TikTok Sending Fake Notifications? Here’s Why (And How To Stop It)

Have you ever had this happen to you?

Let’s say you’re browsing through your phone, and you see a number next to the TikTok app indicating there’s a notification. Or perhaps TikTok just randomly decided to send you one.

You open it up, get distracted by the first thing on your For You page, and without realizing it you’ve spent 20 minutes browsing TikTok when you otherwise had no intention to.

Kind of annoying, right?

TikTok has a problem with sending fake notifications, and in this article, we’re going to delve deep into why this happens – and what you can do about it.

Why Is TikTok Sending Fake Notifications?

The first thing we have to do is think about why these notifications might be appearing.

TikTok’s fake notifications can almost certainly be boiled down to one of two problems.

Either TikTok is maliciously sending these notifications to try and get you to open the app, or there’s a technical glitch that’s causing notifications to appear in error.

Both of these are feasible possibilities.

We all know that TikTok wants us to spend as much time on the app as possible, and they do in fact send out random notifications to try and entice you back. These may be random viral videos that they’re pushing out to lots of people, or it could be simple things like somebody you follow posting a new TikTok.

These notifications aren’t fake per say, though they are intentionally designed to compel you into opening TikTok and spending more time browsing.

Whether TikTok is sending truly fake notifications (causing your phone to show the app with a number beside it, but not actually having a notification there), is unknown.

If they are doing this, there is likely nothing you can do to stop it, other than disabling notifications all together.

If it is a technical glitch however, there’s a lot of things we can do to stop it. And because there’s no way to tell whether these fake notifications are a glitch or they’re intentional, you may consider trying some of these fixes out anyway.

Technical Fixes For Fake TikTok Notifications

Let’s look into some potential ways to fix TikTok’s fake notification problem. Hopefully after trying these fixes, you’ll only see real notifications from now on.

1. Clear The Cache

Clearing TikTok’s cache is simple, and only takes a few moments.

The cache is made up of files that helps to speed up many of TikTok’s features. TikTok downloads it automatically when its needed, so there’s no issue with clearing the cache regularly. In addition to fixing technical problems, it will also free up some additional space on your device, which is a nice bonus!

To clear TikTok’s cache, follow these steps:

1. Go to your profile.
2. Open your settings by clicking the button with the three horizontal lines (it is located in the top-right corner.)
3. Scroll down to ‘Cache & Cellular Data’.
4. Tap the button that says ‘Clear cache’.

TikTok should begin clearing the cache immediately, though the process takes a few moments to complete.

2. Reinstall The App

Sometimes, apps get bugged and notifications get stuck. You may open the app, but the notifications still won’t go away.

This is an issue for all apps, not just TikTok.

Deleting an app will remove all of the app’s data from your device, and reset any notifications.

Note that while this should certainly reset your notifications to zero, it can be a bit of an annoyance to do. Upon redownloading the app, you will have to sign in again, and you will also lose any drafts that haven’t yet been published or uploaded to TikTok’s servers.

Let me say that again. Deleting the TikTok app, even to reinstall it moments later, will wipe all drafts from your phone.

Therefore, make sure you make a backup, or publish them before deleting the app.

3. Disable TikTok Notifications Entirely

Finally, you may consider disabling notifications for TikTok entirely.

This is usually a last resort option, as there may be legitimate notifications that you actually want to receive. Unfortunately, when it comes to blocking notifications, you only option is to allow or block all of them at once.

iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

To block notifications on iOS devices, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Search for ‘TikTok’
3. Click on ‘Notifications’
4. Toggle ‘Allow Notifications’ to off.

Android Devices

To disable notifications on Android phones or tablets, follow these steps:

1. Swipe down from the top.
2. Tap on ‘Apps & Notifications’
3. Tap on ‘Notifications’
4. Find the TikTok app on the list of apps that have recently sent you notifications
5. Toggle it to off.

Again, this will disable all notifications from TikTok, even the ones you might want to receive.

Check For Multiple Accounts

Let’s say that you received a notification that appears real. When you open the app, it is nowhere to be found. What gives?

One thing to do is to switch between all of your accounts, and check all of the notifications there.

While TikTok will usually only send you notifications for the account you’re signed into at that moment, there’s a chance that the old notifications could be for another account you’ve signed into previously.

Because you’re not logged into that account, the notification is unable to clear, so it will still show it on your phone or tablet’s home screen.

Often times, the issue simply comes down to this. So, I wanted to mention it in case you have multiple TikTok accounts!

Conclusion

Fake notifications are annoying at best, and TikTok has a real problem with them.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell whether this is something TikTok is doing on purpose, or whether it’s simply a glitch.

However, the techniques and advise shared within this article can help with troubleshooting, and it’s worth giving them a shot.

If you’ve managed to fix this fake notification problem, I’d love to hear what worked for you. Your expertise and advise would also help everyone else out that’s also experiencing this problem.

Thank you for reading, and wishing you the best!

– James McAllister