TikTok video downloaded without sound

A silent TikTok download has two likely causes and each one shows differently. If the video is silent on TikTok too, the creator's audio was removed and no file will have it. If it plays with sound in the browser but not in your player, the player lacks a codec and the file is fine.

TikTok downloader: Download TikTok videos without watermark

Step by step

1
Check the original on TikTok
Open the video in TikTok. If it shows a message about the sound being unavailable or plays silently, the audio was removed for rights reasons and no downloader can restore it.
2
Play the file in the browser
Drag the MP4 into Chrome or Safari. If it has sound there, the file is fine and your player is the problem.
3
Use a player with AAC support
VLC, MX Player, the Movies & TV app on Windows and Photos on iPhone all play AAC. Old Windows Media Player versions do not.
4
Check the file you downloaded
Download MP4 keeps the audio track. If you tapped Download MP3 by mistake you have an audio file with no picture; go back and choose the MP4 row.
5
Re-download once
Rarely a download is cut short and the audio track is incomplete. Download again; the second file is complete.

Tips and fixes

If you only need the sound, the MP3 option gives you the audio track alone.
Videos using a commercial sound are sometimes muted by TikTok in some countries but not in others.
The audio in our files is the original AAC track, not re-encoded.