When you set your friendships to private on Snapchat, it essentially makes your friend list and “who you snap with” hidden from everyone else. Only you can see who your friends are and who you exchange snaps with when friendships are set to private.
Benefits of Private Friendships
There are several benefits to keeping your friendships private on Snapchat:
- Privacy – Your friends list and conversations are kept private from strangers and acquaintances.
- Control – You get to choose who can see your friends list and snap activity.
- Avoid stalkers – Keeping your friendships private prevents unwanted people from snooping on who you interact with.
- Limit drama – Private friendships minimize unnecessary drama that could arise from public friendships and snap activity.
- Focus – With private friendships, you can focus on the friends and connections you really care about without outside noise.
How Private Friendships Work
When friendships are set to private on Snapchat:
- Your friend list is hidden – Nobody else can browse or search your friends list besides you.
- Your snap activity is hidden – Strangers can’t see who you frequently snap or communicate with.
- Finding friends is limited – People can’t find you as easily by phone number or name search if friendships are private.
- Add by username only – The only way someone can add you is if they know your exact Snapchat username.
- Invisible friend emoji – An emoji appears next to your friends’ names instead of their display names.
These limitations give you control over who can interact with you and see your social activity on Snapchat.
How to Make Friendships Private
Making your Snapchat friendships private only takes a few taps in your settings:
- Open your Snapchat app and tap your profile icon in the top left corner.
- Go to the Settings screen by tapping the gear icon in the top right.
- Scroll down and tap “See My Friends.”
- Toggle the switch next to “My Friends” to turn it off (gray).
That’s it! Your friend list and snap activity are now totally private. The setting can be turned on (green) at any time to make friendships public again.
Who Can See Your Friends with Private Friendships
When friendships are private, the only people who can see your friends and snap activity are:
- You
- Your Snapchat friends who you’ve added and accepted
- No one else!
So strangers, public contacts, search engines, acquaintances, and anyone else outside your friend circle will not have access to your social activity on Snapchat.
Pros of Private Friendships
Here are some of the major pros for making friendships private on Snapchat:
- Selectivity – You choose exactly who interacts with you and sees your profile.
- Avoid spam – Less chance of unwanted friend or snap requests from strangers.
- Control reputation – You limit what acquaintances see about your snap activity.
- No stalkers – People can’t watch your friendships and activity without consent.
- No clutter – Your friend list stays clean and focused on people you truly want to connect with.
- Reduce drama – Other friends can’t obsess over your interactions when they are kept private.
Cons of Private Friendships
A few potential cons or disadvantages of private Snapchat friendships include:
- Harder to discover friends – Finding new Snapchat contacts organically can be more difficult.
- Can’t brag – Some people enjoy showing off Snapstreaks and friend scores publicly.
- Forgetful – You may forget you have friendships private and be unable to find friends.
- Takes effort – Making friendships public again requires manually changing the setting.
Who Can’t See Your Friends with Private Friendships
Here are some of the people that won’t be able to see your Snapchat friends with private friendships turned on:
- Search engines like Google
- Strangers and anyone not on your friends list
- Friends of friends and their connections
- Public “Quick Add” contacts
- Anyone who looks up your public Snapchat profile
- Acquaintances, coworkers, classmates, etc. not added as friends
Adding Friends with Private Friendships
With private friendships enabled, adding new Snapchat friends requires a few extra steps:
- You must know the exact Snapchat username of the person you want to add. Name search does not work.
- Either you or the other person can send a friend request by username.
- Once the request is accepted, they will be added to your private friends list.
Alternatively, you can turn off private friendships temporarily to add someone easily by name, number, or Snapcode, then re-enable the setting after.
Finding Friends with Private Friendships
Here are some tips for finding new Snapchat friends when you have private friendships enabled:
- Ask friends for recommendations of Snapchat usernames to add.
- Connect other social media accounts and see if suggested friends have Snapchat.
- Join Snapchat community forums and exchange usernames.
- Promote your Snapchat username on your other private social media profiles.
- Search for relevant tags and places on Snap Map to discover new personalities.
- Temporarily turn off private friendships to use name and number search tools.
Conclusion
Making your friendships private on Snapchat gives you total control over your social experience. While it takes a bit more effort to find and manage friends, the privacy benefits are often worth it. Limit your Snapchat circle to the people you really care about connecting with for a focused, quality experience.