Have you ever noticed your TikTok follower count freeze up and stop updating properly? This frustrating issue seems to plague many TikTok users. As a TikTok content creator trying to grow your audience, an accurate follower count is essential to track your progress.
When your TikTok follower number gets stuck, it leaves you wondering if your newly posted videos are flopping or if people are unfollowing you. Not knowing what’s going on can be incredibly confusing and concerning.
The good news is there are several troubleshooting tips you can try to get your TikTok follower count moving again. With a mix of app resets, account logouts, uninstall reinstalls, and waiting patiently, you should be able to rectify the problem.
This blog post will dive into why TikTok follower counts get stuck and detail step-by-step methods to troubleshoot the issue on both iOS and Android devices. Keep reading to learn how to get your accurate TikTok follower numbers back on track.
Why Is My TikTok Follower Count Not Updating?
Before jumping into the possible fixes, let’s discuss why TikTok follower counts sometimes don’t update properly. Knowing the source of the issue makes troubleshooting much simpler.
Here are the most common reasons your TikTok follower number may stay frozen:
Buggy App Issues
As with any app, TikTok can have intermittent technical bugs messing with various functions. The follower counter relies on the app updating viewer data analytics accurately. If the data gets jammed or doesn’t transfer properly, the counter number will lag or freeze.
This likely explains why in some instances, you get new followers, and yet your number of followers remains the same.
Issues like this mostly resolve on their own with time.
Server Outages
TikTok’s servers handle enormous amounts of traffic and data as millions of users watch and engage with videos daily. Very occasionally server outages happen on TikTok’s end when traffic volumes spike to extreme levels.
Follower counts rely on servers tracking views, follows, and unfollows properly. When servers crash or become overloaded, that data flow gets interrupted, causing follower counts to stall until operations return to normal.
Account Bans and Suspensions
If TikTok suspends or bans your account due to violations of community guidelines, your follower count will freeze at the number before enforcement action. Restricted accounts cannot gain or lose followers, essentially becoming frozen in time follower-wise.
Unresolved bans lead to permanent number freezing. Clearing up suspension causes typically allows follower counts to start updating again once restrictions lift, however.
Connectivity issues
Do you have an unstable internet connection with frequent disruptions or a weak mobile data signal? Lacking a consistent connectivity flow means your TikTok account can’t sync the follower data properly.
Counts need real-time data transfer to update live when you earn new followers or lose existing followers. Choppy connections lead to stalled follower feeds.
Now that you know why your TikTok follower counter might not budge let’s get into the step-by-step troubleshooting guides for iOS and Android mobile devices.
How to Fix TikTok Follower Counts Not Updating on Android
Now let’s explore ways to troubleshoot frozen TikTok follower counts happening in the Android mobile app.
The step sequence for Android mirrors the iPhone guide above but with some platform-specific instructions.
1. Refresh TikTok’s For You Feed
Similar to iPhone, pull down from the top of TikTok’s For You feed then release to initiate an Android data refresh. Let the feed reload then check your profile to see if the accurate follower count returned.
Here’s how to do it:
- Open the TikTok app.
- Go to your FYP.
- Swipe down on the screen.
2. Force Stop TikTok in App Settings
On Android, apps keep running in the background even after you navigate away or close them with the back or home button. For a true fresh restart, the app needs force stopping.
Each Android device brand organizes the Settings menu differently but there is almost always an Apps/Application Manager section.
Here are some example navigation pointers for popular Android brands:
Samsung Galaxy
- Settings > Apps > Choose TikTok > Force Stop
Google Pixel
- Settings > Apps & Notifications > See all # apps > TikTok > Force Stop
OnePlus
- Settings > Apps & Notifications > Recently Opened Apps > TikTok > Force Stop
LG Devices
- Settings > Apps > Choose TikTok > Force Stop
Motorola Phones
Settings > Apps & Notifications > App Info > TikTok > Force Stop
Once you force-stop TikTok, reopen it after a minute or two to essentially restart the app at a system level. Hopefully, the follower count will start updating properly again.
3. Check for TikTok Outages
Similar to iPhone, visit Downdetector to check for any ongoing widespread TikTok outages severely interrupting service and app functioning.
Skip ahead to waiting patiently if no major issues with TikTok’s servers.
4. Sign Out and Sign Back Into Your Account
Much like on iPhone, logging out and back into your TikTok account essentially gives every user data point a fresh reconnect.
- Launch TikTok and visit your profile by tapping the icon containing your profile picture.
- Choose the menu button denoted by 3 horizontal lines.
- Select Log out from the list.
- Once logged out, close TikTok completely and reopen it a short time later.
- Enter your email and password to sign in again and link your credentials back to your account data.
5. Clear TikTok’s App Data/Cache
If your Android TikTok app continues struggling, clearing its temporary cache/data gives the program a clean foundation to rebuild properly.
The process for wiping app data/cache can vary depending on your Android model but typically follows this framework:
- Go to your Android Settings menu.
- Tap Apps/Apps & Notifications/Application Manager
- Select TikTok from the apps list.
- Look for a Storage option (sometimes in App Info or Storage)
- Choose Clear Cache or Clear Data/Clear Storage options.
Once cleared, reopen TikTok and see if your follower count problems disappear along with the old cache!
6. Uninstall and Reinstall TikTok
As a last resort, uninstall TikTok completely to wipe its stored data slate clean on your Android device. Follow by freshly downloading TikTok from the Google Play Store again.
- Delete TikTok by long-pressing its home screen icon and dragging it into the Uninstall section at the top of your display.
- Alternatively, uninstall via Settings > Apps > TikTok > Uninstall.
- Install a brand new TikTok app from the Google Play Store.
- Log into your TikTok account once installation finishes.
- Review your profile to see if the accurate follower count appears or still remains stuck.
Hopefully removing all old TikTok data via uninstallation lets the newly installed app start tracking your followers correctly going forward!
Fixes for TikTok Follower Count Not Updating on iPhone (iOS)
If your iPhone’s TikTok app is struggling to update follower numbers, work through this ordered list of troubleshooting steps:
1. Refresh the App’s For You Feed
The easiest first step is to drag down and let go starting from the top of your For You feed in the TikTok app.
This gesture refreshes the full content feed and reconnects the app to TikTok’s servers. The simple refresh clears out minor data hiccups about 75% of the time.
2. Force Close and Restart TikTok
If refreshing the For You feed fails, take more aggressive action by force closing the TikTok app via your iPhone’s multitasking view.
- Swipe up from the very bottom edge of any iPhone screen to bring up the multitasking view that shows all open apps.
- Swipe left or right until you see the TikTok app preview.
- Swipe up on the TikTok preview to force close the app.
After force closing TikTok, reopen it and check if the updated follower count is restored. This fix works about 50% of the time.
3. Check for TikTok Outages
Rare large-scale TikTok server outages significantly disrupt all user activity, including proper follower count updates.
Visit Downdetector to check if prolonged massive outages are occurring in your area. You may also see outraged posts about non-working TikTok in relevant social media feeds.
If TikTok suffers NO widespread outage problems impacting service in your location, move onto the next troubleshooting step. Severe outages require waiting for TikTok’s technicians to resolve issues before follower counts begin updating again.
4. Be Patient and Wait for a Few Hours
Believe it or not, sometimes simply waiting patiently for a few hours fixes frozen follower counts. TikTok’s systems occasionally fall slightly behind syncing all account data which leads to temporary inaccurate follower numbers.
Close the TikTok app and resist checking it for around 3 hours. Sometimes the counters catch themselves up during this time, showing accurate statistics when you log back in later.
If you still face stuck follower counts after the waiting period, proceed to the advanced troubleshooting tips next.
5. Log Out and Log Back Into Your Account
Logging out of your TikTok account and logging back in essentially refreshes your account data and reconnects your credentials. This process has a decent success rate unfreezing stuck follower counts.
- Open TikTok and tap the Profile icon in the bottom right.
- Tap the three-line menu button beside your username.
- Choose Log out from the options menu.
- Close the TikTok app completely after logging out.
- Reopen TikTok a minute or two later and enter your username and password to log in again.
- Check your profile to see if the correct follower count restored.
6. Force Quit and Retry TikTok
If you already force-closed the TikTok app earlier, try repeating that process again now. Completely shutting down the app may jolt it back to its senses.
Follow the same steps in tip #2 to force close and restart TikTok.
- Bring up the iPhone multitasking view.
- Swipe through app previews until you find TikTok.
- Swipe up on the TikTok preview to terminate the app.
- Relaunch TikTok.
Cross your fingers that the app behaves better after the force quit, delivering updated follower statistics normally again!
7. Reinstall the TikTok App
When all else fails, your final last resort is deleting and reinstalling TikTok fresh on your iPhone. This nuclear option wipes all app data and cache to give you a clean slate.
- Delete TikTok manually by long-pressing its icon until everything starts wiggling. Tap the X icon above TikTok to confirm the deletion.
- Alternatively, delete TikTok through your iPhone settings menu by navigating to General > iPhone Storage. Choose TikTok then tap Delete App.
- Head to the Apple App Store to download and install TikTok again on your iPhone.
- Log into TikTok using your account email and password. With all data wiped, everything should start tracking properly again.
Hopefully, a clean TikTok reinstallation allows accurate follower tracking to initialize correctly going forward!
Report the Follower Count Not Updating Error to TikTok
Ideally, our troubleshooting guide empowers you to regain accurate updating follower counts on your own easily. However, sometimes issues either persist or errors occur causing follower counts to freeze.
After exhausting all recommended troubleshooting steps above with no success, reach out directly to TikTok Support for additional assistance regarding frozen counts.
TikTok Support specialists have advanced internal tools to view detailed data behind your account activity. They can further diagnose the root cause of ongoing frozen follower statistics.
To open a support ticket with TikTok:
- Launch TikTok and visit your profile.
- Tap the Settings and privacy option.
- Select Report a problem to describe your follower count issue and submit a help request to TikTok’s support team.
With direct support form submission or live chat help, TikTok Support should hopefully get your follower counter back on track sooner!
Conclusion
Accurately tracking followers means a lot in measuring your success reaching the right audience on TikTok. Sudden frozen follower counts rightfully create massive confusion and concern.
Now you know exactly why TikTok follower statistics sometimes stall and several methods to troubleshoot the problem back to normal updating operation.
Consistently gaining an audience that engages with your content takes significant creativity and perseverance. Don’t lose hope if you face occasional setbacks! Focus on the organic habits that foster legitimate sustained growth over chasing vanity metrics alone.
Thanks for reading and hopefully these troubleshooting tips get your TikTok follower count back on track! Let us know in the comments if any other methods worked solving your frozen counts.