How to delete messages on Snapchat using clear chats, even if they haven’t been viewed

The world has become global with many means of interacting with a large number of people aided by social media applications. Snapchat is another form of social media app. It is a multimedia messaging app with unique features of photo sharing, pictures or videos shared only available to the receiver for a short period.

Snapchat has evolved over the years, it first started as a person-to-person photo sharing medium, but has been updated over the years to include other numerous functions. Some of the functions now include sending short videos, messaging, live video chat, creating filters and avatars, sharing stories, etc. Snapchat mobile application is supported by Android or iOS devices.

One of the key issues for social media is how to maintain privacy and confidentiality. Snapchat has flexible means of allowing this by making most of its features temporary. There are several features on Snapchat with a timeline.

Snaps: Snaps are pictures or videos sent to one or more friends, they get deleted automatically after all recipients have viewed it, it gets deleted after 24 hours if added to your story, also an unopened snap gets deleted automatically after 30days.

Chats: These are messages sent in a one-on-one conversation, chats get deleted automatically after the recipient has received and opened the message, this setting can be changed to be deleted 24 hours after opening the chat. Unopened chats will be automatically deleted after 30 days.

Story: A story is a collection of snaps, this is visible to all your friends on Snapchat, and it can be viewed as many times as they like within 24 hours. The story gets automatically deleted after 24 hours, it can also be deleted by you at any point in time.

However, it is important to note that although there is a timeline for snaps, chats, and story to be deleted. The recipient can still have a record of this by taking a screenshot.

Deleting messages on Snapchat

The way Snapchat is designed involves messages sent on the app to be temporary, this means messages automatically get deleted after recipients have opened and read them. As it is common during conversations, either physical or virtual, you might want to take back a word or two you said, you might consider the words harsh after they have been said or for different reasons. On Snapchat as well, at times you might need to delete a message you sent manually before the recipients get the message, there are various reasons to want to do this also, a common reason is typing error.

To delete messages on Snapchat manually, it is only possible if the recipient has not seen the message, and also the sender is using an updated version of the app that allows the delete feature.

How to delete Snapchat messages

1. You need to open and log in to your Snapchat account from your device.
2. Messages on Snapchat are usually on the right side, you need to swipe from left to right to open up your chats.
3. Select the contact that has the conversation with the message you want to delete.
4. From the conversation, locate the message that needs to be deleted, tap and hold on it till you get a pop-up, with options (The following options will appear depending on the version of the app: Save in chat, copy, delete).
5. From the options, select delete by tapping on it.
6. You will be asked to confirm if you want to delete chat by another pop-up menu, confirm by tapping the delete chat option.
7. You have the selected message deleted already.

Things to note about deleting messages on Snapchat

• When deleting messages, even though the final pop up brings about an option saying delete chat, it doesn’t delete the entire conversation, it only deletes the messages you selected.
• By manually deleting messages on Snapchat, it means it has not been opened by the recipient. However, the place where the message was, will be replaced by a note saying “you deleted a message”. This note will appear on your end and also on the recipient’s end, although they can’t see your message, they will know you sent a message and deleted it.

How to clear conversations on Snapchat

One of the special features of Snapchat is deleting entire conversations with a contact.

• Go to your chat option and select the contact you want to clear conversation from
• Tap and hold on to the contact, till some set of options appear, and click more
• Select “clear conversation” from the options provided
• It will require you to confirm if you want to clear the conversation, select clear.
• There you have the conversation cleared.

Frequently asked questions about deleting messages

Does clearing a conversation delete the same messages for the recipient too?

No, it doesn’t. Clearing a conversation only removes the conversations from your end alone, the recipient still has the chats. If you want to remove the messages from the recipient as well, you have to use the delete message feature.

Can I delete a message that someone has already read?

Yes, you can. By default, messages sent on Snapchat gets deleted after the recipient has read it or it expires. But, you can also delete your messages manually, deleting will also delete the message on the recipient’s end.

My messages didn’t disappear?

One of the reasons why messages don’t disappear automatically as it is supposed to be because it has probably been saved. Saved messages won’t be removed even after clearing conversations, to undo this you need to tap and hold on to the particular message and tap “unsave”. Saved messages are easy to identify by their grey background.

Does deleting my account remove messages?

Deleting your account will not remove your messages, it will only remove your profile and personal information. If you have deleted your account, you still have a window of 30 days to reactivate your account and delete the messages using the highlighted methods.