TikTok account hacked: how to recover and secure it

TikTok lists these as signs someone else may have access:

• Your password or phone number has been changed.
• Your username or nickname has been changed.
• Videos have been deleted, or posted without your permission.
• Messages you didn't write were sent from your account.

Source: TikTok Support: My account has been hacked, checked 15 October 2026

Work through these in order. All of them start from Profile, the Menu button (three lines), then Settings and privacy.

1. Change your password: tap Account, then Password.
2. Link your phone number: tap Account, then Account Information, then Phone number.
3. Remove devices you don't recognise: tap Security & permissions, then Manage devices, and tap Delete next to any unknown device.
4. Turn on 2-step verification (see below).

• Changing your password logs you out of every other device, so anyone else signed in loses access.
• TikTok recommends linking both a phone number and an email address, so you have a second way in if one is compromised.

Sources: TikTok Support: My account has been hacked, checked 15 October 2026; TikTok Support: Account safety, checked 15 October 2026

If you can't log in or reset your password, TikTok lets friends you're connected with on TikTok vouch for you:

1. Open the TikTok app and tap the Help button at the top.
2. Tap Recover your account.
3. Enter the username or the email linked to the account and tap Search, or tap Search by phone number.
4. On your account page, tap Can't access these? at the bottom, then Ask friends to verify.
5. Tap Start.
6. Tap Share to send the instructions to friends another way, such as a text message.

• At least 2 friends must verify you, within a set time, and you can only send requests a limited number of times a day.
• Friends see the request on the Security & permissions page of their settings, and may need to update their app first.
• If you pass, you're logged in automatically. If you fail, try again or use another recovery method.

Source: TikTok Support: Account safety, checked 15 October 2026

2-step verification asks for a code when someone logs in from a new or unfamiliar device, so a stolen password alone isn't enough.

1. Tap Profile, then the Menu button, then Settings and privacy.
2. Tap Security & permissions.
3. Tap 2-step verification and choose at least two methods: Phone, Email, Authenticator or Password.
4. Tap Turn on to confirm.
5. For Phone or Email, tap Continue and enter the code TikTok sends you.

• TikTok marks Phone, Email and Authenticator as recommended. Authenticator needs an app such as Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator.
• Keep the recovery code you get when setting up an authenticator. You need it if you lose the app.

Source: TikTok Support: Account safety, checked 15 October 2026

Security checkup puts the main protections on one screen: Profile, Menu, Settings and privacy, Security & permissions, then Security checkup. A green tick shows each completed task.

• Link and verify a phone number and email address.
• Turn on 2-step verification and review trusted devices.
• Check recent security activity.
• Add a passkey (Settings and privacy, Account, Passkey), so you can log in with your phone's Face ID, passcode or PIN instead of a password.
• If you keep a password, TikTok suggests 12 to 15 characters, a mix of letters, numbers and symbols, and a different password for every account.

Source: TikTok Support: Account safety, checked 15 October 2026

If a team shares the account, change the password after anyone leaves and keep 2-step verification on, so one lost phone doesn't lock the business out.

• Friends can't see your request: they may need the latest version of the app.
• You lost your authenticator app: tap Can't access the app and enter your recovery code. Without it, tap Need more help? and verify your identity, which TikTok says can take up to 30 days.
• You see a ban notice, not a hack: open the notification, tap Appeal and follow the instructions.
• Still stuck: TikTok's account safety page points to its Report a problem and Contact us options.

Source: TikTok Support: Account safety, checked 15 October 2026

Zolyp, which publishes this guide, is an AI social media manager: it plans, writes, designs and schedules posts for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads, and you approve the week before anything goes out. Securing the account comes first. Once you're back in, it can pick the posting plan up again so your page doesn't go quiet while you recover.