How to Unblock Someone on Snapchat

If you've blocked someone on Snapchat but have now changed your mind, you can easily unblock them so you can go back to interacting with each other through the app.

Unblock contact on Snapchat app — Lifewire / Kaley McKean

How to Unblock People on Snapchat

Blocking people on Snapchat hides their accounts from you (and yours from them), so you can't simply search for their names to find and unblock them. Instead, you have to go into your account settings to access your list of blocked users.

Some screenshots below were taken on an Android phone, and others, on an iPhone. The process is so similar that very few, if any, differences exist between them.

Open Snapchat.
Tap your user or Bitmoji icon in the top left corner of the screen.
Tap the gear icon in the top right to access Settings.
Scroll down to the Account Actions section and tap Blocked.

A list of usernames of people you blocked will appear on the next tab.
Tap the X that appears to the right of the username of the person you want to unblock.
Snapchat will prompt you to confirm. Tap Yes if you would like to unblock this person.
Once you've unblocked someone, the username disappears from your Blocked list. You can then search for the username to find it again.

What to Do After Unblocking Someone

Blocking cuts off all contact between you and the blocked user, and the person is removed from your friends list. After unblocking, you might need to re-add the person as a friend.

Two screenshots of the Snapchat app for iOS.

To do this, simply type the username into the search field at the top and tap the + Add button that appears to the right of the profile picture and username. Your friend might have to re-add you to their friends list as well, depending on their privacy settings.

Until the both of you have added each other back to your own friend lists, any snaps or chats you receive from each other will remain in pending mode. You also won't be able to see each other's private stories posted for friends only.

More About Unblocking People on Snapchat

Below are some of the most commonly asked questions and answers about unblocking someone in Snapchat.

Is there a limit to the number of times you can block and unblock someone on Snapchat?

There's no clear limit to the number of blocks or unblocks you can have for a particular user, but Snapchat has been known to place time restrictions on users who try to re-add friends that they recently deleted or blocked. So, if you blocked, unblocked, and then tried to re-add them all in a very short time, Snapchat might prevent you from re-adding them back so quickly. You might need to wait 24 hours.

Do blocked people know when you unblock them?

Snapchat doesn't notify users when you block or unblock them, but someone might be able to discover this all on their own. For instance, if someone notices that your account has disappeared, they might try searching for you from another Snapchat account and confirm that they've been blocked. Likewise, they might be able to tell that you've unblocked them if they notice that your account has suddenly reappeared in search—especially if you were once on each other's friends list but are no longer connected as friends.

Is there a better alternative to blocking and unblocking people on Snapchat?

Instead of temporarily cutting off all contact with someone and then having to re-add each other as friends, you can use the Do Not Disturb feature. When you turn on this option for any friend, they'll remain on your friend list. You'll still receive snaps and chats—but without any of the pesky notifications that come with them.

To turn on Do Not Disturb for any friend, simply open a chat with them by searching and tapping on their name. Tap the menu icon in the top left corner and then tap the Do Not Disturb button so that it turns blue. You can turn this on and off any time without your friend ever knowing, all while enjoying the freedom of being able to open their snaps and chats at your leisure.