It can be such a bummer to lose your Snapchat Streak when you’ve been maintaining it for weeks or months. We have all been there. If you have lost a Snapstreak, don’t panic – we can show you how to get it back. Fortunately, there’s no minimum requirement of how long your Snapchat streak should be before attempting to recover it. As long as it’s a streak, you can probably get it back. Follow this guide to learn how to recover yours.
Tip: learn how to create a Cameos selfie on Snapchat and use it on the app.
What Are Snapstreaks and How Do They Work?
Snapchat streaks, commonly known as Snapstreaks, mark the number of consecutive days you have interacted with your friends on Snapchat. When you and your friend exchange snaps within 24 hours for an everyday minimum of three days, you form a Snapchat streak, which can go on for as many days as you want.
On Snapchat, the streak is represented by a number and fire emoji next to your friend’s name (with whom you’ve been maintaining the streak). This number indicates how many consecutive days you and your friend have sent snaps to each other.
Maintaining Streaks can be a fun activity, and for some, it creates a sense of achievement. But sometimes, it can get difficult to maintain the spree. If you skip exchanging snaps with your friend even for a day, you could lose a week’s or even months-long streak. By the way, Snapchat keeps count of most of your activities on the app, and rewards you by increasing your profile score. If you want to learn more about Snapscore, check out our dedicated guide.
What Counts Towards a Streak?
As for the required frequency of exchanging snaps, you and your friend must communicate with each other at least once within 24 hours to create and maintain a streak. Let’s say you sent a snap at 4 pm, and your friend snapped back at 9 pm on the same day. In that case, you can send a snap before 9 pm the next day, and your streak will remain.
However, if you or your friend do not send a snap within a 24-hour frame from the last snap, the streak will be considered lost. In addition, since streaks are a two-way thing, you won’t be able to maintain a streak with a friend if you’re the only one sending snaps. They also need to send a snap back within 24 hours.
Keep in mind that not everything you send your friend on Snapchat counts toward your streak. You’ll have to send images and videos using the Snapchat camera to make it count. Anything else you send via the chat won’t be counted toward your snap streak. There are three ways to send a snap that will count in a streak:
- Using the Snap feature (represented by camera icon next to your friend’s name in Chat)
- Double-tapping your friend’s conversation to send a picture/video
- Taking a picture/video through Snapchat’s camera and sending it
Only images and videos sent through the mentioned channels will count toward your streak. All of the following do NOT:
- Sending a text message
- Replying to a streak with a text
- Uploading a story
- Sharing an image/video from memories
- Sharing an image/video from the camera roll
- Images/video shared inside a chat
- Images/video taken through Spectacles
Good to know: Stories is no longer an Instagram-exclusive feature. Learn how to make a Story on Snapchat.
Common Streak Emojis and Their Meanings
Here are what some of the most common emojis mean on Snapchat:
- Snapstreak 🔥 – when you and your friend snap consecutively for three days, this fire emoji will appear next to your friend’s name. The number next to it represents how many days your streak has been maintained.
- 100-Day Streak 💯 – You get a special emoji on your hundredth day of a streak to celebrate. This emoji only shows up on your hundredth day and will disappear the next day. It is the only milestone-oriented emoji related to the length of your streak.
- Ending Snapstreak ⌛️ – If your streak is about to end, Snapchat will let you know by displaying an hourglass emoji next to your friend’s name. This hourglass emoji appears after 20 hours have passed and remains there for the next 4 hours. Make sure to send a snap whenever this pops up.
- Besties💛 – The yellow heart emoji on Snapchat has a few different meanings. If you see it next to a friend’s name, it means you are each other’s best friends on the app and have snapped each other the most. You can also earn a yellow heart by sending a certain number of snaps to a particular person within 24 hours.
- BFF ❤️ – the BFF badge is awarded to two people who have been Besties for two weeks. Basically, it appears next to a friend on Snapchat when you have exchanged the highest number of snaps with him/her for two weeks.
- Super BFF 💕 – This one’s quite special, and it means that you and your friend have been Besties for more than two months! Super BFFs are your most chatted and most snapped friends. Unlike the Besties badge that only one of your friends can have at the same time, you can have up to eight Super BFFs at the same time.
How to Recover a Lost Snapstreak
To recover a Snapstreak, you need to contact the Snapchat support team and ask them to retrieve your streak. Even so, Snapchat will not always rule in your favor and recover your lost streak. If you had a really long streak or lost your streak due to factors outside your control (e.g., Snapchat wasn’t working as it should), Snapchat will most likely cooperate.
On the other hand, your chances of recovering your streak are pretty low if you simply “forgot” to snap your friend. Before reaching out, make sure you come up with a proper explanation of why you were prevented from opening Snapchat or sending a snap to your friend.
Tip: if you tell Snapchat that the hourglass emoji ⌛️never appeared on your screen to warn you, you have a higher probability of getting your Snapstreak back. We tried it from multiple accounts, and it worked every time!
If you want to give it a go, here’s how you can submit a request to Snapchat:
Mobile
- Open the Snapchat app on your mobile phone.
- Tap on your avatar in the upper-left corner.
- Tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner.
- In the “Support” section, choose “I Need Help.”
- Select “Snapstreaks.”
- In the second paragraph, tap “let us know.”
- Select the “I’ve lost my Snapstreak” option.
- Scroll down and fill in the details.
- After you’ve filled in all the information, hit “Send.”
PC
You can also submit a streak recovery request on Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or any other browser, and you don’t even have to sign in to submit your request. Just follow the steps below.
Tip: check out the best lightweight browsers for Windows.
- Go to Snapchat Support and click “Snapstreaks.”
- Click “let us know” at the end of the second paragraph.
- In the “Contact Us” form, select “I’ve lost my Snapstreak.”
- Scroll down and enter your details.
- After filling in your info, click “Send.”
Good to know: if Snapchat is not working as it should, try these fixes to prevent losing your streak.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a third-party app to recover my streak?
If you’ve lost your Snapchat Streak, there’s no way to recover it using a third-party app. Apps that claim to be able to track your streak and help you recover it are mostly scams, so make sure you do NOT give your credentials to any such app.
What are the consequences of breaking a streak on Snapchat?
There are no negative consequences for breaking a streak, but some users see it as a personal challenge to maintain streaks with as many people as possible. Some believe that streaks add an element of competition to the communication app, making the whole experience more interesting and exciting.
Can streaks be transferred between accounts?
It is not possible to transfer streaks between different Snapchat accounts. If you want to preserve your streak, you’ll need to use the same account.
What if I accidentally delete my Snapchat account?
If you inadvertently deleted your Snapchat account and lost your streak because of that, you can try contacting customer support to see if they can help recover your account and streak.
Image credit: Iconscout. All screenshots by Ojash Yadav.
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