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Can you edit captions, subtitles and cover images on TikTok?

A question for the ages, an answer most confusing
Last Updated on December 1, 2023
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TikTok might have one of the largest, fastest-growing and a never-ending amount of content on its platform, but the app that was once a mere annoyance in the ad space as Musical.ly still has a lot of things missing that’d be expected from the video platform.

Recently, TikTok added the function of closed captions to be more inclusive across the board with those who are hard of hearing, but also cunningly, add them so that those of us on mute can still consume the endless scroll of faces. It’s a win-win across the board, as much as it pains anyone to admit it.

Either way, the closed captions are just part of the current issue, as once you’ve posted a video to TikTok it can’t be edited in any capacity unless you pull it down to re-edit and upload it.

This also hits the cover images, which once the video is posted, you can’t change either. Unlike on YouTube which lets you edit anything posted in a great capacity, as well as Instagram, it seems TikTok just aren’t interested in having the currently available content that you might have posted and want to edit to be changed for some reason.

Whether this is to reduce stress on their servers or that it prevents algorithm manipulation is unknown, but the answer to your burning questions is, no, there’s nothing you can do once the video is up other than pull it down, re-edit it and then post it back up.

Joel is a a lover of janky games, Magic the Gathering, and going down rabbit holes. For PC Guide he has written about peripherals, the Steam Deck, retro games, news and more.