How to block TikTok on iPhone, or set a time limit

How do I restrict TikTok on iPhone?

Restricting TikTok on iPhone means three settings in Screen Time, plus a passcode: a time limit, set hours, and the website. You don’t need to delete the app for any of them.

• A daily time limit. On iOS 27, add TikTok’s category (Entertainment on the App Store) to Settings > Screen Time > Time Allowances. Every app in that category shares the time, which shared or separate App Limits explains in detail. On iOS 26, App Limits > Add Limit lets you pick TikTok on its own.
• Set hours. A Screen Time Schedule on iOS 27, or Downtime on iOS 26, keeps TikTok’s category closed in a time window such as 10 PM to 7 AM. Steps are in the night section below.
• The website. TikTok runs at tiktok.com, so a limit on the app alone leaves Safari open. See how to block TikTok in Safari below.
• A passcode. Without one, the limit screen lets you keep going. Set it in Passcode & Management > Lock Screen Time Settings on iOS 27 (on the Screen Time screen itself on iOS 26). Our Screen Time passcode guide covers setting, changing and resetting it.

If by “restrict” you mean what TikTok shows rather than how long you use it, that is TikTok’s Restricted Mode, in Profile > Menu > Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Restricted Mode. It filters out videos TikTok considers not suitable for everyone and turns off features like the Following feed, but it doesn’t limit time. Every iOS 26 to iOS 27 name change used here is listed in what changed in Screen Time on iOS 27.

How do I set a time limit on TikTok?

You can set a TikTok time limit in two places: inside TikTok, or in your iPhone’s Screen Time. They behave very differently when the time runs out.

In TikTok (steps from TikTok’s Help Center, checked October 26, 2026):

1. Tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu button at the top, then Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Time and well-being.
4. Tap Screen time, then turn on Daily screen time.
5. Follow the steps to choose a daily limit.

When you reach it, TikTok notifies you, and you can close TikTok or enter the on-screen passcode to return to it. TikTok says its screen time settings apply to the app and the website alike, so this limit follows you to tiktok.com. If you are 13 to 17, TikTok turns it on at 1 hour by default.

In Screen Time, use the steps at the top of this page: a Time Allowance for TikTok’s category on iOS 27, or an App Limit for TikTok alone on iOS 26. With a Screen Time passcode that someone else chose, this is the firmer of the two.

In Calma, a daily limit is a rule: “Allow TikTok 30 min a day” (the Social Detox preset). When the time is used, TikTok rests until midnight and shows “TikTok is resting.” with one button, Back to calm.

Which TikTok limit actually stops you?

We make Calma, so weigh this with that in mind. Calma is best for TikTok when a time of day is the problem, like in bed, and when you want a calm stop instead of a passcode. It is not for you if you need tiktok.com blocked too (use Screen Time for that), use TikTok on an iPad or Mac, or want a lock you can’t undo yourself.

Can I block TikTok at night on iPhone?

Yes. Use a Screen Time Schedule, not only a Time Allowance. A Time Allowance counts minutes; a schedule says when a category is available at all. Apple’s iOS 27 steps:

1. In Settings > Screen Time, tap Screen Time Schedule, then switch Schedule on.
2. Tap Add Schedule and choose the days.
3. Tap the time window and set it to 10 PM to 7 AM. Tapping categories picks which ones stay available in that window, so leave TikTok’s category out.
4. Check Always Allowed so the apps and people you need still get through.

Apple notes that Screen Time Schedules need iOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices. On iOS 26, the closest tool is Downtime, which leaves only calls, messages and your Always Allowed apps available, and blocks the rest only when Block at Downtime is on.

In Calma, the same night is one rule: Night Peace, every day from 10 PM to 7 AM (here’s how Calma works as an app to stop doomscrolling). TikTok stays available during the day and shows “TikTok is resting.” at night, with one button, Back to calm. There is no passcode to type on that screen. If you really need TikTok before morning, you open Calma and switch Night Peace off.

TikTok’s own night setting, Sleep hours, is worth turning on as well, but it is a reminder: it mutes TikTok’s push notifications after your sleep time begins and suggests a break in the app. It doesn’t close TikTok. For more ways to set up a quiet evening for every app, not just TikTok, see the Calma app blocker overview.

Can I block TikTok in Safari?

Yes, with Screen Time, and you should, because TikTok’s Help Center gives web steps for every screen time setting: the full app has a twin at tiktok.com. Calma blocks apps, not websites, so it leaves tiktok.com open.

• iOS 26: go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn it on, tap App Store, Media, Web, & Games > Web Content, select Limit Adult Websites, then tap Add Website under Never Allow and enter tiktok.com.
• iOS 27: Apple says a Time Allowance also applies to a website the app declares. Apple’s iOS 27 “Block features or content” page, which we checked on October 26, 2026, no longer describes blocking a website by URL. So after your TikTok time runs out, open tiktok.com in Safari once to see whether it is blocked too.
• Short links such as vm.tiktok.com redirect to tiktok.com, so a block on the domain catches the links friends send you.

TikTok’s own Daily screen time is the one limit that follows you from the app to tiktok.com, because it is tied to your account. It still ends with an on-screen passcode, though.

How many times a day do you open TikTok?

Keep a rough count for a few days. TikTok’s Help Center describes its screen time dashboard as time spent each day, across the app and the website, with no count of opens. The number of opens is more useful than it looks, because it tells you which kind of limit fits.

• Lots of short opens (checking between tasks) suit an open limit. In Calma, “Allow TikTok 5 opens a day” shows Open app on the block screen while you have opens left, and each open lasts 15 minutes.
• A few long sessions (one open that turns into an hour) suit a daily limit or a schedule. Calma’s Social Detox gives 30 minutes a day, then TikTok rests until midnight.
• Long sessions at one time of day, like in bed, suit a scheduled block for that window.

Look at a normal week before you choose. A weekday and a Sunday often look very different. To see what your TikTok minutes add up to over a month or a year, try the screen time calculator.

Why doesn’t TikTok’s own limit stop you?

Because it is designed to let you continue. TikTok’s help center says that when you reach your daily screen time, you can close TikTok or “enter the on-screen passcode to return to it.” The code is right there. Sleep reminders are a nudge too: when your sleep time starts, TikTok suggests in the app that you take a break. Neither one closes TikTok.

These tools are still worth turning on. Sleep reminders mute TikTok’s push notifications after your sleep time begins, which helps even when you are not scrolling. Just don’t count on them as a block. If late-night TikTok is really a doomscrolling loop, what doomscrolling is and why a pause helps explains why feeds are so hard to put down.

For a closer look at the habit of tapping past limits, read why you keep overriding App Limits. If TikTok is one of several apps you want to rest, start with how to block distracting apps without deleting them. The same approach for Instagram is in how to block Instagram on iPhone, with versions for Snapchat at bedtime, Facebook and its Reels and X on a few opens a day, and the full picture of Apple’s free tools is in Calma vs Screen Time.