You have to be at least 13 years old to have a TikTok account, and even then several features stay locked until you turn 16 or 18. TikTok enforces the minimum with a date-of-birth screen at sign-up, tighter default settings for younger teens, and verification tools that can flag accounts later. Children under 13 in the U.S. aren’t shut out entirely, but they get a separate, stripped-down version of the app.
Age Thresholds for TikTok Features
The age you enter when you sign up decides what you can do on the app. Features open up in three stages:
- 13: You can create a standard account, watch videos, post your own, and follow other users. Your account comes with significant built-in restrictions.
- 16: Direct messaging becomes available. Other users can Duet or Stitch with your videos if you allow it, and your posts can be downloaded.1TikTok Support. Teen Privacy and Safety Settings
- 18: You can host a live stream, buy TikTok coins, send virtual gifts to creators, and join TikTok’s monetization programs.2TikTok Support. Age Requirements for TikTok LIVE
If you lie about your age to unlock a restricted feature and TikTok later finds out, the platform can suspend or delete the account.
What a 13-to-15 Account Actually Looks Like
Accounts registered to users between 13 and 15 carry the tightest restrictions of any standard TikTok account. The account is private by default, so only approved followers can see the posts, bio, likes, and follower list.1TikTok Support. Teen Privacy and Safety Settings You can flip that to public if you want, but other limits stay in place no matter what.
No one can Duet or Stitch with your videos. No one can download them. Comments are limited to friends, meaning you and the other person have to follow each other before they can comment. The “suggest your account to others” setting is off by default. These aren’t parental controls a guardian needs to switch on; they’re baked in from the moment the account is created.
Kids Under 13 in the United States
Children under 13 in the U.S. don’t get a standard account, but TikTok offers a separate experience with heavy guardrails. Interactive features are stripped out: no commenting, no direct messaging, no sharing videos, and no public profile.3TikTok. Youth Safety and Well-Being – Community Guidelines
The For You feed is curated with age-appropriate content assessed by Common Sense Networks, and this version of the app runs under its own privacy policy. A 60-minute daily screen time limit is set by default. If the child wants an extra 30 minutes, a parent or guardian has to set or enter a passcode to unlock it.4Newsroom | TikTok. New Features for Teens and Families on TikTok
How TikTok Checks Your Age
The first check is the date-of-birth screen at sign-up. Enter a birthday that makes you under 13 and TikTok blocks the account from being created. That’s easy to get around by typing a fake year, which is why the platform layers on additional checks when something looks off.
If an account gets flagged, TikTok may ask the user to confirm their age. The options depend on location and age, and can include a photo of a government-issued ID, a selfie taken alongside the ID, confirmation from a parent or guardian, credit card authorization, or facial age estimation.5TikTok Support. Underage Appeals on TikTok Facial age estimation uses a real-time selfie processed by a third-party service, which returns only an age estimate to TikTok and deletes the image.2TikTok Support. Age Requirements for TikTok LIVE
What Happens If an Account Is Flagged as Underage
When TikTok identifies an account it believes belongs to someone under the minimum age, the account is banned. The trigger can be TikTok’s own detection systems, a human moderator, or a report from another user. Once the ban lands, there’s a limited window to appeal.
In the United States, you have 23 days from the ban date to file an appeal and download your data. If the appeal isn’t approved, or none is filed, the account is deleted on day 30 and the associated data starts coming down. Users in the European Economic Area, the U.K., or Switzerland get 180 days to appeal, with deletion on day 187. Everywhere else, the window is 113 days, with deletion on day 120.5TikTok Support. Underage Appeals on TikTok
To appeal, you open the appeal notification, tap “Appeal,” and confirm your real age using one of the verification methods above. If TikTok confirms you meet the age requirement, the account is reinstated. If not, the deletion is permanent.
Family Pairing for Parents
TikTok’s Family Pairing feature lets a parent or guardian link their own TikTok account to a teen’s account and manage several settings directly.6Newsroom | TikTok. Supporting Families With New Family Pairing Features Both accounts have to confirm the link.
Once connected, a parent can set screen time limits, restrict who can send the teen direct messages, turn on Restricted Mode to filter mature content, and control search. Parents can also see which privacy settings the teen has chosen and which topics are shaping their feed. Keyword filtering lets a parent exclude specific words or hashtags from the teen’s feeds, and the visibility of the parent’s keyword list can itself be hidden so the teen can’t work around it.7TikTok Support. Family Pairing Parents can block specific accounts from interacting with their teen too. Family Pairing works on top of the built-in protections, so a 14-year-old’s account still has its automatic restrictions even if no one has set up pairing.
Earning Money Requires 18
Every way to earn money on TikTok has an 18-and-over rule. The Creator Rewards Program, which pays eligible creators based on video performance, requires applicants to verify they are 18 or older with a government-issued ID.8TikTok. Creator Rewards Program FAQs TikTok Shop applies the same threshold to affiliate creators, marketing campaigns, and shop operators.9TikTok Shop Seller Center. Creator Eligibility Policy Teens can build an audience, but they can’t monetize it until they turn 18.
Why the Minimum Is 13
The age-13 floor tracks the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a federal law that restricts how online services collect and handle data from children under 13.10Federal Trade Commission. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA”) COPPA’s implementing rule requires verifiable parental consent before a covered service can collect personal information from a child under 13.11eCFR. 16 CFR 312.5 – Parental Consent For most social platforms, setting a 13-and-over minimum is simpler than building a full consent-verification system for younger users. TikTok’s separate under-13 experience is its way of offering something to younger children while stripping out the features that would trigger COPPA’s consent requirements.
Your State May Set a Higher Bar
TikTok’s rules can be the floor rather than the ceiling depending on where you live. A growing number of states have passed laws that go beyond COPPA, often requiring parental consent for any minor to create a social media account or setting age-verification mandates on platforms. Some set thresholds at 16 or 18 for various consent and verification requirements; some add default screen time limits or restrict late-night access for minors. Many of these laws face legal challenges and injunctions, so what’s actually enforced varies. If your state has its own social media law on the books, checking the current rules is worth the effort before a younger teen signs up.