TikTok Users Are Receiving a Red Exclamation Point When They Try to Send DMs — Why?

Now that so many people live a lot of their lives online, it's more important than ever that the technologies we rely on run smoothly. When something breaks down, users are understandably frustrated and want to find a way to solve the problem immediately.

Now, as some TikTok users are discovering that their direct messages aren't sending, they want to know why the problem is happening. Here's what we know about trying to solve the problem.

TikTok messages might not send for a wide variety of reasons. Sometimes, the answer is as simple as an issue with a user's WiFi network, but it could also be a glitch within TikTok that is preventing messages from going out. TikTok usually doesn't address minor technical problems like this, and most users will find that the issue resolves itself automatically once TikTok's engineers become aware.

If you want to, you can also take steps to correct the problem yourself, although there's no guarantee that these steps will work. The first step to try whenever you're experiencing a technical problem on TikTok is to log out of the app and then back into it. If that doesn't work, you can check to see if the app needs an update. Most apps update automatically these days, but if your TikTok isn't updating for some reason, that could explain the issue.

If neither of those steps works, you can also try hard stopping the app or even uninstalling it and then reinstalling it. Ultimately, though, issues with sending messages need to be resolved on TikTok's end for the most part, unless you're experiencing issues with connectivity on other apps.

Users who are having issues sending direct messages will know because of a red exclamation point that appears next to any messages that don't get sent. The red exclamation point is meant to be a signal about messages that didn't make it to their intended recipient, but many users get understandably frustrated after seeing the symbol pop up.

Although a technical glitch is sometimes responsible for a message failing to send on TikTok, there are other reasons why your message may not be hitting its intended target. TikTok has safety settings that sometimes prevent users under 16 from sending messages, and it also prevents users who don't have mutual followers with the user from sending direct messages in some circumstances.

A user's safety setting may also be set to "nobody," which could mean they aren't open to receiving direct messages. Most of the time, though, a more common technical glitch is responsible for issues with messages sending.

In an era where many people are reliant on platforms like TikTok to communicate, these kind of issues can be major problems. TikTok has plenty of perks, but relying on it too heavily only makes the moments when it doesn't work all the more frustrating.