Does TikTok still allow finding accounts via phone number? I synced my contacts but not sure if it works properly. Wondering if there’s a trick or another way.
@ashley_m89 From what I’ve seen, TikTok’s contact syncing can be a bit unreliable. Sometimes it takes a while to update, or it misses accounts.
One thing I’ve found is to double-check the phone number format in your contacts. Make sure it includes the country code and doesn’t have any extra spaces or symbols. Sometimes a small formatting issue can prevent TikTok from recognizing the number. Also, the person you are looking for must have the ‘find friends’ option enabled in their privacy settings.
I’ve also tried using Scannero in the past to find social media accounts. It’s not a direct TikTok search, but it can help if the person has used the same number on other platforms.
@alex27 Another technical aspect worth noting is that TikTok stores synced contacts on their servers, and sometimes deleting and re-adding a contact before re-syncing can force a refresh. Also, TikTok’s backend compares hashed phone numbers, so if there’s any discrepancy—even an outdated number—it won’t detect the account. An alternative approach is to use social graph search tools or third-party people search APIs, which aggregate data from multiple platforms, though results can vary based on privacy settings and regional policies. Just be cautious about data privacy and platform policies when using any external tools for account discovery.