Can You Unsend a Snap? No, But You Can Delete It

You can delete a snap even before it's been opened

By
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Freelance Contributor
  • University of Ontario
  • George Brown College
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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Updated on September 7, 2021
Reviewed by
Kayla Dube
Kayla Dube headshot
Reviewed by Kayla Dube
  • J. Everette Light Career Center
Kayla Dube has 4+ years' experience in videography and filmmaking. She frequently works in production with indie film companies.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

When you take photo or video snaps to send to friends on Snapchat, there's no way to undo them once they've been sent. The only thing you can do is delete the message, but there isn't a 100 percent guarantee that the recipient won't see it.

How to Delete Chat Messages You've Sent

Since chat messages are automatically deleted as soon as you exit the chat, the following instructions assume that you currently have a chat open with a friend or group.

These instructions can be followed for both the iOS and Android versions of the Snapchat app, but note that the below screenshots are from the iOS version.

  1. In the chat tab, tap and hold your finger down on the message you sent and want to delete.

  2. Tap Delete.

  3. Tap the purple Delete button to confirm that you want it deleted. Keep in mind that your friends in the chat will be able to see that you deleted something.

    Steps to take to delete a message in Snapchat.

    There's no guarantee that your friends won't see your message even if you delete it. They could beat you to it and end up seeing the message if they were quick enough. Snapchat also notes that deletion may not always work depending on certain circumstances—like if a friend has a spotty internet connection or is using an older version of the app.

Why Can't You Unsend Photo and Video Snaps?

In older versions of the Snapchat app, users discovered certain tricks that worked for unsending photo or video snaps. They discovered that they could sometimes successfully unsend snaps by:

These tricks might have worked back in the day, but this isn't the case anymore with more recent versions of the app. As soon as you send a snap, it's uploaded to Snapchat's cloud-based system.

Once a recipient opens a snap they received from a friend or group of friends, it's automatically deleted from Snapchat's servers. Any action you try to take on your end after you've sent a snap won't work because the snap has already reached the cloud.

The only time you can actually undo (delete) a photo or video snap is if it's in Snapchat story form. If you took a photo or video snap and posted it to your stories, you'll be able to delete it by viewing the story, swiping up on it and tapping the trash icon. If you also sent it to friends/groups as a regular snap, you won't be able to unsend or delete it.

What Can You Unsend on Snapchat?

Although you can't unsend photo or video snaps, you can unsend other types of content. "Unsend," however, isn't quite the right word to describe it. "Delete" is more appropriate.

Snapchat's Clear Chats feature allows users to delete chat messages they've sent to individuals or groups of friends. The chat is the thread of messages and interactions you see when you tap the name of the friend or group in your Conversations tab.

Clear Chats is different from Clear Snapchat Conversations, which simple deletes your recent friend and group interactions from your Conversations tab.

You can delete any of the following from your chats:

  • Text;
  • Stickers (including Bitmoji stickers);
  • Audio messages; and
  • Photos and videos sent from the Memories tab (such as those that were saved or uploaded from your device).

Your friends will be able to see that you deleted something in the chat.

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