TikTok videos get deleted for a number of reasons. Some are banned by the app for policy violation, some are removed due to user complaints and some are taken down by the uploader themselves.

If the deleted video had something of value to you and you liked it or pinned it, there are ways you can still find it. Remember: Google never forgets!

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How to View Deleted TikToks

#1. Contact the Creator

The best option to view deleted TikToks is to request their creators to send you a copy or a link where they have the backup of the removed file.

Most TikTokers, like other content creators, always keep their files safe. Even if TikTok removes a file from their servers, the creator will have its originally produced version on its internal database.

This option mostly works with Nano and Micro influencers having 1,000 to 50,000 followers. They will respond to your request and will help you out because this gives them more exposure. 

Check out How to Contact TikTok Influencers & Creators.

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Asking Mid-tier and Macro influencers for their deleted TikToks might not work. Firstly it is very difficult for them to respond to your email or message since they might be getting tons of them. And secondly video productions of these influencers are tied up with a lot of brands and trademark policies and sharing them can lead the creators into trouble. 

But there is a silver lining with heavily liked or commented TikTok videos which got deleted. They often are reuploaded with some edits or under a different file name or sometimes from a different account.

Search for the video you are looking for under different associated titles and in other linked TikTok accounts of the creator. If not sooner there is a pretty good chance the video will get republished some days after the deletion. 

#2. Ask other Followers

If the deleted video you are looking for was liked and commented on by many viewers, some of them may have a downloaded copy of it. 

Look for the channel’s followers and commenters from which the video was posted. Check the comments talking about the usefulness of the video and shortlist these commenters.

Contact as many of them as you can. Going for just a few might not be sufficient because there might be hardly one or two who must have downloaded the file and this is also not guaranteed.

If the video did not go viral and had a few views then there are long odds that the followers might have a copy of it. 

Instead go with the first method – contacting the creator itself. 

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#3. Check archive.org or other archive sites 

Archive.org is one of the biggest online libraries which store millions of world wide web documents and is legit. There is a very high chance you will find the webpage which hosted the deleted Tiktok here. 

But there are some issues you are going to face if you try archive.org.

Primarily, searching the exact html document which had the video will not be very easy, because you will have to run through a lot of pages to find the one.

(Look at the volume of the saved pages marked in yellow)

Secondly, even if you find the page, the video might not be available for download. Although you will be able to play the video if your system supports flash (or any other required media player). 

There are other archive sites specifically for TikTok media, like Tik.fail. Tiktokder and Urlebird.com.

You will be able to search the creator and the channel by the username in their search bar and if you are able to locate the deleted video, you will even be able to download it. 

However one cannot guarantee how legit sites like these are and what they do with your cookie data. 

There are reports suggesting tik.fail was even shut down for some months and a lot of data on its servers were deleted. (As of writing this article, the site is working.) 

Trying sites like these to search for the file depends on how important the deleted TikTok is for you and how much you need it.

#4. Search on Other Social Media Platforms

Creators put links to their videos on their different social media handles. Try searching on their YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram reels. 

Check for the links to the video you are looking for, because mostly the creator would not have put the whole video on these platforms. If you are lucky enough you might get the video source on other websites or URLs by tracing the links. 

Alternatively search the creator’s account (whose deleted TikTok you are looking for) on apps similar to Tik Tok. In some countries TikTok is banned and hence creators put all their media files on other competing programs like Moj, Triller and MxTakatak.

Also try looking for the deleted video in compilations of TikTok videos on YouTube and other video streaming apps. Determine the appropriate niche and the topic first. 

Put it in YouTube’s search bar – (Topic + Compilation). It will show you a list of related results. Fast forward the compilations because they can be very lengthy. Hopefully you will be able to find your video in some of them.  

#5. Recover the file from your Cache

This method will only work if you had previously downloaded the TikTok video on your device and it got deleted from there and from the TikTok app as well. 

Hopefully if you have not cleared the cached files from your device you will be able to recover the video. 

This method requires some technical know how. Check this article on How to Recover Cache Files on Android SD Card. 

Once you locate the file, download it and keep it somewhere safe like uploading on Google drive or Microsoft cloud. 

Conclusion

There are good chances that you will be able to view the deleted TikTok file if you try one of the methods described above. 

However we would recommend you to respect the privacy of the creator and to adhere to the rules and regulations of the app. 

If the creator deleted it, or the app banned it, they must have a reason to do so and they wouldn’t want it to resurface back. 

And even if you get the video you were looking for with someone somewhere, it is your responsibility that it does not get leaked or shared in the public domain again.  

There is no harm if the creator shares the media file with you. But still you should be morally responsible. 

Instead, a better alternative is to check out substitutes of the deleted video. 

You will be able to find the information, or whichever element you were looking for (in the originally  removed TikTok,) on other sources, like YouTube shorts or Instagram and Facebook reels. 

Check out this article to learn effective search techniques on the net. For other articles related to TikTok check out our TikTok page.