How to block TikTok on iPhone
To block TikTok on iPhone, open Settings › Screen Time › App Limits, add a limit for TikTok, keep Block at End of Limit on and set a Screen Time passcode. Add tiktok.com under Websites so Safari is covered, or use an app blocker like blokr for a schedule or a Deep focus block you cannot edit while it runs.
- Open Settings › Screen Time › App Limits › Add Limit, search for TikTok and tick it.
- Set the daily time, keep Block at End of Limit on, and tap Add.
- Expand Websites in the same list and add tiktok.com.
- Tap Lock Screen Time Settings and set a passcode you do not choose yourself.
- For a block without an Ignore Limit button, create a Schedule or a Deep focus block in blokr.
TikTok’s feed has no bottom, and the app’s own screen time tools are built to be dismissed. Blocking it properly on iPhone means closing three doors: the app, tiktok.com in Safari, and the App Store that reinstalls it. Screen Time handles all three. If the issue is that you keep tapping Ignore Limit, the last section covers a blocker that takes the button away.
Option 1: Limit the TikTok app with Screen Time
App Limits give TikTok a daily budget. One minute is the smallest value, and at one minute the app is effectively blocked.
- Open Settings › Screen Time and turn it on if it is off.
- Tap App Limits › Add Limit.
- Type TikTok into the search field at the top and tick it. Screen Time files TikTok under Entertainment, not Social, so ticking the Social category misses it.
- Tap Next, set the daily time, and keep Block at End of Limit on.
- Tap Add.
- Back on the Screen Time screen, tap Lock Screen Time Settings and set a passcode.
When the limit runs out, the TikTok icon dims and a Time Limit screen appears. With Block at End of Limit on, more time needs the passcode. With it off, you get an Ignore Limit button and the block is over in one tap. The passcode only works if you do not know it. Let someone else type it, or write it down and leave it at home.
Limits reset at midnight and, with Share Across Devices on, apply to your iPad as well.
Option 2: Block tiktok.com in Safari
TikTok’s website plays the For You feed in Safari without an account, which makes it the obvious detour once the app is limited. Share links on vm.tiktok.com land on the same domain, so one entry covers them too.
- Open Settings › Screen Time › App Limits › Add Limit.
- Scroll past the categories and expand Websites.
- Tap Add Website, type
tiktok.comand tap Next. - Set the time and tap Add.
For a full block instead of a limit, go to Settings › Screen Time › Content & Privacy Restrictions › Content Restrictions › Web Content, pick Limit Adult Websites and add tiktok.com under Never Allow. That list has no Ignore Limit button and changing it needs the passcode.
Option 3: TikTok’s built-in screen time limit
TikTok has a limit of its own. In the app, open your profile, tap the menu, then Settings and privacy › Screen time › Daily screen time. Pick a duration and set a passcode. When the time is up, TikTok asks for that passcode before it continues. The same screen offers break reminders, sleep reminders and a weekly screen time summary.
The weakness is obvious: you set the passcode. Entering it takes two seconds and the feed resumes. The one version of this that holds is Family Pairing, where a parent links their own TikTok account and sets the limit and passcode from their phone. For your own phone, treat the built-in limit as a reminder and put the real block in Screen Time or a blocker.
Close the reinstall loophole
Deleting TikTok feels decisive. It lasts until the next quiet evening and a tap on the App Store. If you go that route, lock the door behind it.
- Open Settings › Screen Time › Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn it on.
- Tap App Installations & Purchases (iTunes & App Store Purchases on iOS 17).
- Set Installing Apps to Don’t Allow.
The App Store icon disappears until you reverse this with the passcode. On the same screen, Deleting Apps › Don’t Allow stops you from removing a blocker app to escape its block.
Option 4: Block TikTok with an app blocker
Screen Time gives the passcode holder a way out at every step, and on your own phone that holder is you. An app blocker like blokr is built on the same Screen Time framework, so TikTok is blocked just as firmly. What changes is that you decide how the block ends before it starts, not in the moment.
In blokr, tick TikTok in the app picker, add tiktok.com on the Websites tab of the same picker, and choose a block type:
- Schedule: TikTok is blocked during fixed hours on the days you pick. Mon–Fri during work, every night from 10 pm to 7 am, or the whole weekend.
- Limit: a daily budget, say 30 minutes. When it is spent, TikTok stays blocked until the time you set, for example midnight.
- Focus session: a one-off block for the next two hours.
The Balanced breaks template is the TikTok-shaped one: 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off, so the feed never runs for an hour unnoticed. Each block runs in Light or Deep mode. Light mode lets you end the block from inside the app, scan a QR code or an NFC tag you keep in another room, or earn the unblock by using a different app first. Deep mode locks the block while it runs: no stop button, no editing or deleting the block, and no deleting the blocker itself. One emergency unblock a week is the only way out. When you know you will negotiate with yourself, pick Deep.
Which option should you pick?
| You want to | Use |
|---|---|
| A daily budget with a nudge | Screen Time App Limit, Block at End of Limit on |
| tiktok.com closed in Safari | App Limits › Websites, or Never Allow under Web Content |
| TikTok off at night or during work | Screen Time Downtime, or a Schedule in a blocker |
| Short bursts instead of hour-long scrolls | Balanced breaks in a blocker |
| A block you cannot argue with | Deep focus in a blocker |
| A limit for a child’s phone | Family Pairing or Screen Time with a parent’s passcode |
Three mistakes that let TikTok back in
Trusting TikTok’s own limit. You set the passcode, so you can enter it. It is a reminder with extra steps.
Ticking Social and assuming TikTok is covered. It sits under Entertainment. Search for it by name and tick it directly.
Leaving Safari open. tiktok.com is the same feed with a worse layout. Add the website the same day you set the App Limit.
Questions, answered
Does TikTok's own daily screen time limit actually block the app?
No. When you reach it, TikTok asks for a passcode you set yourself, and entering it unlocks the app. It is a speed bump. Family Pairing is stronger, because a parent sets the passcode from their own phone.
Can I block TikTok but still watch videos friends send me?
No. A blocked app stays blocked for shared links too, and the link shows the block screen. If you want a window for that, use a Schedule that leaves TikTok open for a set hour instead of blocking it all day.
Does blocking the TikTok app block tiktok.com in Safari?
No. The web version plays the same feed in Safari, without an account. Add tiktok.com under App Limits › Websites, or add the website to the same block in a blocker that supports websites.
Which Screen Time category is TikTok in?
Entertainment, not Social, so ticking the Social category will not limit it. Use the search field at the top of the Add Limit screen and tick TikTok directly.
What stops me from deleting the blocker app?
In Screen Time, set Deleting Apps to Don't Allow under Content & Privacy Restrictions. In blokr, a Deep focus block also denies app deletion on the device until it ends.
Can I block TikTok at night only?
Yes. Screen Time Downtime blocks everything in a window, with Always Allowed exceptions. If you only want TikTok off, use a Schedule in a blocker that runs from, say, 10 pm to 7 am.