A TikTok Streak tracks the people you message most. Message someone in a direct message or group chat for 3 days in a row and a Streak badge appears on that chat. It grows while messages keep flowing, and it fades if a day passes without any.
Streaks live in your messages, not your feed. They only show up in direct messages and group chats, so if you've spotted a small badge next to a friend's name in your inbox, that's a Streak. You also need to be eligible for direct messaging and group chats to take part, so not every account will see them.
From first message to badge: the timeline
| When this happens | You'll see this |
|---|---|
| You message someone 3 days in a row | A Streak badge appears on that chat |
| Messages keep coming each day | The Streak keeps growing |
| A day ends with no messages exchanged | The badge fades |
| The chat stays silent for 24 hours after that | The Streak ends and the badge disappears |
| You act within 48 hours of it ending | You can still restore it from the chat |
You don't have to keep count yourself. TikTok notifies you when you receive a Streak and again when one's about to end, which gives you a nudge before the badge disappears.
Fading versus ending: two different warnings
A faded badge isn't a lost Streak. Fading is the first sign: nobody sent anything before the day ended. The Streak only ends if the chat then stays quiet for a further 24 hours. So one quiet day is a warning, and a second stretch of silence is what finishes it.
If you're worried about what the other person can see from your chats more generally, the guide on whether TikTok tells people about screenshots covers that side of messaging.
Getting a lost Streak back
There's a short grace period. Go to the chat that lost the Streak, tap Restore, then tap Restore again. That only works within 48 hours of the Streak ending, and a restored Streak returns to the same number of days you lost, so you're not starting from scratch.
Restores aren't unlimited, though. You get a limited number each month while you maintain a Streak, and TikTok doesn't publish the exact figure, so don't rely on them as a safety net every time.
Streak Pets and where they fit
A Streak Pet is a virtual character you can keep with someone in a chat that has an active Streak. It's an extra, not a requirement: you don't need a Streak Pet to keep a Streak going. Streak Pets aren't currently available to everyone, so if you can't find one, that's normal.
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If the Streak ends, the pet is removed for everyone in the chat. Restoring the Streak may bring it back.
Switching Streak alerts on or off
- In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
- Tap the Menu button at the top, then select Settings and privacy.
- Tap Notifications.
- Turn the Streaks setting on or off for push notifications, or tap In-app notifications and do the same.
What to do if keeping one alive starts to feel like a chore
Treat a Streak as a bit of fun, not a job. If the alerts start to nag, turn them off in Notifications and let the badge come and go naturally. If one ends by accident and it matters to you, you've got 48 hours to restore it, and that's usually all the safety net you'll need. For the friends you message every day anyway, the badge will simply look after itself.
And if a friend's chat suddenly looks empty or their name won't open, it may not be the Streak at all; this explainer on what Account not found means on TikTok helps you work out what's happened.
Frequently asked questions
How do you restore a TikTok Streak?
Go to the chat that lost the Streak, tap Restore, then tap Restore again. This only works within 48 hours of it ending.
What happens to a Streak Pet if the Streak ends?
It's removed for everyone in the chat, though restoring the Streak may bring it back.
