Snapchat has become one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among younger users who enjoy the ephemeral nature of Snapchat messages and stories. However, as Snapchat use has grown, many users find themselves wanting to permanently delete their Snapchat chat history for various reasons.
In this comprehensive guide, we will cover everything you need to know about permanently deleting Snapchat chat history, including:
Can You Permanently Delete Snapchat Chat History?
The short answer is yes, it is possible to permanently delete Snapchat chat history. However, it requires a few steps on your part. Snapchat does not provide a built-in way to mass or permanently delete chat history, but there are some workarounds you can use.
Why You Might Want to Delete Snapchat Chat History
Here are some common reasons why someone may want to delete their Snapchat chat history:
- Privacy reasons – to delete old or embarrassing messages and photos/videos.
- Security reasons – to delete sensitive conversations.
- Free up device storage space.
- Start fresh – delete old chats and messages to declutter your account.
Snapchat’s Delete Message Feature
Snapchat does have a “Delete Chats” feature, but it has some limitations:
- It only allows you to delete chats for the past 30 days.
- It deletes the chat from your view, but not necessarily from the recipient’s view.
- It doesn’t allow you to mass delete chats.
So the delete chats feature does not permanently erase chat history from existence. For that, we need to dig deeper.
How to Permanently Delete Snapchat Chat History
Here are the steps you need to take to completely erase your Snapchat chat history for good:
Step 1: Save Chat History You Want to Keep
Before wiping your chat history, you likely want to preserve conversations that you want to keep around. To save Snapchat chats:
- Open the chat you want to save.
- Tap and hold on the message you want to save.
- Tap “More” from the menu that pops up.
- Select “Save to Memories to save that segment of chat to your Snapchat memories.
- Repeat for any chats you want to save.
Step 2: Log Out of Snapchat Account Everywhere
To ensure a full delete, you need to log out of Snapchat on any devices you use it on, including:
- Your phone’s Snapchat app.
- Snapchat online at snapchat.com
- Any other devices like tablets or secondary phones.
Logging out ensures no devices are still connected and caching chat data locally.
Step 3: Delete the Snapchat App and Cache
The Snapchat app stores a lot of data locally on your phone, so you need to delete it:
- Delete the Snapchat app from your phone.
- Also go into your phone’s Settings > Storage > Cache and clear cached Snapchat data.
- You can also use a storage cleaner app to wipe the Snapchat app data.
Step 4: Request Data Deletion from Snapchat
This is the key step that will trigger Snapchat to permanently erase your chat history from their servers:
- Go to Snapchat’s Accounts page at accounts.snapchat.com.
- Log in to your account and go to My Data.
- Request a data deletion.
Once requested, Snapchat will delete all your data from their servers within 30 days. This includes your chat history, stories, photos – everything.
Step 5: Deactivate the Snapchat Account
To ensure the data deletion goes through, you should also deactivate your Snapchat account after requesting the data deletion:
- On the Accounts page, click the gear icon to go to Account Settings.
- Scroll down and select Deactivate Account.
- Confirm the deactivation.
With your account deactivated, Snapchat will proceed with the permanent data deletion.
Does Deleting Snapchat Delete it From Recipients’ Phones?
A common question people have when deleting Snapchat chats is whether it deletes the messages from their recipients’ phones as well.
Unfortunately, when you delete Snapchat messages or conversations, it only deletes them from your end. The recipient will still have the messages you sent them saved in their chat history.
There is no way to selectively delete Snapchat messages from a recipient’s phone remotely. You would have to manually delete them on their phone.
However, if you request a full account deletion, then the entire chat history will be wiped from Snapchat’s servers, so the messages would disappear from both ends.
How Long Does it Take Snapchat to Delete Everything?
When you request a data deletion, Snapchat states it can take up to 30 days to fully delete all your account data from their systems.
However, many users report that the deletion happens much quicker than that, usually within 1-3 days after requesting it.
To be safe, I would recommend waiting at least 2 weeks after requesting the deletion before creating a new Snapchat account to ensure all data is purged.
Can You Recover Deleted Snapchat Messages?
Once your Snapchat messages and data have been permanently deleted either manually or by requesting a deletion, there is no way to recover them.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Unopened snapchats are deleted instantly, and cannot be recovered.
- Opened snapchats and chats are deleted after 30 days if you don’t save them.
- After a deletion request, Snapchat wipes everything right away.
So unless you have manually saved your Snapchat stories or chats, they are gone for good once deleted.
How to Back Up Your Snapchat Data
If you want to delete your Snapchat history but are worried about losing data, you can back up your Snapchat data first:
- On Accounts page, request a data download to get a copy of your Snapchat data.
- Save chat snapshots and memories you want to keep.
- Screen record stories you want to keep.
- Use a third party app to back up Snapchat data.
That way you have a saved copy of anything important before wiping your account.
Other Ways to Delete Snapchat Messages
In addition to fully deleting your Snapchat account, there are some other ways to delete Snapchat messages and chats:
Unsend or Delete Sent Snapchats
- You can unsend a snapchat right after sending it by tapping and holding on the sent message and selecting unsend.
- You can delete a sent snapchat by going to your sent snaps page, tapping and holding the snap, and selecting Delete.
- This will delete the message from your end, but not the recipient’s unless they haven’t viewed it.
Delete Received Snapchats
- Open the snapchat, then tap and hold the snap to bring up options.
- Select “Delete” to delete the snapchat from your inbox.
- You can also block the sender to delete all past and future messages.
Clear Conversations
- In your Chats tab, swipe left on a chat thread and tap “Clear Conversation” to erase the chat.
- To clear multiple chats at once, go to your profile, tap the gear icon, Privacy Settings > Clear Conversations and select chats to delete.
Turn on Delete By Default
- You can enable an option to automatically delete viewed snapchats from your inbox.
- Go to Settings > Memories and enable “Delete by Default” to turn this on.
Conclusion
Permanently deleting Snapchat messages and conversations requires fully wiping your Snapchat data from their servers. This can be done by:
- Logging out of all Snapchat sessions.
- Deleting the app and cached data from your phone.
- Requesting account deletion on the Snapchat website.
- Deactivating your account.
Within 30 days, your entire Snapchat history will be purged. In the meantime, you can manually delete chats or enable options like Delete By Default.
Be careful before deleting Snapchat data, as it cannot be recovered. Make sure to back up anything important you want to keep. With hundreds of millions of users, Snapchat holds a lot of personal information, so permanently deleting your data is key for privacy.