How To Customize Your TikTok For You Page

Scroll down your For You page on TikTok, and you’ll find videos all across the spectrum of genres. Unlike your Following feed, the For You page is an algorithm-curated selection of videos from users that you likely don’t follow, whose content you didn’t know you needed to see. Some users claim the For You page algorithm knows them better than they know themselves. If you’re new to TikTok, your FYP is just a mix of popular videos that people in your demographic tend to like. But you don’t have to look hard to find more videos that speak to your particular tastes — there are ways to customize your For You page on TikTok.

Being an active viewer is the best way to give TikTok hints as to what kinds of videos you like. Replaying videos that you can’t stop laughing at; liking, commenting, or saving them; or even duetting them with your reaction helps show the app the kinds of content you’re most likely to engage in, so it can show you more. By contrast, swiping away from or marking videos that you don’t want to see as “not interested” will tell the algorithm what to show you less of.

It doesn’t take long for the app to pick up what you’re putting down. A few taps and follows, and your For You page will look entirely different than it did when you first started using the app.

Engage With Videos You Like To Train Your For You Page

Liking, sharing, and commenting lets the algorithm know that the video resonated with you. “As you scroll through your For You feed, every new interaction with videos helps shape your recommendations,” a spokesperson at TikTok tells Bustle.

For this same reason, you’ll want to refrain from reacting to videos that you don’t like if you don’t want to see more of similar videos. “You can long-press on a video and tap ‘Not Interested’ to indicate that you don't care for a particular video,” TikTok says. It’s also important to remember that engagement goes both ways, so only engaging with videos you like won’t necessarily reduce the kinds of videos you don’t like, unless you say you’re not interested.

Filter Hashtags From Your For You Page

In July, TikTok introduced a new feature that can help you filter out content related to specific words or phrases from your For You page — for example, “because you've just finished a home project and no longer want DIY tutorials or if you want to see fewer dairy or meat recipes as you move to more plant-based meals,” as a press release puts it.

In the coming weeks, after you long-press on a video and mark it as “not interested,” you can tap “details” on the confirmation pop-up. There, you’ll see which hashtags or words are related to the video. You can tap specific hashtags and hit submit to let TikTok know you don’t want to see any content related to those hashtags anymore.

Follow TikTok Users You Like

Engagement isn’t the only way you can influence your feed. TikTok also pays attention to the kinds of accounts you follow. “When you decide to follow new accounts, that action will help refine your recommendations too,” TikTok tells Bustle, adding that exploring hashtags, sounds, songs, effects, and trending topics on the Discover tab will also help to train your algorithm into giving you an uber-personalized For You page.

Add TikToks You Like To Favorites

While liking a video will file it in your hearted videos, a tab that’s easy to find on your profile page, the Favorites tab can help you organize what you actually liked about the video. For example, hearting a video won’t help you remember what you liked about it. Was it the sound? The creator? The effect? Adding the specific thing you liked about it to your Favorites file, you’ll be able to more readily recall it, and also let TikTok know that you want more of it. “All of these are ways to tailor your experience and invite new categories of content into your feed,” TikTok says. Need a new TikTok niche? You can always change up your feed or veer off into a different direction by simply tapping around a little bit outside of your comfort zone.