Snapchat’s private stories feature allows users to share photos and videos that disappear after being viewed. However, many users have experienced issues where their private stories mysteriously delete themselves or disappear after 24 hours.
What are private stories on Snapchat?
Private stories on Snapchat allow you to share snaps with a custom audience rather than all your friends. When you create a private story, you can choose specific friends to view it. You can also remove viewers at any time.
Private stories function similarly to regular Snapchat stories. The snaps you post disappear after 24 hours. Viewers can only watch your private story once. And you’ll be notified if someone takes a screenshot.
Why do private Snapchat stories delete themselves?
There are a few reasons why your private Snapchat story may be deleting itself:
1. Expiration after 24 hours
The most common reason is that private stories, like regular stories, are designed to delete after 24 hours. So if you don’t add any new snaps to your private story, the whole thing will disappear 24 hours after your last snap.
2. Accidental deletion
Sometimes users accidentally delete their own private stories without realizing it. This can happen if you clear conversations or memories in the app or logout out of your account.
3. Glitches
Very occasionally, a glitch in the app may cause private stories to disappear unintentionally. Snapchat bugs are rare but can result in content being deleted unexpectedly.
4. Removed by Snapchat
In extreme cases, Snapchat may remove a private story if it violates the platform’s community guidelines or terms of service. But this doesn’t happen often with private stories.
How to keep your private story from deleting
If you want your private Snapchat story to stick around longer, there are a few tips you can try:
Save snaps outside the story
Even if your story disappears, any individual snaps you save to Memories or your Camera Roll will remain. So regularly saving snaps will allow you to preserve certain moments.
Frequently add new snaps
Adding new snaps daily stops the 24-hour deletion from kicking in. Rotate old snaps out as you add new ones to keep your story going indefinitely.
Export your story
You can export your private Snapchat story to your Camera Roll or Memories. This saves a copy outside of Snapchat before it deletes.
Ask viewers to screenshot
Let your custom audience know you want to keep the story longer and request they take screenshots to preserve it.
Save story replays
If you replay your own private story before it disappears, Snapchat saves the replay. So you can still access the story after deletion.
Use other apps to save
Some third-party apps can save Snapchat stories for you. Apps like Story Saver for Snapchat allow you to download your stories.
Reasons Snapchat might delete your private story
In addition to the main reasons above, here are some other potential causes for your private story disappearance:
- You archived your story
- You hit the story limit (you can only have 3 active stories simultaneously)
- Your account was temporarily locked or deactivated
- The app crashed or closed unexpectedly
- Your phone ran out of storage space
- You cleared the app cache or data
What to do if your private story gets deleted
If your private Snapchat story mysteriously vanishes, here are some troubleshooting tips:
1. Check your Memories and Camera Roll
Saved snaps may still be available in Memories or your Camera Roll even if the story is gone.
2. Ask your viewers
Reach out to the friends you shared the story with to see if they have any screenshots you can use to rebuild it.
3. Contact Snapchat support
If you think it’s a glitch, report the issue to Snapchat. They may be able to restore your deleted story.
4. Recreate the story
If all else fails, you’ll simply have to redo your story. Use the saved snaps you have and take new ones to match the original.
How to troubleshoot other issues with private stories
Beyond mysterious deletions, here are some fixes for other problems with Snapchat private stories:
Can’t add friends to private story
- Make sure you entered their username correctly
- Check that your friend limit hasn’t been reached
- Ask your friend to reconnect their Snapchat to contacts
- Have both parties logout and log back into Snapchat
Friends can’t view your private story
- Confirm your friends are accepted followers
- Check that your story privacy is set to the correct audience
- Make sure your friends have the latest Snapchat version
- Friends may have muted your stories
Can’t post to private story
- Toggle your default story setting from My Story to the private story
- Check that you don’t have more than 3 active stories
- Make sure the private story hasn’t been deleted
- Restart the Snapchat app
Conclusion
Private Snapchat stories disappearing is most likely caused by the 24-hour expiration or accidental deletion. To troubleshoot, first check Memories and Saved Photos. Ask viewers for screenshots. Contact Snapchat if needed. You can also take steps to save snaps before deletion. Overall, while annoying, a deleted private story can often be recovered or remade.