With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok has become one of the biggest social media platforms in the world. As your following list grows, you may end up with an overloaded feed filled with content from accounts you no longer wish to see. Unfollowing accounts on TikTok is an easy way to curate your feed and refine it down to only accounts you care about.
However, TikTok doesn‘t provide an easy native tool for mass unfollowing accounts. You can only unfollow one account at a time, which is incredibly tedious and time-consuming if you want to prune hundreds of accounts from your following list.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through everything you need to know to efficiently unfollow lots of accounts on TikTok in 2024. As an experienced social media expert, I‘ll provide pro tips to make bulk unfollowing quick and simple.
Here‘s what I‘ll cover:
- How unfollowing works on TikTok
- Step-by-step instructions to unfollow accounts
- Using third-party apps and sites for bulk unfollowing
- Unfollowing via blocking accounts
- What happens when you unfollow someone
- Pro tips for streamlining your feed
Let‘s get started!
Contents
Overview of Unfollowing on TikTok
While TikTok doesn‘t make mass unfollowing easy, there are some workarounds using third-party tools. But before we get into that, let‘s review some key facts about how unfollowing works on TikTok:
Limits are in Place
TikTok limits the number of accounts you can unfollow per day, to prevent abuse. The limit seems to be around 100 to 200 accounts daily. Unfollowing too many accounts too fast can get your account flagged by TikTok.
Take It Slow
To avoid account bans when bulk unfollowing, you need to add delays between unfollowing accounts. TikTok themselves recommends waiting at least 30 seconds between each unfollow action. This can make mass unfollowing tedious, but necessary.
It‘s Silent
Rest assured, TikTok does NOT send any notifications when you unfollow someone. The only way an account will know is if they proactively check their followers list and notice your absence.
Comments Remain
If you‘ve commented on an account‘s videos in the past, those comments will stay visible even if you unfollow that account. You‘d have to manually delete past comments if you don‘t want them appearing.
Blocking Removes Content
Unlike unfollowing, blocking an account on TikTok removes their videos and comments from your view. Blocking prevents content from certain accounts from appearing in your feed.
Now that you know the ins and outs, let‘s go through the step-by-step process for efficiently unfollowing accounts.
Instructions for Unfollowing Accounts on TikTok
If your goal is to do a major "spring cleaning" of your TikTok following list, unfollowing accounts manually will be far too slow. But for pruning just a few accounts here and there, here is the manual process:
- Open TikTok and tap the search icon (magnifying glass) at the bottom.
- Type in the username of the account you wish to unfollow. Select their profile when it appears.
- On their profile, tap the Following button (person icon with a check mark).
- Confirm you want to unfollow. TikTok will remove them right away.
Repeat for each account you want to remove, waiting 30+ seconds between each unfollow. As you can see, this can become extremely tedious with more than just a few accounts!
Next, let‘s look at how third-party apps can automate this process and unfollow accounts in bulk.
How to Bulk Unfollow Using Apps and Sites
To unfollow hundreds or even thousands of accounts quickly, you‘ll need to use a third-party app or website. These TikTok tools can unfollow accounts automatically according to parameters you set, taking the manual work out of cleaning up your following list.
Here are some of the top services for bulk TikTok unfollowing:
| Service | Details |
|---|---|
| Social Captain | Popular website for bulk TikTok automation, including one-click unfollowing. |
| Social Unfollower | Unfollow wizard makes pruning TikTok accounts easy. |
| Cleaner for IG | Designed for Instagram but works great for bulk TikTok unfollowing. |
| Followers & Unfollowers | App shows TikTok unfollowers and allows bulk unfollowing. |
While each app works a bit differently, the general process looks like this:
- Connect your TikTok account to give the tool access.
- The app imports your following list. Select accounts you wish to unfollow.
- Set delays between unfollowing actions to meet TikTok limits.
- Click to start unfollowing! Accounts removed automatically based on your settings.
Tools like this enable you to seamlessly unfollow hundreds of TikTok accounts per day, without having to manually remove each one. I recommend checking it once per day to queue up more accounts to prune.
The key is finding a trustworthy tool that offers the features you need, without compromising account security. I suggest reading customer reviews and starting with free trials to test services out.
Unfollow Via Blocking on TikTok
In addition to standard unfollowing, you can also use TikTok‘s blocking feature to remove accounts from your feed. Here‘s an overview of how blocking works:
- Blocked accounts‘ posts and comments will be hidden from your view.
- You won‘t get notifications from blocked accounts.
- Blocked accounts can‘t find your profile in TikTok search results.
- You can still visit a blocked profile, but they won‘t know you viewed it.
Blocking essentially removes an account‘s content from your TikTok experience. To block an account:
- Go to the profile you wish to block.
- Tap the ••• icon in the top-right corner.
- Select Block from the menu.
- Confirm you want to block the account.
The main downside of blocking vs. unfollowing is that blocked accounts will remain in your following list. You‘ll need to unblock and then unfollow if you want to remove them fully.
Unblocking Accounts on TikTok
If you change your mind down the road, you can unblock accounts with these steps:
- Open your TikTok profile.
- Tap the ••• icon and go to Settings and privacy.
- Select Privacy > Blocked accounts.
- Tap Unblock next to any account you want to remove from your blocked list.
This will stop blocking the account so you can interact with them again. You‘ll still need to refollow if you want to see their videos in your feed again.
What Happens When You Unfollow Someone?
Now that you know how to prune your following list, you may wonder what happens from the unfollowed account owner‘s perspective when you unfollow them.
The short answer is: not much!
TikTok does not notify accounts when someone unfollows them. The only way for them to know you unfollowed is if they regularly check their followers list and notice your absence.
Additionally, any comments you‘ve made on their videos in the past will remain visible even after you unfollow them. To totally remove your presence, you‘d have to manually delete past comments.
So in summary:
- TikTok sends no notifications to accounts you unfollow
- Your past comments will still be visible on their videos
- Owners may notice your absence if they monitor followers
Essentially, unfollowing is a silent action behind-the-scenes. In most cases, accounts you unfollow will be none the wiser!
Pro Tips for Optimizing Your TikTok Feed
In addition to unfollowing accounts you‘re no longer interested in, I recommend these pro tips to keep your TikTok feed optimized with engaging content:
Sort Your Following List
Occasionally review your full following list, sorted from newest follow to oldest. Unfollow any accounts you followed long ago but have lost interest in.
Remove Inactive Accounts
Scan for accounts that haven‘t posted in months. These inactive accounts are safe to unfollow.
Limit Brands & Influencers
Unless you absolutely love their content, limit the number of brands and influencer accounts you follow. Curate this group carefully.
Tap "Not Interested"
Use TikTok‘s "Not Interested" button on videos from accounts you want to see less of. TikTok will show fewer of their videos.
Discover new accounts by following hashtags related to your interests. Interact with creators that consistently use relevant hashtags.
By regularly pruning your following list and leveraging TikTok‘s built-in controls, you can achieve the perfect feed filled with entertaining content. Just be sure to use third-party apps responsibly when bulk unfollowing accounts.
Conclusion
Unfollowing people is an effective way to refine your TikTok feed, removing accounts that no longer interest you. While TikTok makes it tedious to unfollow more than a few accounts manually, third-party apps enable bulk unfollowing of hundreds of accounts at once.
Introduce delays of 30+ seconds between unfollows to stay within TikTok‘s limits and avoid account bans. Additionally, use TikTok‘s blocking feature if you wish to fully remove an account‘s content from your feed and notifications.
Keep in mind TikTok does not notify accounts when you unfollow them. Comments remain visible after unfollowing unless manually deleted.
Using the tips in this guide, you can prune your TikTok following list down to only the accounts you truly want to see. This curation results in an engaging, relevant feed that saves you time and cuts through the clutter.
Have any other questions about optimizing your TikTok experience? Let me know in the comments!
