How to Open a Snapchat Without It Saying Opened

Read your snaps without others knowing

An image of the Snapchat app icon on a smartphone.

Pixabay 

By
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Freelance Contributor
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others.
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Elise Moreau
Updated August 26, 2019

When you view a snap or read a chat message sent to you from a friend on Snapchat, they'll be able to see an "Opened" label appear beneath your name in their Conversations tab. This lets them know you've seen their snap or read their chat message. But wouldn't you like to know how to open a Snapchat without it saying "Opened"? It's possible—it just takes a few extra steps.

How to Read Snapchat Messages Without Them Knowing

The following instructions work for photo and video snaps, as well as chat messages, and can be used on the Snapchat iOS and Android apps. Screenshots are provided below for the iOS version.

  1. Once you've received a new snap or chat message from a friend, navigate to the Conversations tab by swiping right from the camera tab.

  2. If the snap or chat message hasn't fully loaded yet, allow it to load. Once it's done loading, you should see a pink square and "New Snap" label (if it's a snap), or a blue arrow and "New Chat" label (if it's a chat message) beneath your friend's name.

    Don't tap it to view it or read it!

  3. Put your device on airplane mode to disconnect from the internet.

    • On iOS devices, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal the control center and tap the airplane icon so it turns orange.
    • On Android devices, swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal your quick settings and tap the airplane icon so it turns blue.
    Three screenshots of Snapchat for iOS and airplane mode for iOS.

  4. Now that you're disconnected from the internet, it's safe to view your friend's snap or read their chat message. Go back to the Snapchat app and tap your friend's name + New Snap to view their snap, or tap your friend's name + New Chat to read their chat message.

  5. Before you turn airplane mode off and reconnect again, you have to clear your cache within the Snapchat app. Tap your profile icon/Bitmoji in the top right of the app, then tap the gear icon in the top right of your profile tab.

  6. On the Settings tab, scroll down to the Account Actions section and tap Clear Cache > Clear All. Tap Okay to confirm.

    Three screenshots of Snapchat for iOS.

    This step is essential to secretly opening snaps, so if you forget to do it, your friend will still see the "Opened" label despite you opening it while on airplane mode. Clearing the cache merely clears certain data that helps the app run faster, but can take up extra space. Don't worry—none of your saved snaps in Memories or chats are lost.

  7. Now it's safe to turn airplane mode off.

    • On iOS, swipe up from the screen and tap the airplane icon in the control center to reconnect.
    • On Android, swipe down from the screen and tap the airplane icon in the quick settings.

  8. When your friend looks at their Conversations tab, all they'll see is a "Delivered" label beneath your name.

Try It Yourself

The best way to confirm this method works is by using two Snapchat accounts, where one account sends a snap to the other. Follow the steps above using the recipient account, then verify the sender account never sees an "Opened" label by looking for the "Delivered" label instead.

You can do this by simply creating a test account along with your regular account, but an easier way to do it is to get a friend to test it with you.