Is opening TikTok part of your everyday routine? Are you unable to go past a few hours without scrolling through TikTok? If the answer is yes, you may get frustrated when it stops working and leaves you wondering why TikTok is not working on your phone.
TikTok has become a global brand just a few years after its launch. Building upon the stepping stones of Musical.ly and other similar apps, the dub over app has perfected its formula. It is now sponsoring major events around the globe.
Part of the reason why TikTok is so big is because of its large userbase that actively uses its app. For TikTok, it’s best you use their app now and always. So it hurts them as much as it hurts you when TikTok is not working on your phone.
Is The TikTok App Temporarily Down?

Applications like most software tend to have bugs and malfunction. When a significant enough problem arises, the app tends to go down. The going down may be done by TikTok themselves to solve the problem as they have done in the past. Sometimes the app goes down just before a new update because of some tech technicalities that were not going to go into.
To check if the TikTok app has an outage, you can contact your friends to ask whether their TikTok mobile app is working or not. You can also search for comments online mentioning TikTok being down, so you know it’s a global issue.
Websites such as Downdetector and Servicesdown are usually up to date with the status of apps. You can check there as well. If the app is temporarily unavailable, there is not much you can do except wait and hope for a quick fix.
Why is TikTok Not Working On My Phone?
TikTok is not working can because of a lot of reasons. As it is such a broad topic, we need to list only the most probable causes. Those are:
- App not updated
- Cache
- Network Error
- Restricted in-country or region banned
- Hardware issue
- Wrong Settings
- Permission Issue
This list may seem long, but not to worry, as we will go through it quickly so you can easily identify it.
How To Get TikTok Not Working to Work on My Phone?

Clear Multitasking And Restart Your Phone
A minor bug may be what’s causing all these problems for you. Using multiple apps simultaneously can clog your RAM and causing you to think why TikTok is not working on my phone. The quickest way to fix this is by going over to your multitasking tab.
You can access this by double-tapping the home button/swiping up on your iPhone, or pressing the bottom left button on your Android device. Tap to clear all apps. Reopen your TikTok app, and you may get rid of why TikTok is not working on my phone issue.
If clearing multitasking hasn’t helped you, you may restart your device. Restarting your device will clear your RAM and bring your device to refreshed state. Hopefully, your phone will work with the TikTok app.
Update The TikTok App to Fix TikTok Not Working
TikTok developers fix lots of issues and bugs every update. Normally, your TikTok app launches and works perfectly, but if your TikTok app is not updated, it can cause why TikTok is not working on my phone. This is because the TikToks server is now handling the updated TikTok app and may not support the older version of the app you currently have installed, so it’s best to update it to your respective app store and update it.
If your app is on the latest version, continue to the next tip.
Fix Internet Connection
TikTok is an application that only works with an active internet connection. This is because it does not need offline functionality. Everything you do on TikTok, be it watching TikToks or making your own TikToks, is being handled on the internet.
If your internet connection is weak or your phone has lost your internet connection, it can explain why TikTok is not working on my phone. To check if you have a valid internet connection, you can try opening any website like Google or Youtube on your phone’s browser. You can also do a speed to check if your internet is working, but it’s slow.
If you’re using your cellular data, then try to switch to Wi-Fi. Cellular data is prone to constant packet loss, which makes the network connection very inconsistent. This can lead to problems such as why TikTok is not working on your phone. Wi-Fi is much faster can consistent than mobile data, so you can use it to try and open the app.
If you’re not getting enough speed on your Wi-Fi, then you need to contact your local internet service provider (ISP) for further assistance.
Use A VPN

TikTok is notorious for being banned in several countries despite its popularity and userbase. Countries such as India and others have banned TikTok over various concerns, such as security to cultural impact. So if you and your friends can’t access TikTok anymore, it’s likely that your country was geo-blocked by TikTok and you have been denied its access.
But don’t worry, as there is a way to go around this ban. That is by the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN). VPN allows you to access contact by pretending to use other countries’ internet. VPNs also provide security which is helpful in the case of TikTok, which is infamous for cyber security reasons.
Final Thoughts
Being stuck can be pretty annoying, and if you made it this far without finding a solution, don’t hesitate to get in touch with TikTok support. We hope we have helped fix your problem of why TikTok is not working on your phone.
We also have solutions to other TikTok issues like TikTok Server Error: Here’s How To Resolve Errors With The Video App here.