How to Use Snapchat's Group Video Chat

You can send videos, photos, text chats and even voice calls to multiple friends in a group on Snapchat, but none of these compare to the app's group video chat feature. When you start a group video chat on Snapchat, you can see and talk to all your friends in real-time.

Note: The instructions below can be followed whether you're using Snapchat on an iOS or Android device.

If you want to video chat with friends in an existing group:

1. Open the app and swipe through the tabs to get to the Friends tab.
2. If your group doesn't already appear in your recent chat conversations, tap Groups in the top menu options.
3. Tap the group you want to use for your video chat.

If you're starting from scratch and don't have a group created yet:

1. Navigate to the Friends tab.
2. Tap the speech bubble with a plus sign icon in the top right corner to open a new chat.
3. In the To: field, either start typing friends' names to automatically find them in your friend list or scroll down your friend list and tap the friends you want to add to the group.

Note: While Snapchat voice calls can be made with groups of up to 32 people, video calls can only be made for groups of up to 16 people. If your group has more than 16 people in it, not everyone will be able to join the video chat.

Once you're done adding friends to your group, tap the blue Chat button in the bottom of the screen to set up the group, then tap Name Group at the top to add a name for your group. The group will automatically be added to your Groups section on the Friends tab.

To start a group video chat, tap the video camera button in the horizontal menu located above your keyboard in the group chat. Each friend in the group will receive a notification inviting them to join the group video chat.

Friends who accept the invite can choose to join the chat by video or by voice call if they're not camera-ready yet. People in the video chat will appear in a grid format on your screen.

You can enjoy chatting by talking as your camera records you, but you also have several chat options available in the bottom of the screen when you're in a video chat.

• Send Text Chats: Type a message in the Send field, select a photo or video to send and even add emojis. These will show up as overlays on the video so everyone can see them.
• Apply Lenses: Make your video chats more fun by tapping your circular video icon at the bottom, then scroll through the lenses to apply one to your face. Unfortunately, some lenses such as the ones with background music won't work in video chats.
• Switch Cameras: Switch between the front and rear cameras while video chatting; useful when you want to show friends where you are and what you're doing. To do this, tap your circular video icon to enlarge it, then tap the camera with arrows icon to switch between cameras.
• Mute the Chat: To stay in the chat but put the sound on mute, simply tap your circular video icon to enlarge it, then tap the microphone button. When you're ready to unmute, just tap the microphone again.
• Minimize the Chat: Overwhelmed by the grid of faces? Tap the down arrow in the top right corner to minimize the chat and go back to a text-style chat. Circular video icons of the video chat participants will still appear along the bottom of the chat. Tap any friend's icon to expand the chat again.

When you're ready to leave the group video chat, just tap the red video camera icon. Your video chat will end regardless of whether or not other friends are still video chatting as a group.

All group text chats are deleted by default after 24 hours and group video chats are not stored anywhere once they're over.

The more people you have in a video chat, the higher your risk of experiencing glitches. Some parts of the video chat might get choppy or freeze up completely.

If you're planning on starting a group video chat on Snapchat, it's worth encouraging everyone to enter the group video chat from someplace with a strong internet connection. Including fewer participants might also help minimize the risk of glitches, so aim to keep video chats small if you want to avoid technical problems.