How to schedule TikTok videos: post directly or send to drafts
A TikTok video is usually finished on a laptop and posted from a phone, whenever the phone is free. This is how to schedule it instead: straight to your profile, with the audience and settings you choose, or to your drafts when you want the last word in the app.
Rodolfo MotaFounder of SPREVA
The short version
Connect your TikTok account, add the video, write the caption and pick the account. Then choose how it reaches TikTok. Post to TikTok publishes it at its time, with the audience, comments, Duet and Stitch you set. Send to TikTok drafts puts the video in the app, for you to finish and publish there. Either way, schedule it or add it to a queue.
Two ways to reach TikTok
| Choice | What happens | Use it |
|---|---|---|
| Post to TikTok | SPREVA publishes the video at its time, with your caption, audience and settings | For a finished video |
| Send to TikTok drafts | The video lands in your TikTok drafts; the caption, sound and effects are added in the app | When the video needs a sound, text or an effect from TikTok |
Scheduling a video, step by step
- 1
Press New in the sidebar, choose Post, then Video Post, and pick your TikTok account.
- 2
Add the video and write the caption, up to 2,200 characters, hashtags included.
- 3
In the TikTok settings, choose Post to TikTok, then who can see it: Everyone, Friends, Followers or Only me, as TikTok offers them for your account. Nothing is chosen for you.
- 4
Turn comments, Duet and Stitch on or off. A setting your account has turned off in TikTok shows as unavailable.
- 5
Under Disclosures, mark the video as made with AI, as promoting your own brand, or as a paid partnership, when it is.
- 6
Schedule it, or Add to queue.
Right before it publishes, SPREVA reads your TikTok settings again. If something changed in the app since you scheduled the video, it stops and asks you to check, instead of posting with settings your account no longer has.
When to send it to your drafts
A draft carries the video only. The caption, a sound, text on screen and effects are added in the TikTok app, where you publish it. SPREVA tells you when a draft is waiting, and the post's page updates once it goes live.
So use drafts when the video needs something only the app has: a sound from TikTok's library, its text styles, a template. Use Post to TikTok when the video is finished. For photo posts, see how to make TikTok slideshows with an AI agent.
What SPREVA checks first
- A video from 1 second to 60 minutes, of up to 1 GB. Your account's own maximum length is shown under the settings, and a longer video is stopped before it goes.
- A vertical 9:16 video fills TikTok's screen. SPREVA warns about another shape but does not stop it.
- A caption of up to 2,200 characters.
- A paid partnership cannot be private.
One video, three apps
The same vertical video can go to TikTok, to Instagram as a Reel and to YouTube, where a vertical video of three minutes or less becomes a Short, all in one post, each with its own text. How to schedule YouTube Shorts.
What comes back
Each video's views, likes, comments and shares come back into SPREVA, from a few seconds after it goes out and then over the following month, with your followers. A video posted as Only me, or a draft not yet published, has no public numbers to read.
Schedule this week's videos
Connect TikTok, add three finished videos and schedule them, and send one to your drafts to see the difference. Every plan starts with a 7-day trial.
Questions
Can I schedule TikTok videos?
Yes. Publish now, choose a date, or add the video to a queue. SPREVA uploads it when the time comes and follows it until TikTok has finished processing it.
Is my caption sent with a draft?
No. A draft carries the video only, so you write the caption in the TikTok app when you publish it.
Does SPREVA respect my TikTok account settings?
Yes. If comments, Duet or Stitch are turned off for your account, SPREVA shows them as unavailable, and it checks your settings again right before publishing.
How long can a scheduled TikTok video be?
Up to 60 minutes, within the maximum TikTok allows your account, which SPREVA shows in the TikTok settings.
Can I add a TikTok sound when I schedule?
No: sounds from TikTok's library are added in the app. Send the video to your drafts and add the sound there.
Written by
Rodolfo Mota
Founder of SPREVA
Makes SPREVA in Portugal: the Studio, the tools an agent works with, and the publishing behind them.
Keep reading
- TikTok slideshows from your AI agent, and why they should land in your draftsYour AI agent can pick the photos, write the title and send a TikTok photo post to your drafts. Why drafts, what you finish in the app, and the prompts to use.
- How to schedule YouTube Shorts, and what makes a video a ShortYouTube decides what a Short is: vertical or square, three minutes or less. How to schedule one in SPREVA, the settings that matter, and Shorts from long video.
- How to post to Instagram from your computer, and schedule itYes, you can post to Instagram from a computer: feed posts, carousels, Reels and Stories, scheduled ahead. How it works in SPREVA, and what it checks first.