Snapchat is a popular social media app that has risen to the top due to its culture of user privacy. Sending snapshots and messages that leave no trace, automatically deleting content, and alerting users if a screenshot has been captured created some cool features.
If you're not overtly familiar with the app, there's a lot to learn. Even the most seasoned Snapchat users have questions about deleting messages. Snapchat messages are set to automatically delete after reading them (or 24 hours, depending on your settings). Users can also manually delete these communications. So how will you know if someone deleted a message you sent them?
This article was prompted by a more in-depth discussion around Snapchat which raised quite a few questions within the team. Even though most people are experienced social media users, there were still things they didn't know. Some of the issues that were raised are listed below.
Identify when someone deletes your chat messages
Identifying when someone deletes your chat message depends on how it was deleted. If the user deletes the chat after viewing it (or after 24 hours depending on your chat settings), this is considered normal functionality. You don't get an alert that the user deleted the chat.
However, Snapchat now lets you delete a chat after sending it by tapping and holding on the chat and choosing the delete option. Although you can delete a message for any reason (typo, wrong person, etc.), the other user sees that you deleted the message.
On the other hand, if users delete their entire chat history from settings, it will not alert any sender of cache clearing, mainly because it only clears history on users side assets.
Manually delete chats in Snapchat
You can obviously delete all chats and stories for your side, but not for the person on the other side of the conversation. Remember that manually deleting chat conversations before the other party receives them alerts them that a message has been deleted! If you're spring cleaning and want to clean up conversations, you can empty your thread without worrying about other parties knowing about it.
To clean up your chat thread:
- Open Snapchat and select your profile icon in the top left.
- Select the menu icon — the one that looks like a gear — to access settings.
- Scroll down to Clear Conversations in the Privacy header.
- Tap the "X" next to conversations in the next window to delete them.
You can also delete your stories, if you wish. They self-destruct after 24 hours, but if you want to speed that up, you can.
- Open Snapchat and click on your profile icon in the upper left corner.
- Select the story you want to remove from the list.
- Select the small up arrow at the bottom of the story.
- Select the trash can icon and validate.
This will remove it from Snapchat with immediate effect. If someone is already looking at it, they will be able to complete it as it was already loaded for them, but once closed it will disappear.
You've probably already noticed that Snapchat can be rather lax when it comes to notifications. The brief nature of Snapchat probably plays a part in this; when the user base is already used to communications disappearing within a day. If users received a notification about every other user's activity, it would probably lose its appeal over time.
We take a lot of knowledge for granted, especially when it comes to the things we use every day. We can use Snapchat all the time, but as our discussion has shown, there are things we can all still learn.
Snapchats Deletion FAQs
If I remove someone as a friend, can they still see the last message I sent?
Yes, once the message is received by the other person, you lose control of it. The server forwards the message to the other person's device. This message still appears on their Snapchat account.
There are a few third-party apps that claim to delete message from other user's inbox. Unfortunately, they don't seem to work. As stated above, once a message is sent to another person, the server places that message in their inbox, making it beyond your control.
A tried and true method of deleting a message is to delete your Snapchat account. Depending on the content you sent, deleting your account is a drastic move, but may be necessary.
Can anyone tell if you are forwarding their Snapchat to someone else?
No, Snapchat does not notify the original story creator that it has been forwarded to someone else. Snapchat tells them who first saw it, but not what happens next.
Alphar tested this to make sure it is still valid and no notifications were received when someone forwarded the story to someone else.
Can you block someone's Snapchat story without deleting them as a friend?
Snapchat gives you the ability to "mute" someone's story. Visit the offender's profile and tap on the three vertical dots located in the upper right corner. Tap "Mute Story" so it turns blue.
Fortunately, Snapchat doesn't send an alert to another user if you mute their story or block their account. There are several ways to find out if someone has deleted you from their Snapchat friends list. While there's no official way for your friends to see if you've blocked them, there are some telltale signs.
You can also ignore them. Just swipe left when the story appears and Snapchat will move on to the next one. Socially, it's a much easier and safer option, because it won't offend anyone, and you won't have to explain to your friend that he can't find you on Snapchat anymore because you thought he was boring.
'Sorry! Username not found.' have i been blocked?
Surprisingly, only one of us has ever seen this message. It tells us that we're either all boring and harmless, or we have forgiving friends. So what does the message tell us? If you see “Sorry! Couldn't find username”, it usually means that you have been blocked by this person.
Rather than telling you in plain English, Snapchat thought it would be a milder disappointment if it just said the app couldn't find them.
