How to Block Content on TikTok: Words, Hashtags, Sounds and Videos

What you can block on TikTok, at a glance

How to block words and hashtags with Filter keywords

Filter keywords is the main tool. TikTok's help center says it hides content containing specific words, their variations and hashtags from your For You and Following feeds. These are the steps:

1. Open Settings and privacy. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom, then the Menu button (three lines) at the top, then Settings and privacy.
2. Open Filter keywords. Tap Content preferences, then Filter keywords.
3. Add a word or hashtag. Tap Add keyword, type the word or hashtag you want to filter and pick the feed or feeds it should apply to.
4. Save. Tap Save. You can add up to 100 keywords this way.

After adding a keyword, you can turn on Smart filter, which also filters similar keywords and variations. TikTok is open about the limits: not every filtered variation is listed, and certain keywords can't be filtered at all. Depending on where you signed up, the filter may also not be available in every feed.

To change or remove a filter, go back to Filter keywords, tap the keyword, then edit it and tap Save, or tap Delete keyword and confirm.

A few practical tips. Filter the hashtag and the plain word, since a creator may use one without the other. Short, common words can catch more than you want, so start specific. And if a trend has a name, that name is usually what people put in captions and hashtags, which is what the filter can see.

How to block a hashtag straight from a video

When an unwanted hashtag shows up in your For You feed, you don't have to type it in. TikTok's help center describes a shortcut from the post itself:

1. Mark the post Not interested. Press and hold the post and tap Not interested, or tap the Share button on the side, then Not interested.
2. Open Details. Tap Details at the bottom and pick the option you prefer below Not interested.
3. Pick the hashtags. Tap Details again to see the hashtags on the post, select the ones you want to filter and tap Submit.

How to block videos and creators

TikTok has no button that removes one video for good, but two tools get close:

• Not interested on a video: press and hold the post, or tap Share, then Not interested. TikTok says it will show you fewer posts like it. On a web browser the path is the Report button, then Other, then I'm not interested in this content.
• Mute a creator: press and hold one of their posts or tap Share, tap Not interested, then tap Creator and Submit. For a friend, open their profile, tap the Share button at the top and tap Mute their posts. Muted posts no longer appear in your feeds unless you visit the profile, and the person isn't notified.

To undo a mute, go to Settings and privacy, Content preferences, Muted accounts, and tap Undo next to the name. If a video breaks TikTok's rules rather than just annoying you, report it instead; after a report TikTok also offers a setting to mute content from that person.

How to block a sound on TikTok

This is the question with the least satisfying answer. TikTok's help center pages on filtering, Not interested and muting don't describe any setting that blocks a specific sound or song. Guides that show a "hide videos with this sound" option describe menus that TikTok doesn't document in its help center today, and menu options vary by app version and region, so check what your own app shows under Not interested, then Details.

What reliably helps with a sound that follows you around:

• Tap Not interested on every video that uses it. TikTok lists sounds among the content details its recommendations use, and Not interested is the documented way to say you want fewer posts like one.
• Filter the trend's hashtag. Viral sounds usually come with a matching hashtag or challenge name, which Filter keywords can catch.
• Swipe away fast. TikTok has called finishing a video a strong indicator of interest, so letting a video you dislike play to the end tells the feed the opposite of what you mean. Our guide to the TikTok For You page explains the signals in more detail.

If you just don't want to hear it, the volume buttons on your phone are still the fastest fix.

How to turn down whole topics

Manage topics works on categories rather than words: sports, food and drinks, lifestyle and so on. Go to Settings and privacy, Content preferences, Manage topics, move the slider for each topic and tap Save. You can also reach it from a post: Share, Why this video, Adjust your For You, Manage topics.

Two limits from TikTok's help center: the sliders only affect the For You feed (not Following, profiles or your inbox), and it can take some time before the feed changes. If a feed has gone wrong in many ways at once, a full refresh is the bigger tool; we cover it in our guide on how to reset the For You page.

Restricted Mode: a blanket filter for mature content

If the goal is to keep mature content out in general rather than block specific words, use Restricted Mode. TikTok says it limits content such as profanity, sexually suggestive content, realistic violence, weapons in an inappropriate setting and drugs. The decision is made by automated systems and human moderators, not by you.

1. Open Content preferences. Tap Profile, the Menu button, Settings and privacy, then Content preferences.
2. Open Restricted Mode. Tap Restricted Mode.
3. Set a passcode and turn it on. The first time, tap Turn on, then set a passcode. You need the same passcode to turn it off again.

The trade-offs: in Restricted Mode you lose the Following feed, going LIVE and gifting on LIVE, and it has to be turned on for each account separately. Parents can manage it, along with keyword filters and daily screen time, for a teen's account through Family Pairing.

Why you still see content you blocked

• The filter can't see it. Keyword filters match words and hashtags. A video about a topic that never names it in text can slip through.
• Some keywords can't be filtered. TikTok says so itself, and not all variations are covered even with Smart filter.
• Wrong feed. A filter applies only to the feeds you picked, and Manage topics only touches the For You feed.
• The region. Depending on where you signed up, filters may not work in some feeds.
• Not interested isn't a block. TikTok promises fewer posts like it, not none. If the same kind of post keeps coming, TikTok asks you to send feedback with screenshots of the videos you marked Not interested, through Need more help in the help center.

There's also a switch for people who want less tailoring overall: in some regions you can turn off Personalized feeds under Content preferences. TikTok then shows non-personalized content, and the For You feed becomes a Popular feed. It doesn't block anything, it just stops the feed from learning what keeps you watching.

When the problem is the endless feed, not the content

Filters clean up a feed, but a clean feed is still endless. If what bothers you is that ten minutes on TikTok turns into an hour, blocking hashtags won't change that much, and it can make the feed even easier to keep watching.

For the time itself, TikTok has Daily screen time under Settings and privacy, Time and well-being, Screen time. When you reach the limit, TikTok notifies you, and you can close the app or enter a passcode to keep going; for ages 13 to 17 it's on by default at 1 hour. Android's Digital Wellbeing can show how much time TikTok really takes, as we explain in how to check screen time on Android.

Both are reminders you can wave away. Another route on Android is an app that blocks the swipe to the next video, so the feed simply stops; we compare the options in our list of apps to block Shorts, Reels and TikTok. Dam It! is one of them. It doesn't filter topics or words and doesn't work on iPhone, so for blocking specific content TikTok's own filters above are the right tool.