How to block TikTok on iPhone
Give TikTok a one-minute App Limit in Settings, Screen Time, and lock it with a passcode you don’t know. Then block tiktok.com, because TikTok works just as well in Safari.
Updated . Steps for iOS 18 and iOS 26, checked against Apple Support.
This is about keeping the TikTok app closed on your own phone. To stop one account from seeing your posts or messaging you, block them inside TikTok: see TikTok’s Blocking someone page.
1. Give TikTok a one-minute App Limit
iPhone has no off switch for an app you downloaded. What it has is App Limits, and a limit of one minute is as close to a block as Screen Time gets.
- Open Settings, then Screen Time. If you’ve never used it, tap App & Website Activity and turn it on.
- Tap App Limits, then Add Limit.
- Don’t tick a whole category. Tap the name of the category TikTok is listed under to open it, then select TikTok alone.
- Tap Next, set the limit to one minute, and save it with Add (on iOS 26, the Done button).
Source: Apple, Set schedules with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 18, iOS 26).
2. Shut the browser door: tiktok.com
TikTok isn’t only an app. Its own Help Center gives a set of “Web browser” steps for every screen-time setting, because people watch it there too. An App Limit doesn’t touch Safari, so name the site.
- In Settings, then Screen Time, open Content & Privacy Restrictions and switch it on.
- Go to App Store, Media, Web, & Games, then Web Content, and pick Limit Adult Websites.
- Under Never Allow, tap Add Website and type tiktok.com.
Source: Apple, Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 18).
3. Hand the passcode to someone else
Without a Screen Time passcode, the limit is a suggestion: Apple’s iOS 26 guide says limits “can be ignored once reached” by default.
- In Settings, then Screen Time, scroll to Lock Screen Time Settings.
- Pass the phone to a friend, partner or flatmate and have them enter a four-digit code twice.
- Skip Screen Time Passcode Recovery if it’s offered. It lets you reset the code with your Apple Account, which puts the key back in your pocket.
Source: Apple, Create, manage, and keep track of a Screen Time passcode (iOS 18).
Why TikTok is hard to close
The For You feed is the app. TikTok calls it “central to the TikTok experience and where most of our users spend their time.” Nobody’s feed is the same: in TikTok’s words, “each person’s feed is unique.”
Watching counts. In its 2020 explainer, TikTok says finishing a longer video from beginning to end weighs more than a weak signal, such as sharing a country with the creator. Every video you watch to the end helps pick the next one. There’s no last post to reach.
TikTok’s own screen-time settings
They live under Settings and privacy, then Time and well-being, then Screen time, according to TikTok’s Help Center. Two are worth knowing:
- Daily screen time. A daily limit that notifies you when you reach it. TikTok says you “can choose to close TikTok or enter the on-screen passcode to return to it.” A pause, then, not a block.
- Sleep reminders. From your sleep time, TikTok mutes its push notifications and shows a reminder “to consider taking a break.” It works alongside a Screen Time block, not instead of one.
Any change you make there applies to both the app and the website.
How a Stint session keeps TikTok closed
The block comes from Screen Time, like the steps above. The difference is what happens when you lift it.
- You pick TikTok yourself, in Apple’s app picker. Stint blocks nothing you didn’t pick, and only while a session runs, so TikTok is back when your session ends.
- Opening it mid-session shows a block screen. Leave returns you to work. Unlock anyway opens TikTok and ends that day’s session.
- It can’t be an emergency app. You may keep two emergency apps for a few minutes a day, and social apps aren’t allowed in that slot.
- Time counts only in your work apps. Your phone reports each minute of the session, and everyone in your pool who meets the daily goal on the days the rules require qualifies to split the prize pool. The most you can lose is your entry fee.
The whole loop, step by step, is on how Stint works.
TikTok’s limit, Screen Time or Stint?
What you set
- TikTok’s daily screen time
- Minutes a day in TikTok
- Screen Time and a passcode
- Minutes a day per app or category
- Stint session
- Which apps to block during a session
When time’s up
- TikTok’s daily screen time
- A notice: close TikTok, or enter the passcode to keep going
- Screen Time and a passcode
- Blocked for the rest of the day, if someone else holds the passcode
- Stint session
- A block screen. Unlock anyway ends that day’s session
Who sees it
- TikTok’s daily screen time
- Only you
- Screen Time and a passcode
- You, and whoever holds the passcode
- Stint session
- Your pool sees who has qualified today
Cost
- TikTok’s daily screen time
- Free
- Screen Time and a passcode
- Free and built in
- Stint session
- Free to download. A pool has an entry fee, and that’s the most you can lose
Start with the free settings. If the passcode lives with someone else and that’s enough, you’re done. The same steps work for any app: see the full guide to blocking apps on iPhone with Screen Time.
Questions
How do I block TikTok on iPhone without deleting it?
Set a one-minute App Limit for TikTok in Settings, Screen Time, App Limits, and lock Screen Time with a passcode someone else chooses. TikTok stays installed with your account and drafts, but it’s blocked once the minute is gone.
Can I still watch TikTok in Safari after blocking the app?
Yes, unless you block the site too. TikTok works in a web browser, so add tiktok.com under Never Allow in Content & Privacy Restrictions, Web Content.
Why can I keep using TikTok after its own daily limit?
TikTok’s daily screen time is built to notify you. Its Help Center says that at the limit you can close TikTok or enter the on-screen passcode to return to it. For a block you can’t clear yourself, use a Screen Time passcode someone else sets.
Can I block TikTok only at night?
Yes, with Downtime. Schedule it for the hours you want TikTok gone and leave TikTok out of Always Allowed. Downtime blocks every app except calls, messages and the ones you allow, so add anything else you need.
Is Stint free?
Stint is free to download for iPhone on iOS 18 or later. A pool has an entry fee, shown before you join, and Stint Pro (US$5.99 a month) is optional.
Keep TikTok closed until the work’s done
Stint is free to download for iPhone on iOS 18 or later. You pay a pool’s entry fee only when you join one.
