Snapchat has become one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among younger users who love the ability to send photos and videos that disappear after being viewed. However, when the time comes to delete your Snapchat account, either temporarily or permanently, many users realize they have hundreds or even thousands of Snapchat photos stored in the app that they want to save before losing access.
Why save Snapchat photos before deleting your account?
There are a few key reasons why you may want to save all your Snapchat photos before deleting your account:
- Nostalgia – Snapchat memories and stories often capture fun, silly, or sentimental moments with friends and family that you want to be able to look back on later.
- Important events – Photos from vacations, concerts, parties, weddings, birthdays, etc. that should be preserved as keepsakes.
- Creativity – The photos and videos may showcase your or your friends’ creative talents that you want to save.
- Documentation – Snaps can sometimes accidentally document important life events that you want to have a record of.
Without saving your Snapchat photos before deleting your account, all of the snaps you’ve ever sent or received will be erased from existence. So if you want to have access to them later, it’s essential to download and back them up.
How to download all Snapchat photos
Fortunately, Snapchat makes it relatively easy to save all your snaps before deleting your account. Here are a few different methods you can use:
Method 1: Save to Memories
The easiest way to save your snaps is to add them to your Snapchat Memories. Here’s how:
- Open the Snapchat app and log into your account.
- Go to your camera and take a new snap or open an existing snap you want to save.
- Tap the downward arrow icon in the upper right corner.
- Select “My Eyes Only” or “Memories.”
- Repeat this process for every individual snap you want to save.
This will move the snaps into your private Memories storage in the app. Then even when you delete your account, you can still access and download your Memories data.
Method 2: Use a third-party app
Manually saving snaps to Memories one-by-one can be extremely tedious. A faster way is to use a third-party app that lets you save all Snapchat photos at once. Some good options include:
- Dumps – Android app that auto-saves all your received and sent snaps, stories, and memories to your device storage.
- SnapBack – iOS app that backs up all your Snapchat data and lets you export everything in your Memories.
- Snapbox – Web-based tool that downloads your entire Snapchat camera roll and messages at once.
The process involves just installing the app, connecting your Snapchat account, and letting the app download your snaps. This dumps your entire Snapchat camera roll onto your device or computer for easy saving and access.
Method 3: Request data from Snapchat
Snapchat also allows you to manually request a copy of all the data associated with your account. Here’s how it works:
- Go to account settings in the Snapchat app.
- Tap “My Data” and then “Submit Request.”
- Enter your password to verify your identity.
- Wait 1-2 weeks for Snapchat to compile and send your data archive.
- When received, save the ZIP file containing your snaps and Memories to your computer.
While slower, this gives you an official copy of all Snapchat photos, memories, stories, profile info, contacts, and more associated with your account. It’s a good backup option if the third-party apps don’t work for your situation.
How to save Snapchat photos to your device
Once you’ve compiled all your Snapchat photos using one of the above methods, you need to actually save them to your device storage or another cloud service so you have them backed up and accessible after deleting your Snapchat account. Here are some ways to save your photos:
On your iPhone
- Save snaps from Memories to Camera Roll – Open the snap in Memories, tap the 3 dots, select “Save to Camera Roll.”
- AirDrop – Select snaps in Memories and use AirDrop to send them to another iOS device.
- Upload to iCloud – Enable iCloud Photos to automatically upload Snaps from your Camera Roll.
- Import using desktop software – Use Image Capture on Mac or Photos app on Windows to import snaps from your device to your computer.
On your Android
- Save snaps from Memories – Open the snap, tap the download arrow, then “Save to device.”
- Share to other apps – Tap the share arrow from Memories and share the snaps to another app like Google Photos.
- Plug into computer – Use a USB cable to connect your Android phone to your computer. Then transfer Snapchat photo files from your device to computer.
- Upload to cloud – Share snaps to a cloud service like Google Photos or Dropbox to access online.
On your computer
If you used a desktop tool like SnapBox to download your snaps directly to your computer, you can simply save the photo files to your hard drive or backup external storage.
You can also upload your saved Snapchat photos to cloud storage services like Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. to keep them safe and accessible across devices.
How to delete your Snapchat account after saving photos
Once you’ve gone through the steps of saving all your Snapchat photos and backing them up externally, you’re finally ready to delete your Snapchat account. Here’s how to do it:
- Open Snapchat settings.
- Go to “Account Actions”
- Tap “Delete Account”
- Enter your username and password to confirm your identity.
- Select whether you want to temporarily deactivate or permanently delete your account.
- Tap “Delete” to confirm.
And that’s it! Snapchat notes it can take up to 30 days for your account and all data to be fully erased from their systems after deletion. You’ll no longer be able to log in or recover anything not saved externally. So make 100% sure you’ve properly downloaded your photos before deleting Snapchat.
Conclusion
Deleting your Snapchat account can be bittersweet, but taking the time to properly preserve your photos, memories and stories before doing so ensures you don’t lose access to anything meaningful or important from your time on the platform. Using Snapchat’s built-in Memories feature makes it easy, but third-party apps and requesting your account data from Snapchat gives you even more thorough ways to backup your snaps.
So try out some of the methods detailed above to download all your desired Snapchat photos before deleting your account. Once saved externally, you can rest assured knowing you have preserved your snaps for the future while still enjoying the fresh start of closing your Snapchat account. Just be vigilant in saving everything worthwhile before hitting that delete button!
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Save to Memories |
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| Third-party apps |
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| Request data from Snapchat |
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| Storage Destination | Benefits |
|---|---|
| iPhone Camera Roll |
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| Android Local Storage |
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| Desktop Hard Drive |
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| Cloud Storage (Google Drive, iCloud, etc) |
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