How to Add Text to a TikTok Draft

Adding text to a screen is one of the most powerful tools in your TikTok creator toolkit, but perfecting it inside a saved draft can feel surprisingly tricky. You shot the perfect video, saved it for later, and now you're ready to add that witty caption or vital piece of context - but where do you start? We'll guide you through the exact steps for adding and editing text in your TikTok drafts, from the simple basics to a few advanced tricks that will make your content stand out.

First Things First: Where Are Your TikTok Drafts?

Before you can add text, you need to find your video. For creators who are constantly filming, the drafts folder can become a crowded place. It's also important to remember one critical detail: your drafts are saved locally to your device, not to your TikTok account in the cloud. If you switch phones or delete the app, your drafts will be gone for good.

Here's how to find them:

1. Open the TikTok app.
2. Tap on the Profile icon at the bottom-right corner of your screen.
3. At the top of your video grid, you'll see a folder labeled Drafts followed by the number of videos saved there. Tap on it.
4. You'll now see a gallery of all the videos you've saved. Just tap the one you want to edit.

Once you select a draft, TikTok will open it in the post-production editing screen, the same place you land right after recording a new video. This is exactly where you need to be to start adding your text.

The Step-by-Step Guide to Adding Basic Text

With your draft open in the editor, you have access to all of TikTok's creative tools. Adding text is a straightforward process, but the options available let you get creative with how it looks and feels.

Step 1: Open the Text Tool

Look at the options on the right-hand side of the screen. You'll see several icons for stickers, effects, and more. Tap on the Text icon, which usually looks like "Aa." This will bring up your keyboard and the text editing interface.

Step 2: Type Your Message and Choose Your Style

Start typing what you want to say. As you type, you'll notice several customization options appear around your text input:

• Font: On the left, you can scroll through different fonts. TikTok offers a range from classic sans-serif styles to more decorative options like script and typewriter fonts. The font you choose can significantly impact the vibe of your video, so experiment to see what fits your brand or aesthetic.
• Color: The colored circles at the bottom allow you to change the color of your text. Don't just pick your favorite, think about readability. If your video background is dark, choose a light color, and vice-versa.
• Background/Highlight: To the left of the font options, you'll often see an "A" icon with a box around it. Tapping this adds a background color or outline to your text, which is an absolute game-changer for making your words pop against a busy background. You can cycle through different styles, like a solid background, a semi-transparent highlight, or a simple outline.
• Alignment: An icon with lines lets you toggle between left-aligned, center-aligned, and right-aligned text. Center-aligned is the default and most common, but other alignments can be useful for positioning text near the edges of the screen.

Step 3: Place and Resize Your Text

Voila! Your stylized text is now on your video preview. But the placement is just as important as the style. Use your fingers to:

• Move it: Tap and hold the text box, then drag it anywhere on the screen. Be mindful of the "safe zones." Keep important text away from the very top and bottom or far right edge of the screen, where TikTok's UI elements (like your username, caption, and icons) will eventually cover it. Pushing it slightly inward guarantees it won't be blocked.
• Resize it: Use two fingers to pinch and zoom, just like you would with a photo on your phone. You can make the text larger to grab attention or smaller for a more subtle note.
• Rotate it: Use two fingers and twist to rotate the text to an angle. This can add a dynamic and playful feel to your video.

Once you're happy, tap "Done" in the top-right corner to exit the text editor. You can repeat this process to add multiple independent text boxes to your video.

Timing Is Everything: How to Set Text Duration

Adding text is easy, but making it appear and disappear at the perfect moment is what separates amateur content from professional-looking videos. This technique, called setting the text duration, is perfect for storytelling, revealing a joke punchline, or listing steps in a tutorial.

Here's how to master it:

1. After adding and placing your text, tap on the text box.
2. A menu will pop up with a few options. Select "Set duration."
3. This will open a timeline editor at the bottom of your screen that shows your entire video clip. You'll see a red bar representing the duration and timing of your selected text box.
4. Drag the handles at the beginning and end of the red bar to trim when the text appears and disappears. You can drag the left handle to make it appear later in the video, and drag the right handle to make it vanish sooner.
5. Use the video preview above the timeline to scrub through and make sure your timing lines up perfectly with the audio or on-screen action.

Let's use an example: Imagine a "day in the life" video. You could have a text box that says "6 AM: Wake Up" appear for the first three seconds, then disappear as a new text box, "7 AM: Morning Coffee," appears for the next few seconds. It makes the video engaging and easy to follow without messy jump cuts.

Advanced Techniques to Make Your Text Pop

Want to go beyond the basics? These extra features will elevate your TikToks and help you communicate your message more effectively.

Use Text-to-Speech

One of TikTok's most iconic features is the text-to-speech function, which reads your on-screen text aloud in a Siri-like voice. It's an amazing tool for accessibility and for adding a layer of personality or deadpan humor to your content. Here's how to enable it:

1. Add text to your video as usual.
2. Before hitting "Done," tap on the text box.
3. In the menu that appears, look for an icon that looks like a person's head with sound waves (it might also just say "Text-to-speech"). Tap it.
4. You can then often choose from several different voices. Select one, and a robotic voiceover will be automatically generated.
5. Set the duration for this text! The audio will only play while the text is visible on screen, so if you want the voice to read the entire sentence, make sure your text duration is long enough.

Stacking and Layering for Visual Storytelling

You can add multiple text overlays and have them appear at the same time or staggered. This is great for creating a conversational effect or building up information visually. To do this, simply add one text box, set its duration, and then repeat the process, adding another text box and giving it its own unique timing.

For example, you could have a question appear on screen for 2 seconds, followed immediately by the answer appearing right below it. This quick, dynamic movement keeps viewers hooked.

Troubleshooting Common Text Problems

Sometimes things don't go as planned. Here are fixes for a few common issues you might encounter when adding text to a TikTok draft.

• My text isn't showing up after I saved it. The most common reason for this is duration. Tap the text box again and choose "Set duration." You may have accidentally shortened its visible time to a fraction of a second.
• The text is impossible to read against my video. Readability is everything. If your text blends into the background, tap on it, select "Edit," and add a background highlight or a strong outline. Choose a contrasting color - light text on a dark backdrop, or dark text on a light one. This one trick makes a massive difference.
• I tapped on the text, but the 'Set Duration' button isn't there. Make sure you have finalized the text first by tapping "Done." Once it's placed on your video preview, a single tap is what brings up the correct menu for setting duration and text-to-speech.
• The Text-to-Speech voice sounds weird or cuts off. This almost always goes back to text duration. The voiceover will stop abruptly as soon as the text box disappears from the screen. Go back into "Set duration" and extend the end point so the full narration can play out.

Final Thoughts

Mastering text in your TikTok drafts transforms it from a simple label into a powerful storytelling device. By learning how to style, place, and precisely time your text, you can capture attention, add clarity, and create far more engaging content that hooks viewers from the first second to the last.

We know that crafting the perfect TikTok is step one. The next is managing your entire social media presence without feeling overwhelmed. At Postbase, we designed a simple, modern tool focused on what truly matters today: video. Instead of wrestling with a platform built for 2010, you can use our visual calendar to easily plan and schedule all your TikToks, Reels, and Shorts alongside content for your other social channels. It keeps everything organized in one place, so you can spend less time juggling tabs and more time creating.