Prepare for the Ban: How to Download TikTok Videos (Without Watermarks)

(Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/Prykhodov)

TikTok makes it easy to watch, create, and share videos—but the addictive app is also owned by a Chinese company that may have ties to the government there. The US government doesn't like that and is ordering ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban by Jan. 19, 2025.

TikTok is fighting that effort and could still be saved by the Supreme Court. But TikTok creators and users should prepare for Apple and Google to pull the app from their stores next month.

As a creator, you may want to share your perfect video elsewhere (like Reels, Spotlight, or YouTube Shorts). Fans may have favorite videos they want to keep forever. (You know, for personal use, not for profit, so as not to infringe on the intellectual property rights of the original maker because that would be a crappy move.)

The question is: How do you download that video? Here's how.

Grab TikTok Videos With the Watermarks

This is the easiest way to download a TikTok video because you can do it instantly on your mobile device from within the TikTok app.

To make it happen, long-press on a video and tap Save Video in the video that pops up. This only works if the creator marks the video as "Public." If it's listed as "Private," you won't see the save option. The video is placed in your phone's camera roll, and you'll see options there to share it via SMS, Facebook, WhatsApp, or other services.

If you simply want a little snippet of a TikTok video to use as an animated GIF, click the share button (the arrow pointing right), scroll a bit, and you'll see the option for Share as GIF.

You can also save videos on the desktop via TikTok.com or the desktop TikTok app. Just right-click on the video to get the option. Or share directly to your WhatsApp, Facebook, X, Telegram, LinkedIn, or Pinterest account. That's the right thing to do if you want others to see it. (There's no Share as GIF option on the desktop.)

The upside for the content creator is that the TikTok logo watermark, complete with the creator's name, equals instant branding. However, not everyone wants the watermarks, especially if you plan to re-post it to other services to maximize reach without duplicating effort. What's the fix?

'Erase' TikTok Videos' Watermarks

To ditch watermarks on videos you've already downloaded, tools like iMyFone MarkGo ($29.99 on Windows or $38.99 on macOS, both lifetime licenses), RemoveLogoNow ($59.99 lifetime license on Windows), or Apowersoft Online Video Watermark Remover (on the web) can do the job. However, the results can look sloppy because they essentially blur watermarks by adding extra pixels to the video frames. That's not great when you pay for your software, though many are cheaper by the month if you only need them for a limited time.

This method might work OK for some videos, especially if the background is still. But it can ruin auto-generated captions or overlay text close to the center of the frame.

A slightly better option is video-editing software like the free VideoProc Vlogger, which covers watermarks with your own logo or some other image, even an animated GIF. It's like adding a GIF sticker to the video that could have been slapped on when the video was uploaded to TikTok.

Grab TikToks Without Watermarks

The best bet is to download videos without any watermarks in the first place, for free, using third-party apps and helper websites, which require the URL for the individual TikTok videos.

Musically Down is a helper website with a good look (despite ad traps vying for your clicks) and a concise how-to video. But all of these sites work the same. Enter a link for a TikTok video or a song listed on the service, and you'll get a quick preview, including the video's title and options to grab it as an MP4 video or sometimes as an MP3 audio file.

Other helper websites include SaveTik and SnapTik. Download helper sites tend to work just fine on mobile and even handle TikTok vids that are marked as private. If you prefer the mobile app route, there's SaveTok (on iOS and Android) and RepostTic (iOS), among others.

Both the sites and the apps occasionally encounter legal troubles, get shut down, or lose features. If this is a habit, bookmark a couple of them.

PC users who want dedicated desktop software for this task should consider 4K Tokkit, a $15 program for Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu Linux. You can pay more for unlimited downloads per day and even download entire batches based on hashtags. It's from the makers of our favorite tool for downloading YouTube videos, 4K Video Downloader. In fact, that full-featured 4K Video Downloader will also grab video from TikTok. But it doesn't strip out watermarks, at least not in the free version.

Mac-specific users can check out VideoDuke ($29.95), which promises to get rid of watermarks, but only provides two downloads for free. Other downloaders that support TikTok and offer a free trial with limited downloads/features include SnapDownloader, DVDVideoSoft's Free TikTok Downloader, and Qoob Clips.

Don't Forget the Soundtrack Issues

One more tip: Beware copyrighted sounds. If you download a TikTok video—even if it's your own—that includes audio that is someone else's intellectual property, it doesn't matter if it's OK on TikTok. TikTok provides a library of sounds you can add to videos, but services like Facebook may not have legal use of that library. And they can use AI to monitor uploads for IP audio usage. At best, they'll let you upload a video sans audio; at worst, they'll shut you out. Use TikTok's sister app CapCut or other video editors like Inshot or Splice to strip out the audio instead. They'll do more serious editing as well. All are available for iOS or Android.

About Our Expert

Eric Griffith

Senior Editor, Features

My Experience

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).

I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it's not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I'd have a future.

In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale," according to Publishers' Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.

I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

The Technology I Use

My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money...until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).

I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I'm always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.

I'm most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google's Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can't live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we've switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.

I'm a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I'm primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I've got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I'd use it for.

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