There are a few possible reasons why a Snap may have been saved in a chat:
You saved it
The most obvious reason is that you intentionally saved the Snap yourself. When viewing a Snap, you can tap the download icon in the bottom left corner to save it. This will save the Snap in the chat with that friend.
Your friend saved it
If someone sends you a Snap and they save it, it will also be saved in your chat with them. So if your friend took a Snap and saved it before sending it to you, it would save to your chat as well.
A replay was saved
If someone replayed your Snap, they have the option to save the replay. This saved replay will appear in your chat with them. So if you sent a Snap and a friend replayed it and saved the replay, it would show up in your chat.
A screenshot was saved
Snapchat notifies you when someone takes a screenshot of your Snap. If they save this screenshot, it will also save to your chat with them. So if a friend took a screenshot of your Snap and saved it, you would see it in your chat.
It was a saved message
Snapchat has a “save” feature for chat messages, which allows you or your friends to save specific messages in your chat. If a regular text chat message was saved by either you or a friend, it would appear in the chat as a saved message.
It was saved from a story
If someone shares your story as a chat message, they have the option to save it. So if a friend viewed your story and saved part of it to chat, that would show up in your messages with them.
A memory was saved
Snapchat Memories allows you to save your old Snaps and stories to view later. If one of your old Snaps was saved to Memories and then later shared into a chat, it would show up as a saved Snap.
It was a forwarded Snap
If someone receives a Snap from one friend and forwards it to you, the forwarded Snap will show up in your chat. So if a mutual friend forwarded you a Snap from someone else, it would appear saved in your messages.
It was sent from storage
On iOS, Snapchat has a feature that allows you to save Snaps and other photos to your Snapchat storage. If someone sent you a Snap or photo from their storage, it will appear as a saved message in your chat.
It was a saved group Snap
In a Snapchat group chat, any member of the group can save a Snap to the chat. So if you’re in a group chat and another member saved a Snap, it would show up in the group chat for all members.
Other Less Common Possibilities
Here are a few other rare ways a Snap could have been saved:
- A Snapchat bug or glitch
- A third party app accessing Snapchat data
- The Snap being saved by Snapchat for moderation purposes
- A law enforcement data request causing Snap data to be retained
How to Tell Who Saved the Snap
If you want to figure out exactly who saved a Snap in your chat, there are a couple ways to investigate:
- Check the context – Look at the chat conversation for clues on who sent the Snap originally.
- Ask your friends – Simply ask whoever you were chatting with if they saved it.
- Look for a notification – If it was a screenshot or replay, you may have been notified.
- Check memories – If it was saved from Memories, it would only have been you.
Why Save Snaps in Chat?
There are many reasons why someone may intentionally choose to save a Snap in chat, such as:
- To refer back to it later
- To show or share with someone else
- To reminisce on past conversations and memories
- To preserve an important or funny moment
- To store information like directions, recommendations, etc.
Of course, sometimes Snaps are saved accidentally too!
Can I Delete a Saved Snap?
If a Snap was saved in your chat, you do have options to delete it:
- iOS – Tap and hold the Snap thumbnail, then tap Delete
- Android – Tap and hold the Snap thumbnail, tap the trash can icon
However, this will only delete the saved version in your chat. If the other person also saved it, they will still have it in their chat. And if it was a screenshot, deleting it from chat won’t delete the actual screenshot.
Preventing Snaps From Being Saved
If you want to prevent your Snaps from being saved at all, there are a few things you can try:
- Avoid sending Snaps to people you don’t fully trust
- Use a setting that prevents recipients from screenshotting your Snaps
- Don’t open Snaps from people you don’t know (which prevents them from being saved)
- Block people who have violated your trust from viewing your Snaps
However, ultimately there is no guaranteed way to prevent someone from saving a Snap if they really want to. The best approach is being careful who you send sensitive Snaps to.
Conclusion
To summarize some key points:
- Snaps can be saved via screenshots, replays, memories, forwards, and more.
- Check the context, ask friends, and look for notifications to investigate who saved a Snap.
- People often save Snaps to refer back to conversations or preserve memories.
- You can delete saved Snaps from chats, but this doesn’t delete screenshots.
- There’s no absolute way to prevent Snaps from being saved, so be cautious when sending private or sensitive Snaps.
I hope this gives you a better understanding of the various ways Snaps can be saved in chats and what you can do about it! Let me know if you have any other Snapchat questions.