How long does a TikTok story last?

A TikTok story is visible for 24 hours after you post it. After that it disappears from your profile and the feeds and, if archiving is on, is saved to your private Story archive.

Can you keep a TikTok story up longer than 24 hours?

Yes, by adding it to a Highlight. A Highlight keeps the story on your profile until you remove it. You can create one from a live story or later from your Story archive.

Can I see someone's TikTok story after 24 hours?

Only if they saved it to a Highlight on their profile. Once a story expires it moves to the creator's private archive, which nobody else can open. If you want to keep a story, download it while it's still live.

Does TikTok notify someone if I screenshot their story?

No. TikTok doesn't currently send screenshot notifications for stories. Your view is still recorded, though: if you're logged in, you appear in the creator's viewer list.

Can I edit a TikTok story after posting it?

No. Once a story is live you can't change its text, stickers or sound. Delete it and post a corrected version instead.

Who can see my TikTok story?

On a public account, anyone can see it from your profile and it may appear in the For You and Following feeds. On a private account, only your approved followers can. Highlights follow the same visibility as the original story.

Why can't I find the Story option when I post?

Your app may be out of date, or the feature may not have reached your account or region yet. Update TikTok and look for the Story tab below the Record button after tapping +.

TikTok Stories: How to See Old Stories, Post and Delete

What are TikTok stories?

TikTok stories are short photos, videos or text posts that disappear from public view after 24 hours. They show up on your profile (as a ring around your profile photo), in your followers' inboxes, and in the Following and For You feeds. Viewers can react with emojis or reply by direct message. Unlike regular posts, a story shows its creator exactly who watched it.

Below: how to post a story on TikTok, how to delete one, where old stories go, and what viewers can see.

How to post a story on TikTok

Tap +, choose Story, add a photo, video or text, and tap Your Story. These are the steps from TikTok's help center, which are the same on iPhone and Android:

Tap the + (Add post) button at the bottom of the app.
Tap Story below the Record button, then choose Photo, Text or a video time limit.
Take a photo, record a video or type your text, or tap Upload to pick something from your camera roll.
Add a filter, sound, text or stickers if you want.
Tap Your Story to post it.

There's a shortcut too: tap your own profile photo at the top of the Following feed, your inbox or your profile, then upload or record and tap Your Story.

How to add a TikTok video to your story

To share a regular TikTok (yours or someone else's) on your story, open the video, tap the Share arrow and look for Add to story. The video appears as a sticker on a story you can decorate before posting. This option isn't shown for every video: creators can limit sharing, and it may be missing in some app versions.

How to repost a TikTok story on your story

At the time of writing there's no button to repost another person's story to your own the way Instagram lets you reshare a story you're tagged in. Your options are to send it to a friend from the story's Share button, or, if the story is based on a regular video, share that video to your story with Add to story. Re-uploading someone else's content without permission can also run into TikTok's intellectual property rules, so credit or ask the creator.

How to add a link to a TikTok story

You add a link with TikTok's Link sticker, which puts a tappable URL on a story, but only if your account has it. TikTok has been rolling it out, and availability depends on your account type, region and app version. To check, start a story, tap the Stickers icon and look for Link. If it isn't there, your account doesn't have it yet; the usual workaround is to add the link to your bio and point viewers to it with a text sticker ("link in bio").

How to delete a story on TikTok

Open your story, swipe up on the one you want to remove and tap Delete:

Tap your profile photo at the top of the Following feed, your inbox or your profile to open your story.
Go to the story you want to remove and swipe up.
Tap Delete, then tap Delete again to confirm.

You can also tap the Share button at the bottom of your story and choose Delete from there. Deleting is immediate, but anyone who already watched or saved it may have a copy, so act quickly if you posted something by mistake.

How to see your own story on TikTok

To see your own live story, tap your profile photo on your Profile: a colored ring around it means a story is up, and tapping it plays your story. Swipe up while it plays to see the view count and the list of viewers. If there's no ring, you have no story from the last 24 hours, so check the Story archive below to confirm whether a story was posted.

How to see old stories on TikTok

Your own expired stories are kept in a private Story archive that only you can see; other people's old stories are visible only if they added them to a Highlight. After 24 hours a story disappears from public view, but it isn't necessarily gone.

Where do TikTok stories go after 24 hours?

After 24 hours a TikTok story leaves your profile and the feeds and, if archiving is on, moves to your private Story archive. It stays there for you alone. Nobody else can see an expired story unless you add it to a Highlight, which puts it back on your profile.

Your own stories: the TikTok story archive

The archive is where TikTok saves expired stories, organized by date. Depending on your app version, you can reach it in one of these ways:

From Profile → Menu ☰ → Settings and privacy, look for Archive (often under a content or display section).
From your profile, tap Create Story Highlights. The picker lists the stories saved in your Story archive.

If archiving is turned off in your settings, expired stories aren't saved. The archive is also not a backup of everything forever, so download stories you care about to your phone.

Keep stories visible with Highlights

Highlights pin stories to your profile so they stay up after 24 hours. To create one, tap Profile, tap Create Story Highlights, pick stories from your archive, tap Add, then choose a cover and a name and publish it. You can also create a Highlight directly from a live story. Press and hold a Highlight on your profile to edit or delete it. Highlights keep the same visibility setting as the original story.

Someone else's old stories

You can only see another person's expired story if they added it to a Highlight. Their archive is private, and no tool can open it. If you want to keep a story someone posts, save it while it's still live.

Can people see that you viewed their TikTok story?

Yes. Creators can see both the total view count and the accounts that watched, and TikTok's help center notes this applies even if your account is private or your profile view history is turned off. To check, they open their story, look at the count at the bottom and swipe up for the list. There is no setting that hides you.

The only way to watch without appearing is to not be logged in. Tikvue's TikTok story viewer plays public stories without any TikTok account, so your name never lands in the viewer list. For the details of how the list works, see can you see who viewed your TikTok story.

Privacy tips for TikTok stories

Stories on a public account can reach strangers through the For You feed. If you only want followers to see them, make your account private.
Control who can reply to your stories through your direct message settings, since replies arrive as DMs.
Think twice before putting location details or other people's faces in a story; it's temporary for you, but anyone can screen-record it.
Want to see what someone posts without following them? The anonymous TikTok viewer shows a public profile's videos, reposts and active stories in one place.