How to Continue Recording a Draft on TikTok

You’ve filmed the perfect first clip for your next TikTok, but you get a call or need to step away. Saving it as a draft is a lifesaver, but figuring out how to get back to the camera to add more clips isn't always obvious. This guide cuts straight to the chase and shows you exactly how to find your TikTok drafts and continue recording so you never lose a great idea in progress again. We’ll also cover common issues and workarounds for managing your video clips effectively.

Why Working with Drafts Will Transform Your TikTok Workflow

Before we get into the "how," let's talk about the "why." Mastering the draft feature isn't just a technical skill, it's a strategic advantage for any creator, marketer, or brand builder. It moves you from creating content reactively to planning it proactively. When you create and post in the same session, you're often rushed, leading to simple mistakes, forgotten details, or content that just doesn't quite hit the mark.

Drafts change everything. They are the secret weapon behind creators who seem to post high-quality content consistently. Here’s how they can elevate your strategy:

• Embrace Batch Recording: This is arguably the biggest benefit. You can dedicate a few hours on one day to film the raw clips for dozens of TikToks. Maybe you have perfect lighting, a clean background, or you're just feeling inspired. Film all your 'talking head' segments or product demos at once, save them as individual drafts, and then spend the rest of the week editing and posting them. This saves an enormous amount of time and mental energy.
• Capture Ideas Instantly: Inspiration doesn't wait for the perfect moment. Heard a trending sound you want to use? Have a brilliant idea for a skit? You can quickly record a placeholder clip, save it as a draft, and come back later to flesh it out. This stops good ideas from slipping through the cracks.
• Perfect Your Production: Rushing to post often means settling for "good enough." With drafts, you have the breathing room to get things right. You can fine-tune your cuts, add more compelling B-roll, think about the perfect text overlay, and re-record a clip if the energy is off. Your content quality will improve dramatically.
• Build a Consistent Content Pipeline: For brands and professional creators, consistency is everything. Having a folder full of drafts means you'll never have a day where you're scrambling to find something to post. You have a buffer of ready-to-go content, which keeps your audience engaged and your posting schedule reliable even on your busiest days.

In short, using drafts separates the hobbyists from the pros. It's the simple feature that enables a more professional, sustainable, and less frantic approach to content creation.

How to Continue Recording a Draft on TikTok: The Step-by-Step Guide

Alright, you’ve saved a draft with a few clips and you're ready to add more. The process is straightforward once you know where to look, but a few of the buttons aren't as intuitive as you'd expect. Follow these exact steps to get back to the camera and finish your masterpiece.

Step 1: Navigate to Your Profile and Find Your Drafts

Your drafts are stored locally on your device and are tied to your account. You can only access them from within the TikTok app on the phone where you created them. They aren’t stored in the cloud.

• Open the TikTok app.
• Tap the Profile icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
• Right below your bio, you’ll see your content feed. The very first box in this grid will be labeled “Drafts” with a number indicating how many you have saved. Tap on this box to open your drafts folder.

If you don't see a "Drafts" folder, it means you don't have any saved drafts. The folder only appears once you've saved your first video.

Step 2: Select the Draft You Want to Edit

Once you’re in your drafts folder, you’ll see thumbnails for all the videos you’ve started but haven’t posted. Find the video you want to continue working on and tap on it.

This will open the draft in the main editing preview screen - the same screen you’d see right after filming, where you can add sounds, text, stickers, and effects. This is the part that often confuses people. You might expect to be taken back to the camera, but instead, you land in the editor. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place.

Step 3: Get Back to the Recording Screen to Add More Clips

This is the essential step. From the editing preview screen, you need to go "backwards" to get to the camera.

• Look at the top-left corner of the editing screen. You’ll see a left-pointing arrow (<,).
• Tap this back arrow.

Tapping this arrow will immediately return you to the TikTok camera interface. You’ll see your previously recorded clips lined up on the right-hand side, often under the “Adjust clips” button. The red record button will be available, and you can now continue filming new segments, add more B-roll, or finish your video exactly where you left off. You can use all the camera features like timers, speed adjustments, and filters for your new clips just as you would with a brand new video. Once you’ve added your new clips, tap the red checkmark to go back to the editing screen and put it all together.

The One Big Limitation: Adding Clips After You’ve Started Editing

Here’s a situation that trips up nearly every new TikTok creator. You've recorded a few clips, moved to the editing screen, added your text and maybe a voiceover, and saved it as a draft to finish later. When you come back, you realize you need one more quick shot. Can you go back to the camera?

Unfortunately, no. Once you have applied edits like text overlays, stickers, and filters from the editing panel, or advanced edits in the "Adjust clips" timeline, TikTok does not let you go back to the camera to add more clips to that existing draft. Tapping the back arrow at this stage will simply ask if you want to save your recent changes or discard them, it won’t take you to the camera.

Your draft is essentially "locked" into the editing stage. This is a common point of frustration, but there is a reliable workaround.

A Simple Workaround for Combining Videos

If you find yourself in this situation, don't throw away your hard work. You can still combine your edited draft with new footage. It just takes a couple of extra steps:

1. Save Your Edited Draft: Open the edited draft you want to use. Instead of trying to add more clips, simply save the video to your phone's camera roll. You can do this by tapping "Next" and then, on the posting screen, tapping "More options" and making sure "Save to device" is toggled on. Alternatively, just post the video privately to yourself - it will automatically save to your device without anyone seeing it.
2. Record Your New Clips: Go back to the TikTok camera and record the new clips you want to add. Don't worry about editing them yet. Just save the new footage to your device as well.
3. Combine and Re-upload: Now you have two (or more) video files on your phone. You have two options:
   • The TikTok Uploader: Go to the TikTok camera, tap the "Upload" button, select your edited draft first, and then your new clips in the order you want them. TikTok will string them together, and you can then make final adjustments.
   • A Third-Party App: For more control, use a free video editing app like CapCut (which integrates beautifully with TikTok) or InShot. Import both videos, arrange them perfectly, trim as needed, and export the final video. Then, upload that finished version to TikTok. This method often gives you a more polished final product.

Tips for Managing Your TikTok Drafts Like a Pro

As you start using drafts more often, your drafts folder can get messy. A little organization goes a long way. Here are some tips to keep things under control:

Keep it Clean

Periodically scroll through your drafts and delete old ideas you’re never going to finish. A cluttered drafts folder makes it hard to find what you're looking for and can slow down the app.

Remember: Drafts Use Phone Storage

TikTok drafts are not stored in the cloud. They are saved directly to your phone's internal memory. If you’re low on storage, a folder full of HD video drafts might be the culprit. Clearing out unused drafts is a great way to free up space.

Warning: If You Delete the App, Your Drafts Are Gone Forever

This is a big one. If you uninstall and reinstall the TikTok app for any reason, you will lose all of your drafts permanently. There is no way to recover them. If you have drafts you care about, make sure to save them to your device as regular videos before doing any app maintenance.

Label Your Drafts with Cover Captions

When you save a draft, TikTok automatically uses the first frame as the thumbnail. This can make it hard to distinguish between dozens of similar-looking clips. Before saving, go to the posting screen and type a short description (e.g., "Trending Sound Part 1," "Product FAQ idea") into the caption box. Even if you don't post, that text will appear on the draft thumbnail, making it much easier to identify later.

Thinking about your drafts not as forgotten videos but as a content library waiting to be activated will fundamentally change your approach to TikTok, helping you create better content, post more consistently, and grow your brand organically.

Final Thoughts

Mastering TikTok's draft feature is a simple technical skill that unlocks powerful strategic advantages, allowing you to batch record content, capture fleeting ideas, and dramatically improve your video quality. By knowing how to return to the camera and understanding the limitations of edited drafts, you can streamline your workflow and build a consistent content pipeline.

Once you’ve perfected those drafts, the next step is getting them in front of your audience at the right time. At Postbase, we built our platform specifically for modern social media, with a heavy focus on short-form video. Since we were designed for today's landscape of Reels, Shorts, and TikToks, our visual content planner and rock-solid scheduler make it easy to upload your finished videos once and schedule them across all your platforms, ensuring your hard work gets seen without the last-minute scramble.