Create sticker not showing on TikTok

1. Turn on Animated thumbnail

On our test account, Create sticker didn't appear on any post until we turned on one accessibility setting:

1. Open your profile and tap ☰ (top right).
2. Go to Settings and privacy → Accessibility.
3. Turn on Animated thumbnail.

After that, Create sticker appeared in the Share menu, and the Stickers tab (the smiley-face icon) showed up on the profile. It is the first thing to check, because without it nothing else on this list helps.

2. Wait for the post to finish processing

Create sticker doesn't appear the moment a video is posted. On our account it took a few minutes, and sometimes 10 minutes or more. If you are making a banner, post all the videos first, then come back and create the stickers in order.

3. Post a video, not a photo

Create sticker never appeared on photo posts or photo carousels in our tests, and it didn't appear on posts made with the collage option. Post each sticker as a separate, ordinary video. If you want a sticker from a photo, turn the photo into a short video first. The sticker banner maker does that, and so does the GIF converter for GIFs.

4. Repost a video that never shows it

If one video still has no Create sticker after 15 to 20 minutes while others do, delete that post and upload the same file again. On our account, the second upload behaved normally. Don't skip ahead to the next sticker while you wait: the newest sticker shows first, so the order you create them in matters.

5. Update and restart the app

Stickers are a newer feature, and older app versions may not have them. Update TikTok from the App Store or Google Play, close it completely, and open it again. Restarting also fixes moving stickers that play a beat behind the others.

6. Check where you are looking

Create sticker is in the Share menu of a video you have already posted (the arrow icon on the post), not in the editor before you post. In the editor you will only find GIPHY stickers, which go on top of a video and are a different feature.

7. Make the stickers public

If the sticker was created but isn't in your Stickers tab for visitors, check that it is public. Private stickers don't show on your profile to other people.

8. Accept that it may not have reached your account

TikTok rolls features out gradually, by region and by account. If you have tried everything above, the option may not be available to you yet. You can still prepare your sticker videos now and keep them on your phone until it arrives.

A checklist before you post your sticker videos

Most "missing button" problems start before the video is posted. Run through this list once and you will rarely need the fixes above:

• Animated thumbnail is on (Settings and privacy → Accessibility).
• The app is up to date and has been restarted since the update.
• Each sticker is its own short video file, not a photo, a carousel or a collage.
• The files are square. Square videos need no dragging or zooming when you create the sticker, so the pieces can't slip.
• Each post has a short caption such as "1", "2", "3", so you can find them again in the right order.
• You have a few minutes to wait between posting and creating the stickers.

If you are making a banner of 6 or 9 stickers, post all the videos in one go, then create the stickers one by one in numbered order once every post shows the option.

After Create sticker appears

1. Open video 1 → Share → Create sticker.
2. Keep the 3 seconds TikTok preselects, or drag to the end for up to 5. Use the same choice on every sticker.
3. Tap Confirm, don't touch the square preview, then tap Create sticker.
4. Repeat for 2, 3 and so on, in numbered order.

Our step-by-step guide shows each tap in a short recording, and explains how to fix a banner that comes out shifted.

Common questions