. Is something wrong?
No, that’s normal. TikTok is still learning who to show your videos to. Keep posting.
It says my account is restricted. What now?
Open a ticket right away and don’t touch anything. If it arrived restricted, it’s covered. Tell us within the 14 days.
How do I get paid?
In the US, TikTok pays you directly once you add your tax details. Outside the US, you use the 1% method: brands pay you directly. Full steps in the Getting Verified guide.
Something’s gone wrong. What do I do?
Banned? Follow the steps above. Anything else, open a ticket right away. Don’t change more settings to fix it. That usually makes it worse.