Out of the many things we use Snapchat for, chatting is often the most important feature. Chatting on Snapchat is often an interesting experience because of its unique features and interface. The fact that all messages necessarily disappear immediately or twenty-four hours after viewing (unless saved manually) makes chatting on Snapchat a different experience altogether. Depending on your choice, messages in a chat disappear sooner or later, making it more secure and interesting.
However, on some odd occasions, you might notice that a message disappeared before you could view it. Now, as much as this might sound interesting, it is no hidden feature of the app. True, Snapchat is loaded with a fair share of seemingly strange features. But making messages disappear even before they are viewed is not something Snapchat has thought of. Not that it makes any sense.
So, what happens when you receive a notification about an incoming chat from a friend but, on opening the Chats screen, find no message from them? This is what we will be telling you through this blog. Keep reading to discover what this error might mean and how you can fix this error on Snapchat.
Why do Snapchat messages disappear before opening?
“Delete is our default.” That’s what Snapchat says about the messages transferred between users on the platform. The platform’s core policy remains that nothing lasts forever.
Therefore, all messages on Snapchat are deleted sooner (immediately after viewing) or later (24 hours after viewing). In addition, there are separate rules for unopened snaps you receive.
While chats are mostly deleted after they have been viewed, snaps can disappear even before you view them. In one-to-one conversations, if you don’t open a snap for 31 days after you receive it, the snap gets deleted automatically. Similarly, unopened snaps in group chats disappear after seven days if you don’t view them.
So, if you had an unopened snap that disappeared suddenly from your Chats screen, it might have disappeared automatically if their specified time frame had expired.
However, what if a snap or message disappears just after you received it, even when you hadn’t viewed them? Incidents reported by users suggest that this is indeed possible and has happened to many Snapchatters who are just as confused as you. So, what can be the reason?
If a Snapchat message disappeared from your Chats shortly after you received it, but before you viewed it, it can only point to two things:
- The sender deleted that message before you viewed it.
- It’s a temporary glitch on Snapchat.
The way to fix this problem of Snapchat messages disappearing before you view them depends on what’s causing the problem.
How to Fix Snapchat Message Disappeared Before Opening
If a Snapchat message you received disappeared before opening it, it can mean one of the following three reasons:
- The message got expired
- The sender deleted the message
- It’s a bug
Since each of the above reasons are very different from the other two, we will address each situation separately. Read on to find out what you can do to fix this error on Snapchat.
#1: If the message has expired
If it has been over 31 days since the message was sent to a one-to-one conversation or seven days since it was sent to a group chat, the message will automatically expire and be deleted forever from Snapchat’s servers.
What can you do about it? Unfortunately, nothing.
If your Snapchat messages have expired, there is no way to recover them, no matter which way you try. The easiest way to get an expired message to reappear is by asking the sender to send the message again.
#2: The sender deleted the message
This is the most common reason why a message disappears before viewing. And it is also the most understandable. It might happen that someone sent you a message they didn’t mean to send you. And as soon as they realized it, they deleted the message before you could view it.
In this case, too, you cannot do anything on your part to bring the disappeared message back to life. You can simply ask the sender if they deleted the message and if it was something important. They would tell you what happened.
#3: A bug ate your message
Snapchat is pretty reliable when it comes to technical glitches. However, this doesn’t mean the platform doesn’t experience technical issues at all. Bugs can creep into the app in the most unexpected places and can adversely impact your experience occasionally.
If your Snapchat messages have disappeared before viewing, and you have successfully ruled out the first two cases, the only possibility remains that of a bug.
This doesn’t happen very often. But sometimes, you would hear the familiar notification tone of Snapchat and would see that your friend has sent you a chat. But when you click on the notification, you will see no message on the Chats screen.
If this happens, you need to do a couple of things.
First, log out of your Snapchat account, and close the app. Then, follow these steps:
Step 1: Go to your phone’s Settings→ Applications.
Step 2: Scroll through the list of applications to find Snapchat. Tap on Snapchat.
Step 3: Head to the Storage section of the App info screen.
Step 4: You will see two options: Clear data and Clear cache. Tap on Clear data.
Step 5: Open Play Store and update Snapchat if an update is available.
Step 6: Open Snapchat and log back into your account. See if the message appears.
If your message doesn’t appear even after doing these things, the only option left is to ask your friend to send the message once more.
In the end
Snapchat messages disappear after you view them. But sometimes, messages can disappear before you view them, which can seem pretty strange.
In this blog, we have discussed whether this issue is an error or a lesser-known Snapchat feature that deletes unopened messages automatically. In cases where this issue is caused due to an error, we have discussed what you can do to fix it.
If you liked our blog, take a second to give your feedback. If you like it, you can also share it with other Snapchatters.
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