As a social media marketing consultant, I‘ve helped hundreds of creators improve their TikTok presence. One question I hear often – how do I save my TikTok draft videos to my camera roll?
It‘s a great question. Saving unfinished draft videos can be incredibly useful as you craft that perfect clip.
You may want to store unused footage, test out edits before publishing, maintain a library of draft ideas, or pull clips for future videos. But unlike full posts, TikTok doesn‘t give you an obvious way to download drafts you‘ve created.
So how can you save works-in-progress for later?
In this detailed guide, I‘ll demonstrate how to easily save TikTok draft videos to your device gallery with some simple privacy tweaks.
Let‘s get into the step-by-step process!
Why Save TikTok Drafts?
Before I dig into the how-to, let me spotlight 3 key reasons saving TikTok draft videos is useful:
1. Store Unused Footage
Drafts allow you to hold onto any unused video clips that don‘t make it into final published posts. Rather than lose the footage, you can save it for a future video idea by downloading drafts.
2. Test Edits Before Posting
Creators often want to preview how edits look before publishing widely. Drafts make perfect test content, allowing you to evaluate changes without impacting public videos.
3. Maintain Idea Library
Drafts also enable you to save snippets of video inspiration that may eventually become full posts. This provides easy access to an idea library as you cultivate further content.
So in summary – storing drafts keeps unused clips, allows safe editing tests, and enables video idea saving.
Now let‘s get into the step-by-step walkthrough…
Saving TikTok Draft Videos – Step by Step
The process for saving draft videos requires posting them privately and enabling save options:
Step 1 – Record and Save Draft
- Launch the TikTok app and tap the capture button to record new video content. You can also upload existing videos from your camera roll.
- After stopping recording, tap the "Drafts" button rather than "Post" to save it without publishing.
- This draft is now only visible under your profile‘s Drafts section.
Step 2 – Locate Draft & Edit
- Tap your profile icon → Drafts tab. This houses all unposted draft videos.
- Tap the specific draft you want to save. This launches editor to modify further.
Step 3 – Adjust Privacy Setting
- Tap "Who can view this video" on the posting screen.
- Choose "Private" so the draft won‘t appear publicly on your profile.
Step 4 – Enable Saving
- Confirm "Save to device" toggle is enabled below the caption.
- This allows the video to save to your camera roll once posted.
Step 5 – Publish Privately
- Hit the Post button with private mode and saving on.
- Video will now be downloaded directly into your device‘s gallery while remaining private!
And that‘s all it takes! Just 5 quick steps to saving draft videos for your own personal access.
As a tip, make sure to title drafts appropriately so you can identify any saved versions later on.
Why Post As Private Before Saving?
When you go to publish a TikTok draft, it defaults to making the video public on your profile.
But by setting it to private first, you avoid it appearing publicly while still enabling the saving functionality.
There are 2 major benefits to making draft posts private before downloading:
1. Prevents Public Sharing
Posting drafts publicly means any followers can view them on your profile. This likely isn‘t ideal for unfinished content.
2. Allows Video Saving
Currently, publishing a post is required for TikTok to save videos to your device storage or camera roll.
So in summary:
- Private = limits visibility to only you
- Public = viewable by all users
Keep this in mind when saving drafts!
Continuing Draft Edits
One final tip for working with drafts – you can continually re-edit any saved versions:
- Reopen a saved draft from your profile like normal
- Make any required edits to footage
- Repeat the steps to privately post update
- The newly saved version will overwrite previous draft
This means you don‘t have to start any drafts from scratch as you build the perfect clip!
Key Draft Saving FAQs
Let‘s recap some common questions when learning how to save TikTok draft videos:
Can I save drafts without posting at all?
Unfortunately, no. To trigger a TikTok video saving to your device gallery, it has to go through the publishing flow first.
What if I save drafts but want them deleted later?
No problem! Saved draft videos can be removed from both your TikTok profile and device storage like any other video using delete options.
Is saving draft videos better than screen recording them?
Absolutely! Saving via TikTok allows full resolution copies without any watermarks, timers, or device frames you‘d see in a screen recording.
The Key Benefits of Saving Drafts
To summarize, here are the 5 major benefits you unlock by downloading TikTok draft videos:
I don‘t know about you, but I‘m ready to start saving some drafts!
Let me know if you have any other tips or questions.
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About the Author
As a social media marketing strategist, I‘ve helped many brands and creators grow their presence on emerging platforms like TikTok. My guidance has improved content quality, engagement rates, and exposure for clients spanning industries. When I‘m not consulting with clients or speaking at industry events, you can often find me creating my own experimental TikTok videos!
Further Reading
- Beginner‘s Guide to Using TikTok Effects
- How to Download Videos From TikTok Without Watermark
- Repurposing TikTok Clips for Instagram Reels
