Social Media Snapchat How to Use Snapchat Maps Stay connected to your friends by 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. our editorial process Facebook Twitter Elise Moreau Updated on April 13, 2020 reviewed by Kayla Dube Lifewire Tech Review Board Member Kayla Dube has 4+ years' experience in videography and filmmaking. She frequently works in production with indie film companies. our review board Article reviewed on Aug 26, 2020 Kayla Dube The Ultimate Guide to Snapchat The Ultimate Guide to Snapchat Introduction Snapchat Basics What Is a Snapchat Story? What Are Snapchat Scores? Find People Take Screenshots Use Snapchat Maps How to Update Snapchat Snappables: How to Play Snapchat Games Snapchat Tips for New Users How to Use Snapchat on PC Sending & Deleting Snaps Send Snapchat GIFs Add Clickable Links Include Music in Your Snaps Delete Stickers on Snapchat Unsave Messages on Snapchat Delete Conversations, Snaps & Stories Engaging With Other Users Use Snapcodes to Add Snapchat Friends Save Snapchat Videos Replay Photos and Videos on Snapchat Upload Saved Photos or Videos Start a Group Chat Open a Snap Without It Saying 'Opened' How to Mute a Story About Snapchat Filters Use Filters to Make Silly Faces Create a Snapchat Filter Apply a Snapchat Filter Make a Snapchat Geotag Create a Geofence in Snapchat Snapchat Account Management Delete a Snapchat Account Reset Your Password Change Your Snapchat Username Delete or Change Best Friends Is Snapchat Down? Contact Snapchat Customer Service Essential Snapchat Privacy Tips How to Know If Someone Blocked You Make a Story Private Block Someone on Snapchat Unblock Someone Essential Snapchat Privacy Tips Snapchat Tips & Tricks How to Get Snapchat Trophies Streaks on Snapchat Explained Use Snapchat's Group Video Chat What to Do About Third-Party Apps Snapchat Emoji Meanings Funny Ideas to Make Your Friends LOL Tweet Share Email You can share your location with your friends on Snapchat by applying location filters to your snaps, but that's not all you can do. Snapchat Snap Map offers a whole new way to share your location. These instructions apply to Snapchat 9.35.5 and later. What Is Snapchat's Snap Map? Snapchat Snap Map is an interactive map you can use to share your location with friends. You can also see friends when they share their location with you. If your friends have integrated their Bitmoji account with Snapchat, their Bitmoji characters appear on the map at their location. Miguel Co / Lifewire The Snap Map also has a community-based Our Story feature, which allows you to add your snaps from a location to a story collection for that specific location. So when anyone views that story collection from the Snap Map, they see snaps from users who contributed to Our Story for that location. How to Access Snap Map on the Snapchat App To get the Snap Map on the Snapchat app for iOS and Android, tap a friend's picture on the Friends tab. If they shared their location, a preview image appears below their name on their profile. Tap it to open the Snap Map. Another way is to pull down on the Camera screen. If this is your first time opening the Snap Map, you may be asked to configure your Snap Map settings. You can choose whether you want only you, your friends, or specific friends to see your location. How to Use Snap Map on the Snapchat App Now that you know how to access the Snap Map, you can start using it. Here are the different ways you can take advantage of it: See your friends' locations: Friends who've chosen to share their location with you appear on the Snap Map. Tap a friend to start a chat with them, or tap and hold to go to their profile.Search for a friend's location: Wondering where in the world a friend might be? Tap Search at the top of the screen to look for a specific friend on the map.Use the heat map to see snaps other people have shared: Use your finger to drag the map around and look for the splashes of color on the map, which shows where people are snapping. Blue means there are a few snaps, while red means a lot of activity is happening there. Tap a colored area to view the snaps shared from there.View Stories for hot spots: Scouting out the colored portions of the map reveals story collections for popular locations and events. Tap a popular part of the map to reveal the circular story collection, then tap the story collection to view the stories added to it.Add your snaps to Our Story: If you're snapping from a location with its own story collection, select Our Story from the Send To tab after taking a snap. Or, tap +Custom at the top of the Send To tab to create your own Geo Story, which you can share with people nearby. How to Use the Snap Map from the Web You can access the Snap Map from the Snapchat website. Similar to how you use a finger to drag the map around on the mobile app, you can use the cursor to select and drag the map around to other locations. You can also use a mouse or trackpad to zoom in and out. Select a colored portion or any circular story collection that appears to view snaps. A window pops up over the map and automatically plays the snaps shared by people in that location. How to Change Your Location Settings in Snapchat If you want to change your location settings at a later time: Tap your profile icon in the upper-left corner, then tap the gear icon in the upper-right corner to access your settings. Scroll down to the Who Can section and tap See My Location. On the Settings tab, customize the settings. My Friends lets anyone you're friends with on Snapchat see you on the map.My Friends, Except lets you exclude anyone from your list of Snapchat contacts.Only These Friends is where you choose who from your connections can see you on the map. Tap the Ghost Mode toggle switch to turn on the feature. When Ghost Mode is enabled, nobody can see your location—not even your friends. In the menu that appears, set a time limit of three or 24 hours for Ghost Mode or keep it on indefinitely. Snapchat saves your changes automatically.