A Complete Guide to Saving Your TikTok Drafts

Hey friend! Have you ever spent time creating awesome TikTok videos only to find they‘ve disappeared? Or wanted to work on drafts but weren‘t ready to post them publicly?

Don‘t worry, I‘ve totally been there too!

TikTok doesn‘t make it obvious how to save unfinished videos known as "drafts." And if you lose them, they‘re gone forever!

That‘s why I put together this ultimate guide on saving TikTok drafts to your camera roll.

We‘ll cover:

• What precisely TikTok drafts are
• Why you absolutely should save them
• Simple step-by-step instructions for iOS and Android
• How to re-upload and edit saved drafts later
• Tips for managing and deleting old drafts you no longer need

Let‘s dive in and make sure your creative TikTok ideas are locked down tight!

What Are TikTok Drafts and Why Save Them?

When you record a new TikTok video but don‘t publish it right away, it automatically saves as a "draft" on your device.

These unfinished, unposted videos are called TikTok drafts.

For example, you might film yourself trying a new dance routine but aren‘t ready to share it. Or trying out a lip-sync video idea before finalizing it.

Rather than forcing you to publish videos instantly, TikTok lets you save them as drafts to finalize later.

However, these drafts aren‘t stored permanently or synced across devices.

They are only cached locally on your phone and linked to your TikTok account.

This means if you:

• Delete the TikTok app
• Log out or switch TikTok accounts
• Clear out cached app data from your phone

You‘ll lose all your draft videos and any changes made to them.

For example, one TikTok user reported:

"I logged out of TikTok by accident and lost all 30 drafts I had. I didn‘t even get to look back at them or pick which ones to post. I‘m devastated, they took me ages to make."

This happens because TikTok drafts aren‘t backed up anywhere besides your device‘s own temporary storage.

Unlike photos or contacts, they aren‘t synced to any cloud storage or across multiple devices.

So if anything happens to the TikTok app or your phone, poof! Your drafts are gone forever.

That‘s why it‘s crucial to manually save any drafts you want to keep to a more permanent spot, like your camera roll.

Why You Should Always Save Your Drafts

Saving TikTok drafts to your camera roll serves two very important purposes:

1. Preserves your drafts if you lose access to your TikTok account

Since drafts aren‘t synced online or across devices, saving them to your camera roll is the only way to keep them if you have TikTok issues.

For example, your drafts will disappear if you:

• Get logged out of TikTok
• Uninstall and reinstall the app
• Switch TikTok accounts
• Get a new phone

With drafts saved, you won‘t lose your hard work if any of this happens!

2. Allows you to edit and re-upload drafts later

TikTok doesn‘t allow editing a published video after the fact. But with camera roll drafts, you can re-upload them to edit and polish until they‘re perfect!

This means you can:

• Save unfinished drafts before they‘re post-ready
• Work on drafts over multiple sessions or days
• Get feedback from friends before publishing

Without saving them, unfinished drafts would get deleted constantly as you tweak and polish them.

So saving drafts lets you preserve works-in-progress until you‘re fully satisfied.

Step-by-Step Guide to Saving Drafts on iOS and Android

Ready to make sure your TikTok drafts are locked in safe and sound?

Saving drafts is easy once you know the steps. Let‘s go through the full process on both iOS and Android devices.

Saving Drafts on iPhone

On an iPhone, saving drafts requires using the share menu:

1. Open your drafts tab in TikTok
2. Tap the draft you want to save
3. Tap the share button
4. Choose "Save Video"

Let‘s look at each of these steps in more detail:

Step 1: Go to Your Drafts Tab

First, open the TikTok app and tap your profile icon in the bottom right:

Next, tap on the folder icon labeled "Drafts":

This takes you to your drafts tab where all unfinished, unsaved videos are stored.

Step 2: Select the Draft You Want to Save

Now browse through your drafts and tap on the specific one you want to save to your camera roll:

Tapping the draft will open its editing page.

Step 3: Tap the Share Button

From the draft‘s editing screen, tap the share button on the bottom bar:

This opens up the sharing menu.

Step 4: Choose "Save Video"

Finally, select the "Save Video" option from the sharing menu:

Your TikTok draft is now saved to your camera roll!

Open your Photos app and you‘ll see the draft video ready for you to re-upload later.

Saving Drafts on Android

The process works nearly the same way on Android devices:

1. Go to your drafts tab
2. Tap the draft to save
3. Tap the three-dot menu button
4. Select "Save video"

Let‘s break it down:

Step 1: Go to Your Drafts Tab

Just like on iPhone, open your TikTok profile and tap on "Drafts":

Step 2: Choose the Draft to Save

Browse your drafts and tap the one you want to download:

This opens the editing page for that specific draft.

Step 3: Tap the Three-Dot Menu Button

From the draft‘s editing screen, tap the three-dot menu button:

This opens more options.

Step 4: Select "Save Video"

Finally, choose the "Save video" option:

And you‘re all done! The draft is now in your camera roll ready for re-uploading.

iOS vs Android Draft Saving Compared

To summarize, on both platforms you:

1. Go to drafts tab
2. Tap the draft to save
3. Open sharing/menu options
4. Select save

Here‘s an "at-a-glance" comparison:

Action	On iPhone	On Android
Open drafts	Tap profile > Drafts	Tap profile > Drafts
Select draft	Tap draft to open	Tap draft to open
Open options	Tap share button	Tap 3-dot menu
Save draft	Tap "Save Video"	Tap "Save video"

The processes are nearly identical. The only difference is using the share button versus menu dots to access saving.

Easy enough!

Re-Uploading and Editing Saved Drafts

Once you save a draft to your camera roll, you‘re all set even if you delete TikTok or lose access to your account.

But what happens when you‘re finally ready to finish and post your videos?

Thankfully, you can easily re-upload saved drafts back into TikTok for editing.

Here‘s how:

1. Start a new TikTok video
2. Tap upload and select your saved draft
3. Make any edits you want
4. Post or save privately as a draft again

Let‘s discuss the steps:

Step 1: Start a New Video

Open the TikTok app and tap the + button to start recording a new video:

You don‘t need to actually record anything new yet.

Step 2: Upload Your Saved Draft

Now tap the upload icon and select your camera roll to find your saved draft:

Select the draft video to upload it.

Step 3: Edit the Draft

With your draft uploaded, you can now edit it just like a normal TikTok!

Trim clips, add music, insert captions, apply filters – whatever you want.

Step 4: Post or Save as Draft Again

Finally, tap "Next" to go to the posting page.

Choose to either:

• Post publicly – add captions, hashtags, etc. and post it for all to see
• Save privately as draft – if you need more time to polish it before posting

And that‘s all there is to it! Now you can keep drafting, saving, and editing your videos until they‘re perfect.

Tips for Editing Saved Drafts

Here are some quick tips and tricks when re-uploading and editing saved TikTok drafts:

• Trim clips – Drag the trim sliders if your saved draft needs clipping.
• Rearrange multiple clips – Use the rearrange button to order clips.
• Check audio – Make sure any music or voiceovers are lined up.
• Enhance lighting – Apply filters to make old drafts more vibrant.
• Update effects – Switch up visual effects to keep things fresh.

Deleting Old Drafts You No Longer Need

As you edit and post your drafts, your camera roll may start filling up with ones you no longer need.

Here‘s how to delete saved TikTok draft videos when you‘re done with them:

Delete from Your Camera Roll

1. Open your phone‘s Photos or Gallery app
2. Browse and select the old draft videos
3. Delete them like any normal photo or video

This removes them from your camera roll storage.

Delete Within the TikTok App

You can also remove drafts directly in TikTok:

1. Go to your drafts tab
2. Long press on the draft to delete
3. Tap "Delete" to remove it

This way clears out your in-app draft storage.

And your device is now decluttered of old TikTok drafts!

Keep Creating with Confidence!

Well, that covers everything you need to start saving your TikTok drafts like a pro!

While TikTok itself makes downloading drafts confusing, the steps to save videos and re-edit them aren‘t too bad once you know how.

I highly recommend frequently saving any drafts you want to keep. This gives you lots of creative flexibility and freedom.

The key points to remember are:

• TikTok drafts aren‘t permanent – they must be saved manually.
• Download drafts to your camera roll – this keeps them if you lose access to your TikTok account.
• Re-upload saved drafts to edit – you can polish old drafts and post when ready.
• Delete draft copies once you‘ve posted the final videos.

So be sure to use this guide anytime you want to save your drafts! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.

Now get out there and start shooting awesome TikTok content without worrying about lost drafts!