How to Delete Chats on Snapchat

“Deleting a chat” on Snapchat means one of three things, and each works differently: deleting a single message you sent, clearing a whole conversation from your Chat feed, or changing when chats delete themselves. None of them removes what the other person has already saved or screenshotted. The steps below follow Snapchat’s support articles, checked in October 2026.

How to delete a single message on Snapchat

1. Open the chat.
2. Press and hold the message you sent.
3. Tap Delete.

You can delete your own messages, Snaps, Bitmoji, Memories and photos you sent from your Camera Roll. You cannot delete anything another person sent. Your friend sees a note in the chat that a message was deleted, and they may have taken a screenshot before you removed it. Deletion can also lag if their connection is poor or their app is out of date (Snapchat Support).

How to clear a conversation from your Chat feed

On iPhone:

1. Open your Profile and tap the gear icon to open Settings.
2. Scroll to App & Privacy and tap My Privacy & Data.
3. Under Manage My Data, tap Clear Data.
4. Tap Clear Conversations.
5. Tap the ✖ next to the conversation you want to clear.

On Android:

1. Open your Profile and tap the gear icon to open Settings.
2. Scroll to App & Privacy and tap My Privacy & Data.
3. Under Manage My Data, tap Clear Conversation.

Clearing removes the thread from your own feed. It does not delete any saved or sent content, so the other person’s view of the chat is unchanged (Snapchat Support).

How to make Snapchat chats delete automatically

By default, a one-on-one or group chat is deleted 24 hours after everyone has viewed it, or 31 days after it was sent, whichever comes first. You can change that to delete right after viewing, 7 days after viewing, or never.

1. On the Chat screen, press and hold the friend’s or group’s name.
2. Tap Chat and Notification Settings.
3. Tap Delete Chats… and choose an option.

Anyone in the conversation can change this setting, and everyone sees a status message when it changes. New messages follow the new setting. Messages already sent keep the setting they were sent with. Community Group Chats default to deleting 7 days after everyone has viewed them (Snapchat Support).

How to delete saved Snapchat messages

A saved message has a grey background, and everyone in the chat can see that it is saved. Tap a saved message to unsave it. To delete one of your own saved messages, press and hold it and tap Delete. A chat is also kept longer than the timer when someone saves it, replies to it or reacts to it.

What deleting cannot do

• It cannot remove messages someone else sent.
• It cannot undo a screenshot or a save the other person already made.
• It does not work in a chat with someone you have blocked, because you can no longer see that chat.
• It does not cover My AI. Content shared with My AI is kept until you delete it through My AI’s own data controls.
• It does not cover Topic Chats. Messages sent there are public and kept for 5 years.

Questions about deleting Snapchat chats

Does the other person know I deleted a message?

Yes. Snapchat shows a note in the chat that a message was deleted. It does not show what the message said.

Does clearing a conversation delete it for both people?

No. Clearing only removes the conversation from your own Chat feed. Saved and sent content stays.

Can I delete a message my friend sent me?

No. You can only delete what you sent. If you saved their message, tap it to unsave it and it will follow the chat’s delete timer.

How long does Snapchat keep chats?

By default, 24 hours after everyone has viewed them or 31 days after sending, whichever is sooner, unless someone saves, replies to or reacts to the message.