How To Slow Down A TikTok

TikTok has taken the world of social media by storm over the last couple of years, growing especially popular during the lockdown measures imposed by governments around the world in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Editing and modifying your TikTok videos is standard practice, and one of the coolest options available to you is slowing videos down (i.e. making them ‘slowmo’ videos). 

To learn how to do so for both direct recordings and gallery uploads, simply follow our step-by-step tutorials below. For all other information, or if you have other queries, please see our FAQ section at the end of this article.

How to slow down a TikTok recorded in the app (iOS/Android)

  1. On your Android or iOS device, open the TikTok app and sign in if prompted
  2. First, tap on the (+) icon at the bottom-centre of your screen
  3. You should immediately see a range of speeds at which you can record your TikTok video, however if you don’t see them, tap the ‘Speed’ icon on the right-hand sidebar (it’s shaped like a car’s speedometer)

  4. You can now select which of the ‘slowmo’ speeds you’d like to record your video at. Choose either 0.3x or 0.5x (a third or half of normal speed) by tapping the relevant icon.
  5. Next, record your TikTok video by applying the filters and effects you want, then tapping the big red Record button to start.
  6. Once you’re finished recording, you’ll see that your live movements have been slowed down to your chosen speed.
  7. Finish up by tapping ‘Next’, editing your post with a caption and hashtags, etc. and then tapping ‘Post’ to post your slowed down TikTok to the app.

How to slow down a video uploaded to TikTok from your gallery (iOS/Android)

  1. On your Android or iOS device, open the TikTok app and sign in if prompted
  2. First, tap on the (+) icon at the bottom-centre of your screen
  3. Next, tap the ‘Gallery/Upload’ tile icon in the bottom right to redirect yourself to your gallery, from where you can pick the video you wish to make a TikTok. Simply tap on it and press ‘Next’.

  4. Having uploaded your chosen video to TikTok, tap the Speed icon located to the right, above the crop scrub of your video
  5. From the pop-up options, select 0.5x speed, and you will immediately see how your video looks in slow motion
  6. Tap ‘Next’ and TikTok will process your slowed down, uploaded video
  7. You can now edit your slowed down video with a variety of sounds, music, speech, text, or filters and effects, just like you would if recording a video directly in the app. Do so now, and when satisfied with your video, tap ‘Next’

  8. Finish up by tapping ‘Next’, editing your post with a caption and hashtags, etc. and then tapping ‘Post’ to post your slowed down TikTok to the app.

And that’s all there is to it! Whether recording directly in the TikTok app or uploading a video to the app from your Gallery, you have a range of slow-motion options available to you. 

If you still have questions or would like any more information on the subject, please see our FAQs below.

FAQs

What does it mean to slow down a TikTok?

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing, most popular social media apps today, let alone in the specifically-video sharing market. Owned by a Chinese company, TikTok enjoys usage from millions of users a day and is particularly popular for its dance challenge crazes, and funny videos. Many users like to ‘remix’ the videos of others, or upload their own unique content. 

There are lots of ways to edit and enhance a video’s qualities, some of the most popular and effective (in terms of garnering likes and follows) are to add music and text, as well as text-to-speech features to your videos. However, it’s also popular and possible to alter the speed of your videos. 

To slow down a TikTok literally means to apply ‘slow motion’ or ‘slowmo’ to a video you are uploading and posting to the platform. In other words, the video you are about to create or upload can be slowed down to play at a slower speed.

Why would I want to slow down a TikTok?

In today’s hyper-paced world of ever-changing trends and seemingly limitless content, it’s rarely enough (if you want your post to gain attention) to simply post a video without editing it. In fact, it seems like the more heavily edited and choreographed a TikTok, the more popular it tends to be. 

As we’ve stated above, this usually takes the form of adding music, speech, and text, but it can also include applying filters and even slowing down the video. There is a number of reasons that slowing down a TikTok might be beneficial to both the quality of the video and its popularity with your audience, but one of the most obvious is that slowing down the video would enhance its content.

Think, for example, of a fast-paced dance challenge, a video of someone performing an incredible stunt (like a double-backflip), or of something in nature captured as it speeds by. Slowing down any of these videos would literally give the viewer more time to take everything in; more time to enjoy the video. It would also give the viewer the chance to break down complex movements so as to see how they are done in greater detail.

Look, we hardly need to explain this to you, right? You’ve seen slomo videos before, yes? They’re cool, aren’t they? We thought so. Now go make your own slowed-down TikToks using our tutorials above!

Can you slow down any video on TikTok?

Yes! Well, provided its one you are making or uploading. You can’t play someone else’s TikTok back at a speed they haven’t intended it to be watched at, but you can slow down any video you are recording directly in the app or uploading to the app to post.

What are the slow motion options available to you on TikTok?

The slow-motion speeds available on TikTok depend on the kind of video you’re working with. If you’re uploading a video from your phone’s Gallery or Video folder, you can only slow the video down to 0.5x its normal speed (i.e. half-speed). However, if you’re recording a video directly in the app, you can slow the video down even further, to 0.5x or 0.3x the normal speed.

Can you also speed up videos on TikTok?

Yes! Just like you can slow down TikToks, you can also speed them up. Generally speaking, you can speed a video you’re uploading from your phone to 2x (twice as fast) as the original speed, whereas when recording a video directly within the app, you have more options available to you. When recording directly in the app, you can speed the recording up by 2x or even 3x the normal speed.