If you no longer want someone to be one of your best friends on Snapchat, you can easily remove them. Here’s how:
Understanding Snapchat Best Friends
Snapchat’s best friends feature shows you your top 3 friends that you snap with the most. It updates every week based on your snap activity. So if you stop snapping someone as much, they’ll eventually drop off your best friends list.
But if you want to speed up the process of removing someone as a best friend, there are a couple things you can do:
Stop Snapping Them
The #1 way to remove someone from your best friends list is to simply stop snapping them as much. Your best friends are calculated based on your snap activity over the past 7 days. So if you stop snapping someone for a week, they’ll drop off your list.
This might feel awkward if you’re trying to distance yourself from a friend. You may want to gradually snap them less over time to make it feel more natural.
Temporarily Block Them
You can speed up the process of removing a best friend by blocking them temporarily. This will immediately remove them from your best friends list because you won’t be able to snap each other.
To block someone:
- Open your Friends page
- Tap and hold on their name
- Tap “More”
- Tap “Block”
After a week passes, you can unblock them and they will be removed from your best friends.
Delete Conversations
Your best friends score is also based on how frequently you snap someone back and forth. So deleting your conversation history with someone can help remove them faster.
To delete a conversation:
- Tap the chat icon in the top left
- Tap and hold on the friend’s name
- Tap “Clear conversation”
This will wipe your message history and remove their snapstreak, if you had one. So only do this if you’re okay with losing your chat logs and streak.
Avoid Snapping Them From Memories
Replying to a friend’s snap with a snap from your Memories will also count towards your best friend score. So avoid sending old snaps to them from your camera roll if you want them off your list.
Only send new snaps that you take in the moment. This way your snapstreak will gradually fade without replenishing it with snaps from Memories.
Change Your Privacy Settings
If you want to remove someone from your best friends list but still keep snapping them, you can make your best friends private.
To do this:
- Go to your profile
- Tap the settings cog in the top right
- Tap “See My Best Friends”
- Toggle “My Best Friends Are Private” on
This will hide your best friends from everyone else. So the person won’t know they got removed from your top list.
Create a Group Chat
Adding the person you want to remove to a group chat can also help distance them from your best friends list.
When you snap a group, it doesn’t count towards your individual best friend scores. So creating a group with that friend will stop one-on-one snaps that would boost their best friend ranking.
Avoid Opening Their Snaps Right Away
Snapchat tracks how quickly you open snaps from each friend. Faster reply times means a higher best friend score. So try waiting a bit before opening snaps from someone you want to remove from your list.
Letting their snaps sit for a few hours before opening them can gradually lower their best friend ranking. Just be careful not to let the snap expire and get deleted.
Stop Replying Altogether
If you want to remove someone as a best friend very quickly, you can simply stop replying to their snaps. This signals to Snapchat that you’re not frequently interacting with them anymore.
Of course, this might upset the person if you normally have a streak or frequently chat. So you may want to ease off replying gradually to avoid hurt feelings.
Remove Them as a Friend
The nuclear option is removing them entirely as a friend. This will instantly delete your friendship on Snapchat and take them off your best friends list.
But keep in mind they will also lose access to view your public stories. And you won’t be able to go back and see old chat logs.
To remove a friend:
- Go to your Friends page
- Tap and hold on their name
- Tap “More”
- Tap “Remove Friend”
Use this option cautiously, as it’s permanent. You can always add them back, but your chat history will be lost.
Talk To Them
If the person is a close friend in real life, it may be better to just talk to them honestly. Explain that you’d like a little distance and see if they understand.
This avoids silently snubbing them on Snapchat without context. And they may appreciate you being upfront if you’re trying to avoid hurt feelings.
Tell them you’re doing a Snapchat cleanse or need to focus on other friendships for a bit. Most good friends will get it.
Prioritize Other Friendships
Focusing on building up other friendships can indirectly lower someone’s best friend ranking. Spend more time replying to snaps from the friends you want to boost up.
Engage with their stories more frequently. And be sure to send chatty snaps back and forth to bump up your interactions. This will organically shift who you engage with most over time.
Wait For Their Status To Naturally Fade
If the person is already not one of your top best friends, you may just need to be patient. Your interactions fade over time, so their ranking will gradually lower if you stop engaging as much.
Don’t force unfollowing them if they’re still at the #2 or #3 best friend spots. Just naturally chat and snap with other friends more over the next week. Their status will slowly drop down.
Understand It’s Not Permanent
Lastly, remember your best friend list changes constantly. So even if you remove someone, they could end up popping back in there down the road if you start snapping again regularly.
So don’t stress too much over who fills those top spots. Your best friends today won’t always be your best friends tomorrow on Snapchat.
The more you use Snapchat to connect with new friends, the more your list will evolve. Enjoy watching it change as your connections shift!