How to Reset Your TikTok For You Page: 7 Ways to Fix Your Feed

Want to know how to reset the TikTok algorithm? TikTok has a built-in option that wipes your For You page clean, so it starts recommending videos as if you had just signed up. It matters more than ever: European regulators recently said in a preliminary finding that TikTok’s feed design can pull people into “rabbit holes” of harmful videos. Whether your feed has become upsetting, repetitive or just boring, the seven methods below reset it and, just as important, keep it from sliding back.

Quick answer: Open TikTok, tap Profile, tap the three-line menu, then go to Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Refresh your For You feed > Continue > Refresh. Your feed restarts as if you were a new user, without changing your settings or the accounts you follow. Then teach it what you want: tap Not interested on videos you don’t want, filter keywords, adjust Manage topics, and watch, like and follow only what you enjoy.

Can You Really Reset the TikTok Algorithm?

Yes. TikTok has a Refresh your For You feed option. TikTok says it lets you “view content on their For You feed as if they just signed up for TikTok,” and that its recommendation system then “will begin to surface more content based on new interactions.” In other words, the reset gives you a blank slate, but what you watch next decides what the new feed looks like.

Two things the refresh does not do, according to TikTok: it won’t override any settings you have already turned on, and it doesn’t change the accounts you follow. Your Following feed, likes and saved videos stay where they are.

Menu names in TikTok move around between app versions, so if a label below looks slightly different on your phone (for example “Settings & privacy”), follow the closest match.

1. Use “Refresh Your For You Feed” (the Official Reset)

This is the closest thing to a factory reset for your recommendations. It works the same on iPhone and Android.

1. Open the TikTok app and tap Profile at the bottom right.
2. Tap the three-line menu at the top right.
3. Tap Settings and privacy.
4. Tap Content preferences.
5. Tap Refresh your For You feed.
6. Read the notice, tap Continue, then tap Refresh to confirm. TikTok may ask why you are refreshing; you can pick a reason or skip it.

Go back to the For You tab and you should see a broader mix of popular videos instead of your old favourites. Don’t panic if a few familiar types of videos turn up; the feed is now learning again from scratch.

2. Tap “Not Interested” on Videos You Don’t Want

After a reset, the fastest way to steer the new feed is to say no early. TikTok says you can mark a video as “not interested” to see less of that creator or sound.

1. Press and hold on a video you don’t want to see more of (or tap Share).
2. Tap Not interested (the broken-heart icon).

Do this every time a video you dislike appears, especially in the first few days after a refresh. Just scrolling past quickly also helps, but “Not interested” is a much clearer signal.

3. Filter Keywords and Hashtags

If a whole topic keeps coming back, such as diet videos, a TV show you haven’t finished or distressing news, block the words that describe it. TikTok says keyword filters “automatically filter out videos that use specific hashtags or phrases.”

1. Go to Profile > three-line menu > Settings and privacy > Content preferences.
2. Tap Filter keywords (on some versions it is called Filter video keywords).
3. Tap Add keyword, type one word or hashtag, and choose whether it applies to the For You feed, the Following feed or both.
4. Tap Save, and repeat for other spellings and related hashtags.

TikTok has also added Smart Keyword Filters, which use AI to filter similar words and synonyms as well, and shows you which extra words it is filtering.

4. Adjust “Manage Topics”

Manage topics lets you turn whole categories up or down instead of typing keywords one at a time. TikTok says it covers more than 10 popular topics, such as Creative Arts, Travel, Nature and Sports.

1. Go to Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Manage topics.
2. Move the slider for each topic to see more or less of it. Tap the information button beside a topic to see what it includes.

These sliders don’t affect videos from accounts you follow, and TikTok notes that changes can take a little time to show up.

5. Retrain the Feed With Your Watching Habits

The For You page learns mostly from what you do, not what you say. In the first week after a reset, every action counts more than usual:

• Search for what you want. Look up the creators, hobbies or skills you want more of and watch a few of those videos.
• Watch good videos to the end, like them and save the ones you would rewatch.
• Follow a handful of creators in the topics you want.
• Swipe away quickly from anything you don’t want, and don’t comment on it, even to complain: comments are engagement.
• Avoid hate-watching. Rewatching a video you dislike tells the app you want more of it.

6. Clean Up Who You Follow

Refreshing the For You feed leaves your follows alone, so old follows can keep pulling your feed back toward the same content. To unfollow accounts:

1. Go to your Profile and tap your Following count.
2. Tap the Following button next to any account you no longer want to see.

For accounts that upset you, blocking them is stronger than unfollowing.

7. Start a New Account (Last Resort)

If you have refreshed, filtered and retrained and your feed still isn’t right, a brand-new account starts with no history at all. The downside is that you lose your followers, likes, saved videos and messages on the new account, so only do this if your old account matters little to you. Before you leave, download anything you want to keep.

Does Clearing the TikTok Cache Reset the Algorithm?

Not really. Clearing the cache (Settings and privacy > Free up space > Cache > Clear) frees storage on your phone, but TikTok doesn’t describe it as a way to change your recommendations. It’s useful if the app is slow or your phone is full (see our guide to freeing up space on Android), but to change what you see, use Refresh your For You feed instead.

How Long Does It Take for a Reset to Work?

The refresh itself is instant, but the new feed takes shape over days, not minutes, as TikTok learns from what you watch. Expect a mixed, popular-content feed at first. If it starts drifting back to old habits after a week or two, step up the “Not interested” taps and keyword filters rather than refreshing again straight away.

Break the Scrolling Habit, Not Just the Feed

A clean feed helps, but a feed built to keep you watching will always be easy to get lost in. A few tools outside TikTok help:

• Set a daily time limit for TikTok with your phone’s built-in tools; on an iPhone, Screen Time does this (our iPhone Screen Time guide shows where to find it).
• Move TikTok off your home screen so opening it is a choice, not a reflex.
• Use the same approach on other apps: YouTube has its own filters and Restricted Mode for YouTube for younger viewers.

FAQ

How do I completely reset my TikTok algorithm?

Go to Profile, tap the three-line menu, then Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Refresh your For You feed, and confirm. For a cleaner result, also unfollow accounts you no longer want and add keyword filters. The only way to start with zero history is a new account.

Does resetting the For You page delete my likes or followers?

No. TikTok says refreshing doesn’t override your settings or affect the accounts you follow. Your followers, likes, saved videos and posts stay as they are.

Why does my TikTok feed keep showing the same videos after a reset?

Because the feed relearns from what you watch. If you keep watching, rewatching or commenting on the same kind of video, it comes back. Use Not interested, filter keywords and swipe away quickly to change the signals.

Can I reset the TikTok algorithm on a computer?

The steps in this guide are for the TikTok app on iPhone and Android, where the Content preferences menu lives. If you can’t find the Refresh option on the TikTok website, use the app on your phone instead.