Do you find yourself constantly checking TikTok to see if anyone has sent you a direct message? Are you tired of missing messages from friends or followers because you aren’t getting notified when they message you?
If your TikTok direct message notifications aren’t working properly, it can quickly become annoying to keep up with your conversations. The good news is there are a few simple troubleshooting steps you can take to fix the issue.
In this blog post, I’ll walk you through several methods for troubleshooting and repairing broken or malfunctioning TikTok DM notifications.
Whether you’re using an iPhone or Android device, you’ll learn tips like checking your notification settings, updating the TikTok app, forcing apps to close and restarting, and more.
Why Your TikTok DM Notifications May Not Be Working
Before diving into the troubleshooting, it can help to understand some of the key reasons why TikTok direct message notifications can suddenly stop functioning. Here are some of the most common causes:
Your Notification Settings Are Disabled
One obvious reason your DMs aren’t triggering alerts could simply be that your notifications are turned off entirely. This can happen if you intentionally disabled notifications, but also if there was a glitch or settings change.
It’s an easy thing to check just to make sure your notification settings didn’t somehow get flipped off for TikTok messages.
An Outdated App Version
At times, installing an outdated version of the TikTok app can cause havoc with push notifications. If the app isn’t fully up-to-date, it may struggle to deliver alerts reliably about new direct messages.
An outdated app can also contribute to other notification issues on your device. Updating to the current TikTok app version is generally advisable anyway to fix bugs and improve performance.
Background App Refresh Is Turned Off
The background app refresh setting controls whether apps can fetch new data or content when running in the background. For your DMs to trigger push notifications, background app refresh typically needs to be enabled for TikTok.
If it gets disabled, either by you or unintentionally, the app can’t update itself in the background which may prevent some real-time notifications.
Do Not Disturb Mode Is Blocking Notifications
Your iPhone and Android device have do not disturb settings that, when activated, block notifications from making sounds or lighting up your screen. Useful at night or for avoiding distractions, this could inadvertently mute new direct messages.
It’s worth double-checking your do not disturb configurations if your TikTok notifications suddenly disappear. You may discover notifications get suppressed during particular hours or when certain settings kick in.
Restricted App Data or Battery Usage
To preserve battery life or cellular data, you can limit background usage for apps like TikTok. However, severely restricting apps can prevent timely notifications. Location services permissions can also impact notifications.
Revisit these types of usage restrictions in your device settings if your DMs have stopped coming through reliably, as they may inadvertently block alerts.
Out of Storage Space
While it might not seem directly connected, running out of storage capacity can wreak havoc with apps and notifications. Without enough available storage, apps struggle to run smoothly in the background.
Fixes For TikTok Direct Message Notifications Not Working
1. Restart Your Phone
Try the simple step of completely restarting your phone. A device reboot clears temporary memory caches and resets apps and operating systems.
On iPhones
- Hold down the Side button and either Volume button until you see the slider to power off.
- Drag the slider to turn off your phone.
- After 30 seconds, hold down the Side button again until you see the Apple logo to reboot your iPhone.
On Android devices
- Hold down the Power button to see the shutdown options.
- Tap Restart to reboot the phone.
- The phone will automatically power back on after a minute.
Restarting kicks apps like TikTok basically back to a clean slate, clearing up any update hiccups or memory glitches that may interfere with notifications. See if taking this quick step gets your direct messaging notifications functioning reliably again.
2. Check your Phone’s Sound Settings
Another key component in getting notifications to reliably show up is your phone’s sound and vibration settings. If these are disabled or muted, TikTok alerts may not break through even if other troubleshooting is covered.
Take a moment to reconfirm sound and vibration:
On iPhones
- Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics and ensure sound and vibration are not disabled
- Check slider settings for Ringer and Alerts volume, as well as notification tone, sounds
On Androids
- Navigate to Settings > Sound and verify Do Not Disturb is not enabled
- Under the Default notification ringtone setting choose a sound alert
- Adjust the volume sliders under Media, Call, Ring & notification volumes
If notifications aren’t enabled properly at the device system level, TikTok will struggle to surface DM alerts. Notification tones and vibrations underpin reliable notifications.
3. Update the TikTok App
using an outdated version of TikTok can prevent notifications from working correctly.
Head to your device’s app store to check for any available updates:
On iPhone
- Open the App Store app
- Tap your profile icon in the upper right corner
- Scroll down to see a list of apps needing updates
- Look for the TikTok app in the list and tap Update next to it
- If TikTok is not listed, it is already updated
On Android
- Open the Google Play Store app
- Tap the profile icon in the upper right corner
- Choose My apps & games from the menu
- Under Updates available, look for TikTok and tap Update
- If available updates do not show TikTok, you have the newest version
Install the most up-to-date version of the TikTok app from the app store. Then test to see if DM notifications start coming through again as expected after updating.
4. Turn Off the “Do Not Disturb” Mode
If your phone is in “Do Not Disturb” mode, you won’t receive any notifications.
Do Not Disturb Mode may be to blame if you aren’t getting any notifications from any app, including TikTok. To receive TikTok notifications, you must turn it off.
This is obviously helpful in situations where the user really doesn’t want to be disturbed.
To Turn off Do Not Disturb on iPhones (iOS)
- Go to “Settings > Focus” on your iPhone to switch off “Do Not Disturb Mode.”
- On the next screen, tap any Focus mode that is marked as “On” to switch it off.
To Turn off Do Not Disturb on Android
- Navigate to Settings.
- Tap on “Sound & Vibration.”
- Tap on “Do Not Disturb” then proceed to toggle it to the left to turn it off (if it was on).
5. Enable Push Notifications on TikTok
When you enter the Notifications settings menu in TikTok (Profile > Settings > Notifications), make sure the toggle next to “Push notifications” is switched on.
This main toggle enables notifications to be pushed to your device from the TikTok app.
Users have the option to personalize notifications in TikTok’s settings, and they may unintentionally turn off the app’s notifications. A TikTok app upgrade or reinstallation may have also reset these settings.
You won’t hear the notification alert if the app’s notification sounds are off. Therefore, make sure that the TikTok app for Android or iPhone has the notification sound turned on.
It’s also possible that you have reset your TikTok notifications at one point in time.
Working on this can also be helpful if TikTok shows notifications but no messages associated.
If all other notifications from other apps have sound, try this workaround in particular.
To Enable Push TikTok Notifications on Android
- Tap on the profile icon at the bottom right corner.
- Tap on the hamburger icon (☰) at the top right corner.
- Tap on “Settings and privacy.”
- Proceed to tap on “Notifications” under the “Content and display” tab.
- Next, you will see notification settings for various uses, such as notifications for likes, mentions, new followers, mentions and tags, reposts, direct messages and more. Tap on the toggle button next to “Direct messages.”
- You may also want to turn on the notifications for all the “In-app notifications.”
By enabling these specific notifications on the TikTok app, you can be sure that you will receive all those notifcations with sound.
6. Check TikTok’s General Notification Settings
In addition to your phone’s notification settings, TikTok has its own notification settings that you can customize.
You won’t receive notifications even if you enable the in-app notification settings for TikTok if the system settings have TikTok’s notifications off.
To Check your device’s settings for the TikTok app’s notification preferences.
- On Android, go to “Settings.”
- Tap on “App management” and then proceed to “App List.
- Select TikTok from the list of apps.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Turn on the toggle to enable notifications for TikTok that you want to receive.
Your device’s notification settings may have some settings that are interfering with TikTok push notifications. Because of this, you might have unintentionally or purposefully turned off notifications on your device in the past.
Turning on notifications as described above will ensure you receive notifications from TikTok without any interference.
7. Disable Battery Saving Mode
Most phones have battery saving or optimization modes that manage battery life by limiting background app activity. Unfortunately, this can inadvertently break notifications.
However, TikTok notification sounds and other notifications could be affected if the battery-saving mode is always enabled on your phone.
The explanation is that when the device is turned off, Battery Saving Mode pauses all background operations. Your TikTok alerts may not function or display as a result of this minor power-saving adjustment.
To solve the problem, you must disable the battery-saving mode.
For iOS (iPhone Users)
- Go to “Settings” then proceed to “Battery” on your iPhone to disable battery-saving mode.
- Deactivate “Low Power Mode” by turning it off.
For Android Users
- Navigate to “Settings.”
- Tap on “Battery” then proceed to “Battery Saver.”
- Turn off the battery saver mode.
For Tecno phones, tap on “Battery Lab” from the settings. Navigate to “Advanced Settings” and tap on “Battery Saver.” Turn off the toggle labelled “Use Battery Saver.”
8. Enable Background Data Usage for TikTok
The background app refresh setting needs to stay activated so that TikTok can fetch new data behind the scenes.
Turn it on if it has gotten switched off on your iPhone or Android phone:
Try turning on Background Data Usage on your smartphone if this sounds familiar to you.
To enable background data usage for TikTok on Android:
- On Android, go to “Settings.”
- Tap on “App management” and then proceed to “App List.
- Select TikTok from the list of apps.
- Tap on “Mobile data & Wi-fi.”
- Ensure the “Background data” toggle is enabled to “enable usage of mobile data in the background.
In essence, this setting gives the TikTok app internet access even when it’s not open when utilizing cellular data. Consequently, the app may continuously update and send you timely notifications.
9. Log out of TikTok and Log in Again
Logging fully out of your TikTok account and then logging back in essentially refreshes your authentication.
This forces TikTok to re-register your device for sending push notifications.
To log out of your TikTok account:
- Tap on the profile icon in the lower right corner to access your profile.
- Tap on the three horizontal lines (☰) at the top right corner.
- Tap on “Settings and Privacy.”
- Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap on “Log Out.”
- Tap on “Log Out” once again, for confirmation.
After logging out, log in again and check if you will get subsequent notifications from TikTok.
10. Reinstall TikTok to Fix the DM Notification Problem
Reinstalling flushes out any corrupt cached data or weird anomalies that may be interfering with notifications behind the scenes.
To uninstall and re-install TikTok:
- Long-press on the TikTok app and choose “Uninstall” or “Remove.”
- Confirm the action by tapping on “OK.”
- Go to Google Playstore (Android) or the Apple App Store (iPhones) and search for “TikTok.”
- Tap on “Install” or “Get” to get it installed.
After reinstalling TikTok, you can expect the notifications to work again.
11. Clear TikTok App’s Cache
Along with reinstalling the app, you can also specifically clear just the TikTok cache and app data:
If the TikTok notifications issue is caused by cached files and data, then it’s essential to clear the cache to get it resolved.
To clear TikTok cache on Android
- Go to “Settings” and tap on “App Management.”
- Proceed to “App List” to see all the apps you’ve installed on your phone.
- From the list of apps displayed, select TikTok.
- Tap on “Storage & Cache.” Proceed to tap on “Clear Cache.”
On iPhone
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
- Find the TikTok app and tap on it
- Select Offload App to clear all TikTok’s temporary cache/data
- Then reinstall TikTok from the App Store
12. Report the Notification Issue to TikTok
If you’ve tried troubleshooting with all the above methods and yet you still don’t receive notifications on TikTok, then your last resort will be to reach out to TikTok.
To report DM notifications not working to TikTok, follow these steps:
- Tap on the profile icon in the lower right corner to access your profile.
- Tap on the three horizontal lines (☰) at the top right corner.
- Tap on “Settings and Privacy.”
- Scroll to the bottom and tap on “Report a problem.”
- Under the topics, select “Notifications.”
- Tap on “Push notification, then proceed to tap on “Unable to receive push notifications.” (If it is your TikTok inbox notifications that are not working, then tap on “Inbox Notification, then proceed to select “Unable to receive inbox notifications.”)
- Tiktok provides you with a list of troubleshooting steps to fix the problem. Tap on “No” under “Is your problem resolved?”
- Now, tap on “Need more help?”
- In the feedback textbox that displays, enter your message.
- You can be sure that TikTok will fix the notifications not showing issues or revert to you with actionable guidelines on how to resolve your notifications issue.
