Guide 4 of 4 · Everyone
Staying out of trouble.
Most accounts that die aren’t unlucky — they got there one video at a time. This is how to not be one of them.
10 minutes to readWhat a violation actually is
A violation is a mark against one video. It is not a ban.
But they stack up, and TikTok removes accounts that collect them. They also quietly cut your views long before that.
TikTok keeps two separate scores on you:
- Your content record. For normal videos. Each violation is a “strike”. Strikes drop off after 90 days.
- Your shop score. For selling. It’s a number out of 1,000 and you start at 200. It goes down when you break shop rules.
TikTok used to count “violation points” up to 48. That system is gone. Since January 2026 it’s the score out of 1,000 above, called your Creator Health Rating.
If you read an older guide talking about violation points, it’s out of date.
Find out where you stand
Check both. It takes a minute and most people have never looked.
Your content record:
Settings and privacy → Account → Account status
Your shop score: open TikTok Shop Creator Center and look for Creator Health Rating.
| Your score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 200 – 1,000 | Healthy. Nothing to worry about. |
| 151 – 199 | At risk. One more violation and you get restricted. |
| 1 – 150 | Unhealthy. TikTok starts blocking things — new listings, livestream reach, shop recommendations. |
| 0 | Gone. Shop access removed permanently. |
Everyone starts at 200. That means you begin at the bottom of healthy, not the middle. You have less room than you think.
Appeal everything, straight away
This is the single most important thing on this page.
Every violation, even a small one, even one you think you deserved. Appeal it.
On the video: … → Appeal
- Do it the same day. Appeals get harder to win the longer you leave them
- Write like a person, not a complaint. Calm and specific wins
- Say exactly why the video follows the rules
- Don’t ignore one because it’s “only one video”
A successful appeal removes the strike from your record and puts the score back. Ignoring it leaves both against you for 90 days.
Words that get you flagged
TikTok reads your caption, reads the text on screen, and listens to what you say out loud. All three count.
These are the ones that cause most of the trouble:
| Topic | Words to keep out |
|---|---|
| Health | cure · detox · fat burner · lose 10 lbs · Ozempic · reverse aging · guaranteed results |
| Money | make $10k a month · get rich · passive income · no experience needed · crypto secrets |
| Hype | shocking · exposed · banned info · hidden truth · what they don’t want you to know |
| Sensitive | unalived · addicted · trigger warning · mental breakdown · kill your cravings |
Spelling it “sh0p” or “$ave” sometimes slips past the filter. When it doesn’t, TikTok treats deliberate dodging as worse than the original word.
Say it a safer way
You don’t have to water down what you’re selling. You just have to talk about your own experience instead of promising results.
| Instead of | Say |
|---|---|
| Lose 10 lbs fast | What helped me feel lighter |
| This cures anxiety | This helps me feel calmer |
| 100% guaranteed results | Here’s what happened for me |
| Make $500 a day | How people are earning online |
| Stop aging now | Supporting healthy aging naturally |
| This one won’t get banned | — never mention TikTok’s rules at all |
The rule underneath all of it:
Say what worked for you. Never say what will work for them.
Topics to never touch
Some things aren’t worth posting no matter how carefully you word them. There is no safe version of these.
- Violence, weapons, fighting — even as a story or a joke
- Self-harm or suicide — including awareness content
- Anything sexual, including suggestive wording or emojis
- Children in grown-up situations — skincare, dieting, dating, adult humour
- Drugs, alcohol, vaping, prescription medication — even mentioned in passing
- Race, religion, gender identity — anything that reads as judgement
- Conspiracies, vaccines, politics, elections, medical claims
If you’re asking yourself whether a topic is safe, it isn’t. Post something else.
Other people getting away with it doesn’t mean it’s safe. TikTok enforces unevenly — but when it acts, it’s instant.
The five places violations come from
Almost every violation starts in one of these. Check all five before you post.
- Your caption and the text on screen. The most common one by far.
- What you say out loud. TikTok transcribes your audio. Talking is not safer than typing.
- What’s visible behind you. Never show your Seller Centre, your dashboard, or any screen with money on it. Blurring doesn’t help.
- Your hashtags. Three to five, all relevant. Irrelevant tags are treated as spam.
- Links and “DM me”. Don’t send people to other websites or platforms from a video.
Post it as private first. If it gets flagged, you’ll see it without the strike landing on a public post.
Earning your score back
Your score isn’t stuck. Three things bring it back up:
- The policy quiz. In Creator Center, under your health rating. Take it whenever it’s offered
- Completed orders. Selling normally rebuilds the score on its own
- Time. Old violations stop counting after 90 days
So a bad month is survivable. Keep posting clean content and it recovers.
Your views suddenly dropped
Getting under 500 views on everything — and especially under 100 or 200 — usually means TikTok has quietly stopped showing your videos. People call this a shadowban.
It lifts on its own. Don’t panic.
- Keep posting normal content, every day
- Maximum 1 video per hour. More than that makes it worse
- Take the shop links off until your views come back
- Don’t delete a load of videos at once — that looks worse
- Don’t flip videos between private and public
Low views on a new account are normal, not a fault. Your first videos getting 50–200 views is what everyone sees.
What the guarantee covers
If your account is banned through no fault of yours inside 14 days, we replace it free.
A ban you caused isn’t covered — that means policy violations, spam, bots, or skipping the warm-up guide. That’s the reason this page exists.
If you’re not sure which one you’re dealing with, open a ticket and we’ll look.
Quick answers
How many violations before I’m banned?
There’s no fixed number, and TikTok won’t tell you. Serious things — violence, anything involving children — are an instant permanent ban on the first one. Everything else builds up.
My appeal was rejected. Now what?
You can ask TikTok Shop Support for a manual review. If that fails too, open a ticket with us and we’ll take a look.
Do violations ever go away?
Yes. Strikes drop off your record after 90 days, and your score rebuilds over the same period.
Can I use music or clips I found online?
No. If you don’t own it, don’t use it. You can’t appeal a copyright violation — only the owner can lift it.
Is one violation going to kill my account?
No. One is normal and recoverable. Appeal it, keep posting clean, and carry on.