How to copy TikTok comments
On a computer
- Log in on tiktok.com and open the video. The comments are shown next to it.
- Scroll down in the comments until no new ones appear. Long threads load in batches, so give it a moment.
- Open "View replies" under the comments where replies should count.
- Select from the first comment to the last, copy with Ctrl+C or Cmd+C, and paste here. Timestamps such as 2d ago or vor 2 Tagen, like counts, "Creator" and "Liked by creator" are left out.
On a phone
In the TikTok app you can't select a whole comment thread. Do the draw on a computer, or type the names of the people who commented into the box, one per line.
Display names and usernames
TikTok's comment list shows the name people have chosen for their profile, which can be different from their @username and can contain emoji. The picker keeps the name as it appears. Before you announce a winner, find their comment on the video and open their profile to get the right @username.
TikTok's rules
We only link to platform rules we have checked ourselves, and we could not check a TikTok promotion policy when we wrote this page. Read TikTok's current terms and policies, and the rules in your country, before you run a giveaway. Leave out mechanics such as "tag three friends" or "share to enter" unless you are sure they are allowed, and keep the rules short and written down. Our guide to Instagram giveaway rules covers the general points that apply to most social giveaways.
How the draw works
- Reading the paste. The picker goes through the pasted text line by line. It recognises timestamps, like counts, badges and buttons such as Reply in the 14 languages of this site, and treats the line above each comment as the username. You see every entry it found before anything is drawn.
- Applying your settings. Unticked rows, excluded accounts and comments without the required word are left out. With one entry per user, only the first qualifying comment from each account counts.
- Drawing. If N entries are left, each entry has a 1 in N chance of being picked first. The picker uses a Fisher-Yates shuffle with your browser's cryptographic random number generator, without the rounding bias of a simple modulo. Nobody can win twice: once someone is picked, the next place is drawn from the entries of everyone else. Reserve winners are drawn the same way, after the winners.
Read how to pick a giveaway winner for the steps before and after the draw.
Why many brands run the entry on their own page
A comment gives you a username and nothing else. You can't email a username, and a comment is not consent to marketing. If you post the giveaway on TikTok but put the entry on your own page, each entry comes with an email address, the consent people choose to give you and one clean list. In Scratcher, people play a game or fill in a form, duplicate entries are stopped at the door and the winners are drawn automatically. See how it works for social media campaigns, plan the post itself with the giveaway post planner, or use the random winner picker for any other list.
