Alexis Kestler
Have you ever spent time creating the perfect TikTok video, only to accidentally close the app and lose all your hard work? As a tech-savvy social media user, I‘ve been there too. TikTok‘s powerful editing tools make it easy to craft great short videos, but there‘s no intuitive way to save drafts directly to your camera roll.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll show you expert tricks to safely save TikTok draft videos to your phone‘s gallery so you never lose your editing again.
The TikTok Draft Dilemma – Why We Need to Save Them
As a streamer and gaming content creator myself, I often use TikTok to make short funny clips and memes to share with my community online.
TikTok has become my go-to video editing app. The wide selection of filters, text overlays, sound effects, and music in TikTok makes my content pop online. I can spend hours crafting the perfect 5-10 second clip.
When I‘m not happy with my draft video, I hit the "Draft" button so I can come back later and keep editing before posting.
But here lies the problem – unlike Instagram or Snapchat, TikTok does not have a "Save Draft" option.
TikTok stores drafts only within the app itself. If I accidentally close the app or clear cache, I lose the draft I spent so long perfecting!
As a tech geek, this drives me crazy. I wish TikTok would add a simple "Save Draft" feature like other social apps have. But for now, we have to use a short workaround.
In this guide, I‘ll share how I safely save TikTok draft videos as a tech expert so you never lose your editing work again either.
What Exactly Is a TikTok Draft Video?
For those new to TikTok, let‘s quickly go over what draft videos are:
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A TikTok draft is a video you‘ve created in the TikTok app but haven‘t posted yet. You "save as draft" to finish editing it later.
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Drafts are only saved within TikTok – you cannot directly access them from your camera roll or device storage.
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You can find drafts in your profile under the "Drafts" tab – this stores all your unfinished videos.
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You can edit a draft at any time before finally posting the finished video live on your TikTok feed.
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If you close the app, you will lose the draft unless you manually save it somewhere else.
Now let‘s get into how we can properly save drafts…
Why We Have to Post Drafts Before Saving Them
This is the annoying part about TikTok. Unlike other platforms, TikTok does not allow saving drafts directly.
The only way to save a draft video to your camera roll is to post it first.
However, simply posting a draft makes it go live publicly on your profile. All your followers would see your unfinished video!
The solution is to change the video setting to "Private" first before posting. This ensures no one else can view the draft but it still gets saved to your device.
Let‘s look at how to do this step-by-step:
How to Save a TikTok Draft in 4 Simple Steps
Follow these steps to safely save any TikTok draft video to your camera roll:
1. Access Your Draft Video
- Open TikTok and tap your profile icon.
- Tap "Drafts" to see your unfinished video clips.
- Tap the specific draft you want to save to open the editing screen.
2. Make the Video Private
- Tap "Who can view this video" and select "Private"
- This makes sure no one else can view the draft when posted.
- Confirm by tapping the "X" icon.
3. Enable "Save to Device"
- Scroll down and enable "Save to device" option.
- This allows TikTok to save your posted videos to your camera roll.
4. Post the Draft Video
- Finish any editing you want to do – add effects, text, etc.
- Tap "Post" to post the draft video privately.
- The video saves to your camera roll and stays private!
And that‘s all it takes to safely save your TikTok drafts!
Saving TikTok Drafts – FAQs
Let‘s go over some common questions about saving TikTok draft videos:
Can I save drafts without posting at all?
Unfortunately, no. Due to TikTok‘s limitations, you must post first.
What if I don‘t want anyone seeing my draft when posted?
Be sure to set it to "Private" before posting. This prevents it from going live publically.
Where do my saved TikTok drafts go in my phone?
Your TikTok videos save to your regular camera roll with your other photos and videos. They are in MP4 format.
Can I delete the private posted video from my TikTok after saving?
Yes! Feel free to remove the video from your profile after saving it. Your camera roll version will stay safely saved.
How can I tell if "Save to Device" is enabled?
The switch will be blue when enabled. Tap it to toggle on/off. Having this on is crucial.
Expert Tips for Saving TikTok Drafts
After extensive testing, here are some pro tips from a TikTok power user:
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Double check that "Save to Device" is enabled before posting drafts. This is a must.
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Consider using a screen recording app if you don‘t want to post at all. Record your draft and save the screen recording.
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You can trim the start/end of your saved videos if drafts have unwanted pauses.
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Drafts with music may get muted when saved depending on copyrights. Experiment to see what works.
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Routinely post and save drafts to your camera roll as backups in case you lose access to your TikTok account.
Final Thoughts on Saving TikTok Drafts
As a tech expert and avid TikTok user, learning how to properly save draft videos took some trial and error. But using the steps in this guide, you can now confidently edit to your heart‘s content knowing your TikTok drafts will stay safe!
I hope these tips help you become more efficient at creating awesome TikTok content and reliably saving your draft videos. No more losing hours of editing work!
Let me know if you have any other questions. I‘m always happy to provide insight as a power user. Enjoy all the fun features TikTok has to offer. Happy content creating!
