send pictures on tiktok

Are you trying to send pictures in TikTok messages? If so, this guide will show you exactly how.

You may want to send a photo of what you’re currently doing, or maybe a meme. Regardless of what the image is of, you will know how to send it through TikTok messages with the help of this guide.

Let’s get right into this!

1. Open the TikTok app

Firstly, you need to open the TikTok app.

Make sure you are logged in to the account you want to send the picture from, or switch to the account.

2. Get the picture on to your camera roll

Next, you need to get the picture on to your camera roll.

You will either need to take the picture or, you will need to save it to your camera roll.

Alternatively, you can screenshot the picture to get it on to your camera roll or photo library.

3. Create a TikTok video

Go back to TikTok and tap on the “Create” button in the middle of the bottom navigation bar.

create button on tiktok

At the bottom of the screen, you can either select “Camera” or “Quick”, it’s up to you.

tiktok effects button

Now, you need to tap on “Effects” to the left of the big red recording button.

Once the TikTok effects are visible, you need to tap on the magnifying glass and search for “Green Screen”.

search icon for effects on tiktok

Use the green screen effect, which has had the most posts. You can view the post count by looking under the name and it should be the first option to choose from.

green screen effect on tiktok

Once you have tapped on “Green Screen”, a random image will appear as your background and TikTok will start removing your background and will just show your face/body in the foreground.

However, you can move out of the camera by angling your phone upwards.

Now, we will change the background to the video or picture you want to send in a message.

You can preview some of your camera roll in a row going horizontally, but to view your entire camera roll, tap on the plus button on the left hand side.

plus button camera roll tiktok effect

Scroll through your camera roll or photo library and find the video or picture you want to send.

Once you have found it, tap on it.

Then, the picture will become the background of the video.

You now need to record the video of the picture/photo for a few seconds.

So, just hold down the big red button.

record button on tiktok

4. Edit your image/video before you send it

You will then be taken to the preview and edit stage of the process.

Here, you can mute the sound if you don’t want it and add any text you would like as well.

All of the effects and tools are on the right hand side, and to view more of them, tap on the downwards facing arrow at the bottom of the list.

tiktok effect and tools right hand side

When you’re finished, tap on “Next” in the red box.

next button on tiktok

5. Change the privacy settings and post the video

After clicking on “Next”, you will be taken to the “Post” page.

The main thing you need to change are the privacy settings.

So, tap on “Who can watch this video”.

who can watch this on tiktok

There are a few options, you can choose from: Only me, Friends or Everyone.

setting who can watch this video settings

We think the best option is “Friends” because only the people you follow will be able to see the video on your profile, so you can send it in a message.

However, if you don’t follow the user you are trying to send a picture to, then you either need to follow them or, allow everyone to see the video, or create a alt TikTok account to upload the video and picture on, and send it from there.

If you choose to create an alt TikTok account, then you can create the account and follow the previous steps.

So, either tap on “Friends” or “Everyone”.

You can add a description if you would like, but you don’t need to.

Then, post the video!

post button on tiktok

6. Send the picture to the TikTok user

Now, you need to go to your TikTok profile.

Find the video you just posted and tap on it.

friends only post on tiktok

Next, go to the bottom right of the video and tap on the three horizontal dots. This is a menu button.

three horizontal dots tiktok

At the top of the menu, you will see a list of users and a “More” button. If you cannot see the user you want to send the video to, tap on “More” and you can search for them there.

However, we want to send the video to “Tucker”, so we will tap on their profile.

send to a user on tiktok

You can then write a message to be sent with the video/picture.

When you are ready, tap on “Send”.

Now, if you go to your conversation/messages with the user you sent the video to, you can see it has appeared in the chat!

Final words

You now know how to send pictures on TikTok messages!

Hopefully, in the future, TikTok will add a feature so there is a way to send photos directly to users without posting them first, but this method is a great alternative.

However, if you don’t like this method of sending pictures on TikTok, then you should use an alternative platform to send the image to the user.

You could send the user a message asking them for their Instagram handle and you could send the image on Instagram or any social platform that you both have.

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