TikTok has exploded into one of the most influential social media platforms, now with over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. The app’s core short-form video content unlocks creativity for both everyday users and prominent creators alike.
And one of TikTok’s most popular innovations that contributes to all the viral video magic is the drafts feature.
Why TikTok Drafts Matter
TikTok drafts enable planning flexible video ideas, iterative editing capabilities, and privacy control before officially publishing content publicly.
Specifically, some of the unique benefits of using TikTok drafts include:
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Testing creative edits: Experiment freely with mixing videos, sounds, text, effects without concerns of public visibility.
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Saving incomplete work: Pause any works-in-progress to pick back up editing anytime.
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Preparing organized posting: Draft, finalize and batch polished videos for coordinated scheduling.
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Controlling limited access: Feel comfortable drafting as much personal content as desired with zero risks of leaks.
These traits make TikTok’s drafts incredibly valuable for crafting amazing videos. But there’s one big catch…
If you don’t save your TikTok drafts properly, you can lose them completely with no recovery options.
So this guide will teach you reliable techniques to backup your TikTok drafts. Let‘s dive in!
Where TikTok Drafts Are Stored
To understand the risks around potential drafts losses, we first need to cover where drafts are stored on your phone.
When you create any new TikTok draft via the mobile app, it saves temporarily as a local video file on your device, not on remote TikTok servers.
More specifically, TikTok draft videos reside in hidden folders connected to the app‘s cache data partition area. This allows smooth editing access but comes with fleeting persistence.
Now due to storing locally and only temporarily, common smartphone events like the examples below can wipe out your TikTok drafts completely:
| 👉 Deleting/reinstalling TikTok app updates |
| 👉 Factory resetting your mobile device |
| 👉 Clearing cached app data partitions |
| 👉 Lacking free storage space on your phone |
And poof! – all unsaved TikTok drafts vanish instantly with no feasible resurrection based on this technically temporary caching system.
So clearly it‘s critical to use reliable saving strategies for protecting your beloved TikTok drafts before disaster strikes and deletes all your creative editing blood, sweat and tears!
Next I‘ll cover foolproof approaches…
Saving TikTok Draft Videos: Your 2 Options
When it comes to directly saving any TikTok video – including drafts – to your Android or iPhone device storage, you have two main options:
- 📹 Screen record the TikTok video
- 💾 Save/download published TikTok video
Below compares these two methods side-by-side across helpful criteria:
| Screen Record Draft | Publish & Save Draft | |
|---|---|---|
| Steps Required | Fewer steps | More steps |
| Video Quality | Lower quality | Full quality |
| Editability | Original draft stays editable | Requires draft re-upload |
| Secondary Icons | Screen record icon shows | No excess icons |
Key Takeaways:
- Screen recording is quicker but reduces quality with baked-in record widget
- Publishing then saving retains 100% quality but needs extra steps to keep editing
With the pros and cons spelled out, I recommend using the publish privately + download save method for your best TikTok drafts.
Sure it requires some extra one-time maneuvers, but then your beloved drafts persist in flawless full quality safe and sound.
Now let me walk through exactly how to execute this…
Step-by-Step Guide to Save TikTok Drafts
Follow along below to securely save your TikTok draft videos to camera roll with full quality and editability fully in tact:
Access Your Drafts Folder
First, open TikTok and tap your profile icon ➡️ tap "Drafts folder" on the right:
This houses all current TikTok drafts saved on your device.
➡️ Tip: Repeat the upcoming steps to save EVERY worthwhile draft video!
Publish Draft Privately
Tap into any draft then "Next" → Choose "Only me" under "Who can view":
This vital step posts your draft as a private TikTok video visible only to you.
Open Your Private Videos
Return to profile ➡️ Tap private videos lock icon → Select your draft:
Now you can view the published version of your formerly unpublished draft.
Download Video to Camera Roll
With draft open, tap ⋮ menu → "Save video" to camera roll!
Amazing! You‘ve securely saved your TikTok draft in full original quality.
But what about editing it later? Keep reading!
Here‘s How to Keep Editing Saved TikTok Drafts
Once you publish then save a TikTok draft, you lose ability to directly edit THAT SPECIFIC video further.
But by "re-uploading" your safely saved TikTok drafts back into the creator workflow, you can pick up editing again from where you left off without losing any video quality!
Here‘s how to re-establish your camera roll TikTok draft videos back into flexible draft status:
Re-Upload Saved Draft
Tap ➕ create new video → Upload icon → Select your TikTok draft video from camera roll:
This essentially transfers your previously downloaded video back as the foundation for a BRAND NEW draft.
Resume Editing Your Draft
Add captions, filters, effects etc. to this refreshed draft just like normal:
You can now further polish your TikTok draft endlessly while the original safe & sound in your camera roll!
Save Edits or Publish When Ready
Finally, tap "Next" again → Either:
A) Tap "Draft" to re-save revised version
B) Tap "Post" to officially publish if fully complete
See? You‘ve mastered protecting AND advancing your TikTok drafts!
Additional TikTok Draft Management Tips
To wrap things up, here are some bonus best practices:
🔻 Delete outdated drafts regularly so your drafts folder doesn‘t get too cluttered. Fewer drafts = less managing later.
🔻 Organize published TikTok videos into album folders like "Draft originals", "Finished drafts", "Ideas inspiration" etc. for easy tracing.
🔻 Utilize cloud backups like Google Photos to add an extra layer of remote draft & video safety.
And excitingly, TikTok itself could be adding more official draft auto-save capabilities soon based on leaked coding discoveries. But nothing prevents you from taking bulletproof control of securing special drafts TODAY using the techniques above!
So in summary, treasured TikTok drafts need NOT exist fleetingly if you…
- 🚨 Understand the impermanence pitfalls
- ⬆️ Publish privately to access downloading
- 📥 Save draft videos to camera roll
- ↻ Re-upload to resume creative editing freedom
…All without ever compromising your priceless original video quality or magic momentum!
Now you can fearlessly craft spectacular TikTok drafts with confidence they‘ll persist perfectly protected through any stage until ready to wow the world!
So what are you waiting for? Check your TikTok drafts folder and start preserving those gems right now!
