There are a few common reasons why Snapchat may not be able to find your friends when you try to add them:
- Your friend hasn’t linked their Snapchat account to their phone number or email address. Snapchat finds friends based on matching contacts, so if your friend hasn’t linked their account, Snapchat won’t be able to match them.
- Your friend has their privacy settings set to not allow anyone to find them. In Snapchat’s privacy settings, you can choose to allow only your contacts or no one at all to find your account.
- Your friend has blocked you on Snapchat. If someone blocks you, Snapchat acts as if that person doesn’t have an account.
- Your friend deleted their Snapchat account. If they no longer have an active account, Snapchat can’t find a match.
- There’s a typo or error in the username, email, or phone number you’re searching. Double check that you entered the exact username or matched the phone/email on their Snapchat account.
If none of those explain why you can’t find a friend, here are some steps to troubleshoot further:
Make Sure You Have the Right Contact Info
Snapchat matches accounts through your phone’s contacts, so having the right phone number or email address linked to your friend’s Snapchat is key.
- Check that the phone number or email you have for your friend is the one they used for Snapchat. You can always ask them to confirm.
- If you only have their Snapchat username, make sure there are no typos or errors when you enter it to search.
- Try searching both their username and linked contact info (phone & email) just in case.
Double Check Privacy and Block Settings
Friends can’t be found on Snapchat if they have their account set to private or have blocked you.
- Ask your friend to check that their privacy settings allow friends/contacts to lookup and add them.
- Ask them to confirm they haven’t blocked you on Snapchat.
- If you can’t get in contact, try adding them from a different Snapchat account you have.
Unlink and Re-link the Contact
If your friend has their phone number or email linked but it’s still not working, have them unlink it and re-add it to their Snapchat account.
- In Snapchat settings, go to the “Mobile Number” or “Email” section.
- Tap “Unlink” to remove the linked contact.
- Then tap “Add” and re-enter the phone or email to relink it.
- This forces Snapchat to re-sync their contacts and may help them show up in searches.
Log Out and Back In
Sometimes simply logging out of Snapchat and logging back in can resync your contacts and make new friends show up.
- In Snapchat, go to your profile and tap the settings gear icon.
- Scroll down and select “Log Out”
- Close the app entirely and re-open it to log back in.
- Then try searching for your friend again.
Update Your Contacts
If your phone’s contacts are out of date, Snapchat won’t be able to sync up properly.
- Open your phone’s Contacts app and make sure you have the correct, current phone number saved for your friend.
- Also check that you have the proper email address linked.
- Simply updating these and saving may help Snapchat reconnect on the backend.
Reinstall the Snapchat App
A last resort is to uninstall and reinstall Snapchat entirely. This forces the app to fully reload contacts and reconnect.
- On your phone, go to your list of apps and locate Snapchat.
- Tap and hold the Snapchat icon, then tap Uninstall.
- Confirm that you want to fully uninstall the app.
- Once it’s removed, go to your phone’s app store and reinstall Snapchat.
- Log back into your account and try searching for your friend again.
Use a Different Network Connection
In rare cases, connectivity issues with your specific network/cellular provider can cause problems syncing contacts.
- Try disabling WiFi and cellular data, then re-enabling data.
- Or try switching to a different WiFi network or using cellular data instead.
- Switching networks essentially forces Snapchat to re-establish connections which may fix contact issues.
Contact Snapchat Support
If you still can’t find a friend after trying all troubleshooting steps, you may need help directly from Snapchat:
- In the Snapchat app, go to your profile and tap the Settings gear icon.
- Scroll down and select “Support”
- Tap “Contact Us” and select “Login and account access”
- Explain your issue and what steps you’ve taken.
- A Snapchat representative can then investigate and help reconnect your account.
Conclusion
Tracking down missing Snapchat friends can be tricky, but is often fixable. Start with double checking contact info and settings on both ends. Relinking accounts, logging out and back in, updating contacts, and reinstalling the app can also help resync things. For persistent issues, Snapchat’s support team can look into the account connections on their end and identify solutions. With some diligent troubleshooting, you should be able to successfully find your friends again on Snapchat.