Quick Answer
Yes, it is possible to disable the Snapchat spotlight feature, but it requires going into the app’s settings and turning off certain options. The main steps are:
- Open your Snapchat app and go to your profile page
- Tap the gear icon in the top-right corner to access Settings
- Go to the “Additional Services” section in Settings
- Toggle off the switch next to “Spotlight” to disable submissions to Spotlight
This will prevent any new Snaps you take from being submitted to Spotlight. However, any existing Snaps you’ve already shared to Spotlight will remain.
What is Snapchat Spotlight?
Snapchat Spotlight is a feature within the Snapchat app that showcases public, viral Snaps from Snapchatters across the platform. It works similarly to Instagram’s Explore feed or TikTok’s “For You” page.
When you post a Snap to your Snapchat Story, you have the option to also share it to Spotlight. If shared, your Snap becomes eligible to go viral and be seen by the many millions of Snapchat users that view Spotlight every day.
Spotlight Content
Spotlight features Snaps that are publicly submitted by Snapchatters. The content spans from funny videos, reactions, memes, stunts, skills, and more.
Essentially, it’s a way for Snapchatters to share their public Snaps in hopes of going viral. Snapchat algorithms surface the most engaging, interesting Snaps to the top of Spotlight.
Earning Money on Spotlight
Snapchat also uses Spotlight as a way to pay Snapchatters for viral content. Snapchat sets aside more than $1 million USD every day to pay out to creators of the top-performing Snaps on Spotlight.
The payout amount depends on how many unique views your Snap gets compared to the overall number of unique views on Spotlight that day. So posting popular, engaging Snaps to Spotlight can earn you a share of the daily payout.
Reasons to Disable Snapchat Spotlight
While Spotlight can help Snapchatters earn money and build an audience, there are some valid reasons you may want to disable sharing your Snaps to Spotlight:
Privacy Concerns
Spotlight makes your public Snaps visible to the entire Snapchat community. For those wanting to maintain privacy and just share Snaps with friends, Spotlight opens your content up to a much wider audience.
Disabling Spotlight shares ensures your Snaps are only viewable by those friends you explicitly share them with.
Avoid Unwanted Attention
If one of your Spotlight Snaps unexpectedly goes viral, it could bring in a flood of attention from strangers across Snapchat. This may feel overwhelming if you only intended to share with your close friends.
Turning off Spotlight prevents this possibility of unwanted attention from happening through broad visibility of your Snaps.
Maintain Selective Sharing
Similarly, disabling Spotlight sharing allows you to retain control over who can view your Snaps. If you only want to share certain Snaps with your best friends, turning off Spotlight ensures they won’t be publicly posted without your consent.
Concern Over Screen Time
For parents concerned about their teen’s Snapchat usage, disabling Spotlight is an option to reduce browsing time. Since Spotlight shows viral, entertaining Snaps, it can be easy to get sucked into endlessly scrolling through it. Turning it off can refocus time spent on Snapchat.
Avoid potential bullying/harassment
Unfortunately, when content goes viral on the internet, it sometimes attracts unwanted, inappropriate comments from strangers. Disabling Spotlight avoids the possibility of harassment if one of your Snaps gets heavily viewed.
Step-by-Step Guide to Turn Off Snapchat Spotlight
If you want to disable sharing your Snapchat Snaps to Spotlight, here is a simple step-by-step walkthrough:
- Open the Snapchat app on your iPhone or Android device.
- Navigate to your Profile page by tapping the Bitmoji icon or your profile pic in the top left corner.
- Tap the Settings gear icon in the top right corner of your Profile screen.
- Scroll down and select the “Additional Services” option.
- Under “Spotlight”, tap the switch next to “Share Snaps to Spotlight” to toggle it off (gray).
Confirming Spotlight Sharing Is Disabled
To confirm you have successfully disabled Spotlight Snap sharing:
- Take a new Snap as usual.
- When you go to send the Snap, you should no longer see the “Also share to Spotlight” option.
- This confirms your Snaps are no longer being shared to Spotlight!
Note that you can always return to the “Additional Services” section in Settings and toggle Spotlight sharing back on if you change your mind later.
What Happens When You Turn Off Snapchat Spotlight?
Once you disable sharing your Snaps to Spotlight, here is what happens:
- New Snaps you take will no longer be sent to Spotlight.
- Older Snaps you previously shared to Spotlight will still remain visible there.
- You will stop being eligible to earn money from new Spotlight views.
- Your privacy is increased since new Snaps are only viewable by your friends.
- You avoid potential unwanted attention from random Snapchat users.
- You maintain full control over who can view your Snaps.
Essentially, turning off Spotlight returns sharing back to just your friend network rather than the public Spotlight audience.
Can You Delete Old Spotlight Snaps?
Unfortunately, there is no way to manually delete or remove previous Spotlight Snaps that are still active. Snapchat automatically deletes Spotlight Snaps after 30 days if they are no longer receiving views.
So any older Spotlight Snaps of yours will be removed after 30 days of inactivity. But there is no manual way to delete them sooner than that 30 day period.
Pros of Disabling Snapchat Spotlight
Some of the notable pros and benefits of disabling Snapchat Spotlight include:
- Increased privacy and control over who views your content
- Avoid potential harassment from strangers
- Eliminate risks of unwanted virality
- Maintain selectivity over what you share publicly
- Reduce screen time spent endlessly scrolling Spotlight
- More focus on sharing Snaps just with your friends
For Snapchat users looking to share more privately, disabling Spotlight can provide these useful benefits.
Cons of Disabling Snapchat Spotlight
Some potential downsides of turning off Snapchat Spotlight sharing include:
- Inability to earn money from viral Spotlight Snaps
- Loss of potential exposure and building an audience
- Missing out on trending memes and viral Spotlight content
- Reduced Snapchat entertainment when bored
- Less motivation and feedback for creating engaging Snaps
For those who enjoy the public and viral aspects of Spotlight, disabling it removes those opportunities.
Conclusion
Snapchat Spotlight provides a public feed of viral, entertaining Snaps to tap into. While participating can provide money-earning and audience-building potential, it comes with privacy tradeoffs.
Disabling Spotlight sharing in Snapchat’s settings allows you to maintain control. Your Snaps will only be shared among friends as intended. While you’ll miss out on viral possibilities, increased privacy and reduced unwanted attention are the benefits.
Ultimately, deciding whether to disable Spotlight depends on your priorities as a Snapchat user. Those focused on privacy will likely want to turn sharing off. But those wanting to build an audience can leave it enabled with an understanding of the public tradeoffs. Either way, the choice is available in Snapchat’s Additional Services settings.
Example Situation Table
| User Situation | Disable Spotlight? |
|---|---|
| Wants to post Snaps privately for friends only | Yes, disable Spotlight |
| Interested in earning money from viral Snaps | No, leave Spotlight enabled |
| Parent worried about teen’s Snapchat screen time | Yes, disable Spotlight to reduce scrolling |
| Aspiring influencer/creator building an audience | No, leave Spotlight enabled for exposure |
This table demonstrates sample scenarios where a user may or may not want to disable Snapchat Spotlight based on their specific goals and priorities as a Snapchat user.