If You Delete a Snap Before it’s Viewed Can They See It?

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How to unsend a Snapcaht message that hasn't been opened

Deleting a Snapchat message before someone sees it and opens it can come in extremely handy at times when you’ve made a mistake. Mistakes can be made on Snapchat and I’m going to show you how you can avoid them.

If you’ve sent a message by accident and it’s not something you want the other person to see, you may start sweating bullets while you’re waiting for them to open it when in reality, you don’t want them to ever open.

This can be a nerve-racking situation and it’s happened to the best of us. You start thinking to yourself, is there a way to un-send Snapchats that haven’t been seen yet? If you want to delete a message that’s unopen, the method down below is going to allow you to do that.

Make sure you read the article before you do this, so you can know more about un-sending chats or snaps that haven’t been opened.

If You Delete a Snap Before it’s Viewed Can They See it?

Snapchat does not have an undo function for the snaps you send. Whether it is a video or a photo, the platform does not allow you to undo the action. However, they allow you to delete the snap before the person you are sending it to can view it.

So, no, the person will not be able to view the snap you send if you delete it before they view it. So, next time you send a snap to the wrong person, and send something inappropriate and do not want someone to view it, make sure that you delete it before they reach it.

However, note that the person on the other side will know that you sent a snap and deleted it. The person will get a notification from Snapchat telling them that you sent a snap and deleted it.

So, if they want they can ask about it or just leave it.

Can You Delete a Snap You Sent?

Yes. You can delete a snap that you have sent on Snapchat. Many reasons may make you want to delete an already sent Snapchat text and the platform allows you to do this.

Since Snapchat is a social interaction platform, sometimes you may make a mistake when sending a snap. You may either send it to the wrong person or send the wrong item. You may also want to get rid of any history of communication on your side. The platform will allow you to do that.

Can You Delete a Snap Before Someone Opens it?

Yes. Definitely, you can delete a snap before someone opens it. Snapchat understands that the platform is mostly about an exchange of pictures and videos. As a result, it is possible for you to send a wrong snap to a person or even to the wrong person. Although the snap will automatically delete once the person views it, you can delete it before they open.

This actually can only be executed by the sender. For you to delete the snap, first you have to make sure the person has not viewed it. To do this, open the chat box, and then look below the snap and check on the left side to see whether there is an icon showing the snap was viewed or not. If the icon has not changed from an arrow to a hollow square, then know that they have not been viewed and you still have time to delete it.

Here are the steps to follow to delete a snap before someone sees it.

  1. Start by opening the chat where the message you had sent is.
  2. Now, tap on the snap you would like to delete and hold the finger down on it.
  3. You will get a pop-up notification that will ask you if you would like to delete the chat.
  4. The next step is to tap on the “Delete” option/button in purple color.

Once you delete the snap, the person on the other side will know that you deleted it. This also happens in group chats.

2. Blocking Them

Another way that you can stop someone from opening a snap after you’ve sent it to them is by blocking them. When you block someone, they won’t be able to see the snap that you’ve sent them.

The only downside to this is that you’ll no longer be friends with them and this isn’t a good option if you’ve accidentally sent something to someone that you’re close with.

To delete a Snapchat before they see it:

1. Go to the chats list and make sure the message isn’t open

2. Hold down the name of the person you sent the Snap to

3. Click on Settings

4. Click on Block

5. Click Block to confirm your decision

How to delete un-opened snap

If you block them before the Snapchat was opened, the Snapchat message would come up as opened when they see your name on their chats list. Even though they didn’t open the message, Snapchat would automatically open and remove the snap because you’ve blocked them.

The only downside is that they’ll know that you sent them a Snapchat message, so they could ask you to tell them what you said, but you can now lie of course.

3. Leaving A Snapchat Group To Delete Unopened Snaps

If you’ve accidentally sent a snap to a group chat and you want to delete it before anyone sees it, then you can do this by leaving the Snapchat group chat. When you leave a

Snapchat group chat, all of your previous messages are automatically deleted so no one would be able to see your snap. Once you’ve left, you can ask someone to add you back to the chat and your deleted snaps won’t reappear.

4. Delete Your Snapchat Account to Stop Them From Seeing The Snap?

If you do try and use this technique now, it would probably work, but unfortunately, Snapchat doesn’t delete your account straight away after the request. When you ‘delete’ your account, you’re only deactivating your account for 30 days, it’s not permanently deleted until the 30 days are done.

This technique would only work if the other person left the Snapchat message unopened for 30 days. After these 30 days, the snapchat would automatically open meaning that they wouldn’t have a chance to see it.

How to Delete an Unopened Snapchat Without Them Knowing?

It is not possible to delete an unopened Snapchat without the person knowing. This is how Snapchat has been designed. So, the next time you are having a conversation with a person on Snapchat and you delete a snap, know that they will find out.

However, hope is not completely lost on this crucial action. It is possible to do a trick that will allow you to mask the delete action and the person on the other side may not find out what you have done. Here is what you need to know.

1. Send Loads of Messages after So They Don’t Both Scrolling Up

Once you have deleted a snap and you think the person will start asking questions if they notice you have, you can send them loads of messages to shift their attention. We all know that there are people who will not stop asking questions when they notice you have deleted an unopened snap.

It will work even better when you know what will it interest that person more. Find snaps that will interest and capture the attention of the receiver and send a good load of them. Make them jump into your new messages and forget the deleted messages and that way you will have escaped many questions.

2. If They Do See The Message Deleted Notification, Just Say It Was an Accident

High chances are that the person you are chatting with will get a notification you have deleted the message and they will see it. And then, there are also chances they will ask you about it. So, when it comes to this point, one way is to tell them that you sent it by accident.

If it is someone you have been talking with, they will have the courage to ask you more questions about the nature of the snap you sent. However, at this point, you have to be very strict or tough and hide that information. Remember the goal is not to disclose what you had sent.

In case the person asks you to show them what you had sent by accident, you can always fake it with a different snap message that you have no problem with them seeing.

3. If It’s in a Group, Leave, and The Notification Will Go

When it comes to sending group chats on Snapchat, it is not so different from private chats. When you delete a snap before the group can open it, they will get a notification. However, do not worry so much about this as it is easy to stop them from knowing.

All you have to do is leave the group. By leaving the group, you are no longer a participant. That means that Snapchat will not have your data or any activity from you. As a result, they will not send any notification to the group members that you have deleted the snap.

In case you would like, you can get back into the group after some time. This is after the members have exchanged several more snaps.

What Happens When You Delete an Unopened Snapchat

When you delete a snap that is unopened on Snapchat, the first thing that happens is that it disappears from your chat box. This means that you cannot also see it.

The next thing is that the chat is deleted from the other person’s chat box. This also means they will not know what it is since they had not viewed it. However, the person will get a notification saying that something was sent and deleted. That way, they will know that you deleted the snap but can’t tell what it was.

After this, they may choose to ask you about it or just ignore it and move on. When they ask, you have the choice of telling them about the snap, or not.

Will Blocking a Person Stop Them From Seeing a Sent Snap?

Unfortunately no. Once you have sent a snap, blocking them does not mean that it will automatically delete the snap. Also, remember that snap does not have a function to unsend messages.

Since the snap was already sent when blocking them, it will remain there. As a result, a blocked person has access to chats that were sent before the block. This means that the person will be able to open your chats and view the snap. Use the method discussed above to avoid this.

Conclusion

Snapchat is an interesting platform and there are times when people make mistakes when using it and sharing content. As a result, it is crucial to learn about some of the ways to correct some of the mistakes when chatting on the platform. The above steps will help you prevent your snaps from landing in the wrong recipient when you send them by mistake.

David Johnson is a freelance writer with 9 years of experience writing for Techzillo and other established tech outlets like iMore. His focus and key interests are Apple and accessibility as well as consumer technology in general. Read our Editorial Guidlines and Fact Checking process.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Unless they view it on airplane mode and clear the cache, YOU might think the haven’t read it because it shows delivered but they can view it without you receiving a read notification with this method.

  2. someone sent me a chat, i deleted it without reading it — will it notify them that i deleted the chat(s), even if it wasn’t read?

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