01 / Before you begin
Before you begin
Settings and available choices can vary by device, app version, account and region.
02 / Who can see you
Check who can see you, not just who can message you
Profile → Settings → App & Privacy → Contact Me controls direct contact. In the same area, My Privacy & Data contains Story audience, location, Find Friends and Activity Indicator controls. Choose the audience you actually intend. Public Profile owners must adjust My Story privacy from their profile. Changing a Story audience does not necessarily restrict already-posted Snaps; review existing posts separately. Group members can still communicate in their shared group even with Friends-only contact enabled. Find Friends changes can take 72 hours.
Snapchat privacy settings. These choices control public exposure, not data deletion.
03 / What disappears
Know what disappears, and what does not
Friend Snaps are generally designed to disappear from servers after everyone views them; unopened Snaps after 31 days. Friend Chats normally expire 24 hours after everyone views them or 31 days after sending, whichever comes first. Saved, reacted-to or replied-to messages can persist. For each conversation, long-press its name → Chat and Notification Settings → Delete Chats and choose the retention you want. Changes affect future messages, not old messages' original retention. Memories, public submissions and My AI have different rules. Recipients can copy what they see.
Deletion rules. Privacy principles additionally explains that metadata may remain after content deletion. A disappearing message does not mean Snapchat never stored it or that every trace disappears.
04 / My AI data
Delete My AI data separately
My AI inputs can support responses, product improvement and personalization including ads; avoid confidential inputs. My AI explanation.
For deletion: Profile → Settings. On iOS, Privacy Controls → Delete Data → Delete My AI Data; on Android, Account Actions → Delete My AI Data. Confirm. Some official help pages instead say Clear Data/Clear My AI Data. Recent messages can be long-pressed → Delete within 24 hours. Server deletion can take up to 30 days. Removing My AI from the chat feed is not the same operation. The deletion help also lists a separate Team Snapchat control; direct My AI deletion does not clear that stored chat data.
The My AI data control clears your one-to-one My AI chat, not messages in group chats that include My AI. My AI can read messages in those groups. Content disappearing from the chat after 24 hours is not evidence of deletion from Snapchat’s servers. Review group messages separately. My AI retention and group-chat limits.
05 / Public-content AI
Public-content AI use has its own opt-out
Snap says it may use public images, video, audio and text to develop, train and improve its generative AI content-creation models. Settings → Privacy Control → Manage My Information, then turn off the public-content training setting. This applies going forward, not to training already completed. Other policy uses remain; appearances in another person's public posts are not covered by your switch. This is not an all-AI or all-processing opt-out.
Generative AI on Snapchat. The exact toggle label may differ from the wording in the help article.
06 / Ghost Mode & location
Ghost Mode is not a device-location switch
Snap Map → gear → Ghost Mode limits what friends see. Review any live-location sharing separately. Public Snaps submitted to the Map may still appear. Ghost Mode.
To stop app location access, iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Snapchat → Never; Android long-press Snapchat → App info → Permissions → Location → Deny. My AI may have cached location: clear its data too. My AI location control. This does not promise removal of IP-derived location or location you type yourself.
07 / Uploaded contacts
Uploaded contacts require their own cleanup
Review device Contacts permission to restrict future access. Separately use Snapchat Settings → Privacy Controls → Clear Data → Clear Contact Data, or Remove Synced Contacts From Snapchat. Revoking phone permission alone may leave previously uploaded contacts. You can still be suggested through other people's contacts or other signals.
Contacts and friend discovery. Also review camera, microphone and photo access in your phone settings; features may stop working when permissions are denied.
08 / Ad preferences
Ad preferences are not an off switch for all ads
iOS: Profile → Settings → My Account → Manage My Account → Ad Preferences. Android adds Ads → Ad Preferences. Review Audience-Based, Activity-Based and Third-Party Ad Networks, and disable unwanted options. Snapchat says other ads and personalization based on its own service activity can remain.
Understanding ads. Available options can vary by region, age and account.
09 / The Grav difference
How Grav differs
Grav's published policy, updated October 4, 2026, describes chosen sharing audiences, chronological feeds and no ads. It also says Messages are server-backed and stored for delivery, sync, restoration and safety/legal purposes. Privacy does not mean nothing is stored. You can also read Grav’s Privacy Proof Center for more detail.
Sources & references
Original documentation behind this guide, last checked October 29, 2026. A source check is not necessarily a change to the advice.
Change history
Added audience, retention, My AI deletion, public-content training, location, contacts and advertising controls, with documented menu-label differences.
If a label or policy has changed, tell us what you found. Please do not send private photos, passwords or account details.