Snapchat’s Memories feature allows you to save your snaps, stories, and photos in one place so you can easily find and view old content. If you’re not seeing any memories in your Snapchat app, there are a few possible reasons why.
You Haven’t Saved Anything to Memories
The main reason you may not have any memories on Snapchat is because you haven’t saved anything to your Memories. Memories only includes snaps, stories, and photos that you have purposefully added to Memories.
To save something to Memories:
- When viewing a snap you’ve received, tap the downward arrow icon in the bottom right corner.
- When viewing your own snap or story, tap the downward arrow icon in the bottom left corner.
- Select “Save to Memories.”
If you’ve never tapped these buttons to save content, you simply won’t have anything in your Memories yet.
Your Memories May Have Been Cleared
Another possibility is that your Snapchat Memories were cleared at some point, deleting all of your saved snaps and stories. There are a few ways this could have happened:
- You cleared Memories – You can manually delete all Memories by going to Settings > Memories > Clear Memories.
- You deleted your Snapchat account – If you deleted your Snapchat account entirely, this also wiped your Memories.
- Your phone was reset – If your phone was factory reset or wiped, you lost your locally stored Memories.
Unless you have a backup of your Memories from before they were cleared, there is no way to recover deleted Memories.
Your Memories May Not Have Synced
Snapchat Memories are supposed to sync across devices, so the snaps and stories you save on one device appear in Memories on all your other logged-in devices.
However, sometimes Memories fail to sync properly. Reasons this could happen include:
- Syncing issues – Bugs or errors with Snapchat’s syncing can prevent Memories from updating across devices.
- Connection problems – Poor internet connection can disrupt the syncing process.
- Not logged in – Memories won’t sync to devices you’re not logged into with your Snapchat account.
- Out of storage – If one device is low on storage space, Memories may fail to save or sync.
If you have Memories on one device that are not showing up on another, try force quitting the Snapchat app on both devices and logging back in to force a fresh sync. Also make sure you’re connected to the internet.
Your Memories Are Hidden
Snapchat gives you the option to hide Memories from your main Memories tab. Hidden Memories can only be viewed in the My Eyes Only section, which is passcode protected.
If you have hidden some of your Memories, they won’t appear in your main Memories tab. To view your hidden Memories:
- In Memories, tap the My Eyes Only tab.
- Enter your passcode.
- View your hidden Memories.
Your Account Is Restricted
In some cases, Snapchat may restrict accounts that violate their Terms of Service. Restricted accounts have limited functionality.
If your Snapchat account is restricted, your Memories may be entirely inaccessible or only certain Memories may be unavailable. You will need to resolve whatever issue got your account restricted in order to restore full access to Memories.
Your Phone Lacks Storage
Memories are stored locally on your device. If your phone is completely out of storage, it may be unable to save new Memories.
Try clearing up storage space on your phone and then saving a new snap to Memories. If you’re able to save new Memories after freeing up storage, then a lack of storage was the issue.
Your Account Has Been Hacked
If someone has gained access to your account, they may have cleared or hidden your Memories as part of compromising your account.
Look for other signs your account has been hacked, like unfamiliar logins from other locations. If you believe your account has been compromised, change your password immediately and enable two-factor authentication if you haven’t already.
There’s a Problem With Your Phone
On very rare occasions, issues with your specific phone could prevent Memories from working properly. For example, some Samsung devices have had bugs that caused Memories to not sync or appear empty.
Try logging into your Snapchat account on a different device. If your Memories appear normally on the other device, then there’s likely a compatibility issue with your original phone that needs to be fixed.
How to Troubleshoot Empty Snapchat Memories
If you open Snapchat and still see no memories, here are some steps to troubleshoot the issue:
- Force quit the Snapchat app and restart your phone
- Check your internet connection
- Log out of Snapchat and log back in
- Update the Snapchat app to the latest version
- Clear the Snapchat app’s cache and data
- Uninstall and reinstall the Snapchat app
- Try accessing Memories on a different device
- Contact Snapchat support if the issue persists
How to Recover Deleted Snapchat Memories
If your Snapchat Memories were deleted, either by accident or because your account was compromised, here are a few ways you may be able to recover them:
- Restore from backup – If you had Memories backup up either using Snapchat’s cloud backup or a third-party app, you may be able to restore that backup and access your deleted Memories again.
- Use data recovery software – Specialized data recovery software sometimes can retrieve deleted Snapchat Memories from your device’s storage, as long as they haven’t been overwritten.
- Ask friends – If a deleted Memory was a snap or story you had sent to friends, you can ask them whether they still have it saved in their Memories and could send it back to you.
Unfortunately, if you don’t have a backup and your Memories have been permanently deleted either manually or through account deletion, there may be no way to get them back.
How to Back Up Your Snapchat Memories
To avoid losing your Snapchat Memories if they are accidentally or intentionally deleted, it’s a good idea to regularly back them up.
Here are two ways to back up your Snapchat Memories:
- Use Snapchat’s built-in cloud backup – You can enable Snapchat’s backup feature in Settings. This will periodically back up your Memories to Snapchat’s cloud servers.
- Use a third-party app – Apps like iMyFone D-Back and iSkysoft offer backups of Snapchat Memories to your device storage or cloud storage like Google Drive.
Backing up regularly means you’ll always have a copy of your Memories if anything ever happens to the copies on your phone.
Conclusion
Having no Snapchat Memories when you expected to see your saved snaps can be concerning. However, in most cases it’s an easily solvable issue. The most common problems are that you haven’t actually saved anything to Memories yet, your Memories were cleared or deleted, you have syncing problems, or your Memories are just hidden.
Try the troubleshooting steps outlined above to determine what is causing your empty Memories. Make sure to rule out simple explanations first before assuming it’s a bigger technical issue. With some troubleshooting, you should be able to restore access to your Snapchat Memories.
| Reason for Empty Memories | Solution |
|---|---|
| Haven’t saved anything | Start saving snaps and stories to Memories |
| Memories cleared | Restore from backup if possible |
| Syncing issues | Force quit app, check connection |
| Memories hidden | View in My Eyes Only tab |
| Account restricted | Resolve account issues |
| Storage full | Clear up storage space |
| Account hacked | Change password, enable 2FA |
| Phone compatibility | Try different device |