How to do it, step by step
- Pick your photos before you open the app Cut the set down in your camera roll first. Five to ten images is the working range; the ceiling is far higher but attention drops away after the first few swipes.
- Tap the plus, then Upload Open the upload tab and switch to photos. TikTok has moved and renamed these entry points more than once, so the wording may differ slightly from what you expect.
- Select in the order you want them shown Tap each photo in sequence and TikTok numbers them as you go. On the edit screen you can long press and drag to rearrange if the order is wrong.
- Choose the format Look for the option that switches between the automatic slideshow and the swipeable version. The automatic one behaves like a video; the swipe one behaves like a carousel.
- Add sound, then text Pick the track first, because it sets the pace, then add text. Keep text away from the bottom and the right edge, where the interface sits over your image.
- Set the timing and post Adjust how long each image holds so the changes land with the music, then write a caption that gives people a reason to reach the last slide.
The two formats, and which to pick
People use one phrase for two different things, which is why instructions found online often do not match what is on screen.
The auto-play slideshow advances on its own with a track running underneath, and is watched exactly like a video. Use it when the images tell a story in a fixed order and you want a definite ending: a trip in sequence, a transformation, a countdown. Because it plays itself, it also loops, so the last image runs straight back into the first.
The swipe format, which TikTok has called Photo Mode, hands control to the viewer. They move through at their own pace, and they linger on the ones they like. Use it when each image can stand alone: outfits, a set of recipes, screenshots with text, a collection of similar photos where there is no correct order.
The practical difference is what you are asking for. The auto-play version asks for attention for a fixed period. The swipe version asks for an action, and every swipe is a small commitment, which is why swipe sets with a payoff at the end tend to hold people better than ones that trail off.
Auto-play against swipe
| Auto-play slideshow | Swipe format | |
|---|---|---|
| How it plays | Advances by itself and loops | Viewer swipes each image |
| Best for | A story in a fixed order | Images that each stand alone |
| Music | One track across the whole thing | One track, continuing as they swipe |
| Pacing | You control it | The viewer controls it |
| Good length | Short, so it loops cleanly | Five to ten, with a reason to reach the end |
| Text on images | Must be readable at speed | Can carry more, since people can pause |
What is TikTok specific about it
You could assemble the same images into a video elsewhere and upload the file. Four things are lost if you do, and they are the reasons to build it in the app.
The sound stays attached and stays discoverable. A track chosen inside TikTok links your post to that sound's page, where people browse everything using it. Music burned into an uploaded video file is just audio, with no route back to you.
Photos are treated as photos. Uploading stills through the photo flow keeps them sharp at the native vertical size. Exporting a slideshow as a video first puts the images through a video compressor before TikTok compresses them again, and fine detail and text suffer twice.
The photo ceiling is generous. A single post takes up to 35 images, far more than a video editor makes comfortable to manage. Almost nobody should use all 35, but the headroom means you are never fighting a limit.
Sizing is handled. The native frame is 1080 by 1920. Photos that are not that shape get letterboxed or filled, so cropping to vertical before you upload is the difference between a set that looks designed and one that looks imported.
The trade-off is control. TikTok's editor is deliberately simple, so complex transitions, multiple tracks, precise beat matching and anything resembling motion graphics are not available.
Choosing the photos and the order
The selection matters more than anything you do on the edit screen.
Five to ten images. The ceiling is 35 and using it is almost always a mistake. People swipe away when a set stops rewarding them, and the tenth good photo is doing less work than the second.
Open with the strongest image, not the chronological first. The first frame is what people see in the feed before they decide anything. Whatever is most striking goes first, and the story can rearrange itself around that.
Vary the distance. Wide, close, detail, person, wide. A set of eight photos all taken from the same distance reads as one photo repeated, no matter how good each one is.
Make the colours agree. A warm photo next to a cold one jars more than a soft photo next to a sharp one. If you fix one thing across the set, fix the white balance so they look like the same day.
End on something. A punchline, a result, a face, a text card. A set that simply stops is a set people close early next time. Our guide to picking photos for a photo dump is the same discipline applied to a carousel.
Why most slideshows lose people
Five common faults, in the order they cost you viewers.
- Too many photos. The single most common one. Twenty images of the same weekend is an archive, not a post.
- Text under the interface. Captions, usernames and buttons sit over the bottom and the right side of the frame. Text placed there is simply not readable, and you will not notice in the editor.
- Timing that fights the music. Images changing halfway through a bar feels wrong even to people who could not say why. Set the hold time so the changes land with the beat.
- Screenshots at the wrong shape. A horizontal screenshot in a vertical frame becomes a small strip with grey above and below. Crop it, or place it on a coloured background deliberately.
- No reason to reach the end. If the first three images give away everything, the remaining seven are optional. Hold something back.
When to build it outside TikTok
Three situations where the native tool is the wrong choice.
You want the same piece on several platforms. A slideshow built inside TikTok lives there. If it also needs to go to Reels, Stories and a newsletter, build a video file once in a real editor and upload it everywhere, accepting the loss of the sound link. Our guide to making a photo slideshow covers that build from photo selection to export.
You need precise timing or motion. Ken Burns style slow zooms, per-image timing down to the frame, transitions that are not a cut, or text that animates. CapCut and VN do all of that and TikTok does none of it.
The music has to travel. Tracks from an in-app catalogue are cleared for that platform. If the finished thing is going to a client, a website or YouTube, you need music you are licensed to use there, which our page on adding music to photos explains.
For everything else, the native tool wins on the two things that actually matter: image quality, and the sound staying attached to your post.
Questions people ask
How do I make a TikTok photo slideshow?
Tap the plus, choose Upload and switch to photos, select your images in the order you want them, then pick a sound on the edit screen. Switch between the auto-play slideshow and the swipeable format, adjust how long each image holds, and post.
How many photos can a TikTok slideshow have?
Up to 35 in a single post. Almost nobody should use that many. Five to ten is the working range, because attention falls away quickly after the first few images and the set is judged on its weakest one.
What is the difference between a TikTok slideshow and Photo Mode?
The auto-play slideshow advances on its own and loops like a video. Photo Mode, the swipe format, lets viewers move through the images at their own pace. Use the first for a story with a fixed order, the second for images that stand alone.
Should I make the slideshow in TikTok or in a video editor?
In TikTok, unless you need precise timing, animated transitions, or the same piece on several platforms. Building it natively keeps the photos sharp and keeps the sound attached to its discovery page, which an uploaded video file loses.
What size should photos be for a TikTok slideshow?
Vertical at 1080 by 1920. Photos that are not that shape get letterboxed or cropped automatically, so crop them yourself beforehand. Keep any text away from the bottom and the right edge, where the interface covers the frame.