A blue lock next to someone’s name on their Snapchat story means that their story is private and can only be viewed by their friends. Snapchat allows users to make their stories public so anyone can view them or private so only their friends can see them. The blue lock icon indicates a private story.
Why do some Snapchat stories have a blue lock?
There are a few reasons why someone may make their Snapchat story private with a blue lock:
- They only want to share their story with close friends and don’t want it being publicly available.
- Their story has sensitive or personal content they only feel comfortable sharing with friends.
- They want to control who can view their story and prevent unwanted people from seeing it.
- They are a public figure or celebrity and want to limit their story audience for privacy.
The blue lock gives Snapchat users more control over who can view their story. It allows them to be more selective and create a story just for their closest friends if they choose.
How do you view a private Snapchat story?
To view a Snapchat story that has a blue lock icon next to it, you must be friends with the person on Snapchat. Here is how to view a private story:
- Open the Snapchat app and go to the stories page.
- Tap on the circle with the blue lock icon to open the private story.
- If you are friends with this person on Snapchat, it will open up to view their story.
- If you are not friends with them, it will say that the story is unavailable.
So the blue lock essentially acts as a filter, only letting the story owner’s Snapchat friends view their private content. If you are not friends with the person, you won’t be able see their private story. Being friends gives you access.
What happens if you aren’t friends on Snapchat?
If you try to view someone’s private story and you aren’t friends with that person on Snapchat, you will simply get a message saying the story is unavailable. The blue lock prevents their entire story from being visible to you.
Some things to note if you aren’t Snapchat friends:
- You won’t see any of their private story at all – the whole thing will be inaccessible.
- You won’t know what specific snaps or content is in their private story.
- There is no bypass or workaround to view their story without being friends.
- Sending a friend request does not automatically let you view their private story.
The only way to gain access is by becoming friends on Snapchat first. So if there is a private story you want to view, send the person a friend request and see if they accept.
What happens if they accept your friend request?
If you send a Snapchat friend request to someone with a private story, and they accept your request, here is what happens:
- You will become Snapchat friends and they will be added to your friend list.
- Once friends, you will then be able to view their private story with the blue lock.
- You can watch their current private story and any new ones they post after friending.
- If they have posted private stories in the past prior to your friending, you won’t be able to view those.
- At any time they can remove you as a friend which would once again restrict access to their private story.
So becoming Snapchat friends with someone gives you access to their private story moving forward, but does not grant you access to past ones that were posted before your friending. The blue lock will be removed once you are friends on Snapchat.
Can you tell who viewed your private story?
Yes, Snapchat does allow you to see who has viewed your private story, even though it has the blue lock icon. To see who viewed your private story:
- Go to your story and tap the number of views it has.
- This will show a list of Snapchat friends who have viewed your private story.
- It does not show the specific snaps they viewed, just that they opened your story.
The blue lock provides privacy from the public, but as the story owner you can still see your friends who viewed your exclusive content. This allows you to have insight into who is interested and engaging with your private stories.
Can you remove the blue lock later?
The blue lock icon and private setting on Snapchat stories can be changed at any time. If you initially make your story private but later want to open it up to everyone, it’s easy to remove the blue lock restriction:
- Go to your Snapchat story and tap the ⋮ icon.
- Tap “Story Settings”.
- Toggle the setting from “My Friends” to “Everyone”.
This will instantly make your story public so that all Snapchat users can view it going forward. The blue lock will be removed. You can always toggle it back to private again at any time.
Conclusion
The blue lock icon on Snapchat stories indicates that the story is set to be private and is only viewable by the story creator’s friends. It gives Snapchat users more control over who can see their story. To view a private story, you must be friends with the person on Snapchat. Send them a friend request and if they accept, you will gain access to view their exclusive stories protected by the blue lock. Snapchat’s private stories feature allows for selective sharing of content with only your closest friends on the app.
| Blue Lock Meaning | A private Snapchat story |
|---|---|
| Who can view | Only the story creator’s Snapchat friends |
| How to view | Send a friend request, if accepted you can view their private stories |
| Removing the blue lock | The story owner can change the setting to public at any time |