Does Snapchat Delete Unread Snaps?

Snapchat is among the most popular and most widely used messaging and chat platforms. The network boasts more than 150 million daily users from all over the world. The app is most prevalent in English-speaking countries, Scandinavia, India, and Japan. It is also popular in France, Portugal, and other EU countries.

The automatic deletion of messages after they are read or seen is Snapchat’s main feature. It is well known that Snapchat deletes messages, videos, and stories, but does Snapchat also delete unread snaps?

What About Unread Snaps?

One of the key marketing points of Snapchat is that nothing lasts forever. Communications between you and others will automatically delete. Texts, photos, and videos will all disappear after some time or after someone has viewed the information. Once deleted, your content is gone for good.

Unread snaps are deleted after they expire. Depending on the context, the company deletes unopened Snaps. Here’s how Snapchat will handle your unread snaps:

• Snapchat’s servers delete the unopened snap after 31 days if you have sent a snap in a one-on-one chat. If the recipient opens the snap within 31 days, it will be deleted as soon as it’s seen.
• If you have sent a snap to a group chat, Snapchat’s servers will wait 7 days before they delete it. If, however, all participants see the snap within the designated timeframe, the snap will be deleted before the time expires.

It’s important to mention that there is a difference between snaps and messages. The snaps you’ve sent are in video form. The messages are the text you’ve sent. Both of these are accessed by selecting the ‘Message’ icon in the lower left-hand corner of the app.

Change the Settings

Snapchat doesn’t give you much in the way of controlling your unread messages, but it does allow you to change the timeframe ‘read’ messages are deleted.

You can do this by:

1. Open a new chat to the contact in question
   
2. Tap on the user profile icon in the upper left-hand corner
   
3. Tap on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner
   
4. Tap on ‘Chat Settings.’
   
5. Tap ‘Delete Chats…’
   
6. Set to ‘After Viewing’ or ’24 Hours After Viewing.’
   

If you’re concerned about a lingering unread message, you can tap on the ‘Clear Conversation’ option. If you or the other user has saved the conversation, this function will not work. It will still exist in the saved conversations.

Saving Conversations

If you’d like to save a conversation, you can. Once the message is sent, long-press the text. Choose the option to ‘Save in Chat.’

From here, you can tap on the user icon in the upper left-hand corner, just as you did previously. Scroll down, and you will see the ‘Messages Saved in Chat’ box. You can also choose the ‘Delete’ option here to remove the message you’ve sent.

Snaps You Can’t Delete

If you were wondering whether you can delete the snaps you send to your friends before they are set to expire, get ready for some bad news. There is little, if anything, users can do to delete the snaps they send. Officially, there is no “Delete” option for the snaps like there is for messages.

None of the above mentioned methods work for a snap, only the messages. The one-on-one snaps will be available for 30 days, whereas the group snaps are available only 24 hours, even if they’re unread.

If you’re serious about getting rid of a Snap that was sent in error, there are a few things to try. Some of the methods users have tried include:

Deleting the Account

Some users have tried this method, hoping that all their communication would be deleted along with the account. However, Snapchat waits 30 days before deleting the account for good and, with it, keeps all the messages and snaps sent to and by the deleted account.

If you take this route, your snap will remain visible to the recipient, and Snapchat will delete it once they open it.

Blocking the Recipient

Keep in mind that by blocking the recipient, you are also removing them from your friends’ list (you also get removed from theirs). If you block them before they open the snap you don’t want them to see, your conversation will disappear from their profile, along with the problematic snap.

However, the snap and the conversation will still appear on your account.

Snaps You Can Delete

Snapchat will not let you delete a snap you sent to a friend. However, you can delete the snaps you submitted to Our Story. The snaps you contributed to ‘Our Story’ are viewable around the platform for various amounts of time. Some will be available for 24 hours, while others might be available for much longer. Here’s how to remove them:

• If it is a snap you posted less than 24 hours ago, go to the Stories screen and tap the button next to “Our Story.” Next, find the snap you want to remove, open it, and tap the trash bin icon at the bottom of the screen. This will remove it from Search, Context Cards, and the Map.
• If it’s been more than 24 hours, in Settings, go to “Our Story Snaps” to see the ones that are still active. Find the one you want to be removed and tap the trash bin icon to remove it.

Snapchat also allows you to delete snaps from a Custom Story at any time. If you do not delete them, Snapchat servers will do so 24 hours after posting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to more questions about Snapchat.

Does Snapchat automatically delete messages?

Based on our tests, we’ve sent messages left unopened for more than a year. Snapchat has not deleted those messages. However, the company does delete unopened messages sent to groups after one week.

If I block someone on Snapchat, do my snaps and messages disappear?

When you block another user on Snapchat, any remaining communications that have yet to expire will continue to show for the recipient. These messages and Snaps will no longer be available for you to view.

Once another person is blocked, they will no longer see your username or profile, but they can still view any messages until they expire.

Can I manually delete my unread messages?

You can manually delete or retract unread messages that you’ve sent (this won’t work with Snaps, though). Long-press the message that you sent and click the option to delete it. The other user(s) will be notified that you removed a message, so be prepared to explain.

Will messages delete immediately if I delete my account?

Unlike blocking someone, if you delete your account, all of your saved chats, active chats, and snaps will disappear. If you’ve sent a Snap that you absolutely want to delete, you could close your Snapchat account (it’s not practical, but the option exists).

My unread messages are still showing. What’s happening?

If you open your Snapchat messages and some are still showing from months ago, it’s likely because they are saved in the chat. If you’d like to delete them, you can long-press the message and tap ‘Unsave in Chat.’ The messages will automatically disappear. You can also tap on the option to delete the message to expedite the process.