How to permanently delete Snapchat account?

Do you want to permanently delete your account on the Snapchat app ? Here's how, step by step.

Are you no longer using the Snapchat app? Do you now prefer stories on Instagram or Facebook? Have you discovered the Tik Tok social network and can't live without it? Or do you no longer want to spend your time on your smartphone screen and you delete your accounts on all networks? Are you doing a digital detox? Or are you afraid for your personal data?

The creation of Snapchat

The Snapchat application was created by two Stanford University students, Evan Spiegel, 22, and Bobby Murphy, 24. They say they were first inspired by the case Anthony Weiner, elected official of New York forced to resign after having sent photos of a sexual nature to several women.

The idea for an ephemeral photo-sharing app actually came from a third student, Frank Reginald Brown, who helped found Snapchat, as CEOs later acknowledged. The application was launched in September 2011 on the App Store (for iPhone), then in November 2012 on Android. It then makes it possible to send photographs or videos that can only be seen for a few seconds by the recipient.

Snapchat: application launched in 2011 / Credit: Unsplash

The main features of Snapchat

But Snapchat has evolved a lot since its creation and is no longer just an application for sharing photos and ephemeral videos. Many features have been added:

• Sending photos and videos with no time limit and no viewing limit.• Sending grouped messages, photos or videos.• Filters.• “Stories” visible for twenty-four hours. • Saving photos and videos in “memories”. • Video call functionality. • (Almost) real-time location of contacts on SnapMap, which locates people in the last place they opened the application.• The appearance of advertisements.• The creation of Discover, which offers ephemeral content created especially for the application by selected media (Le Monde, Paris Match, for example for the French version).

Many of these functions - filters and stories, in particular - have been taken over by competing applications, Instagram and Facebook.

How to permanently delete Snapchat account?

Snapchat: 293 million daily active users worldwide / Credit: Unsplash

Snapchat in numbers

• 293 million is the number of daily active Snapchat users, while the number of monthly active users is more than 500 million, according to the latest figures revealed by the application. By comparison, Facebook has 1.88 billion active accounts every day and 2.85 billion active accounts every month.

• In France, where the number of daily active users is 16.6 million and the number of monthly active users is 22 million, Snapchat is the fourth most used social network behind Facebook, YouTube and Instagram (and therefore ahead of Twitter and Tik Tok).

• Network acclaimed mostly by young French people: Snapchat is first among 13-24 year olds. A global trend: “In the United States, France, United Kingdom, Australia and the Netherlands, Snapchat has become an indispensable part of people's lives. The application has been adopted by 90% of 13-24 year olds and 75% of 13-34 year olds”, welcomed Evan Spiegel, in May 2021.

• 4.6 million is the number of Snapchat accounts that were hacked in January 2014…

Snapchat hacks

At the beginning of 2014, the application is booming, the number of users is constantly increasing, the volume of “snaps” sent daily does not don't stop climbing. But, Snapchat is hacked. In total, 4.6 million accounts have been hacked, user names and phone numbers have even been broadcast on the Internet. A few months later, a new security flaw allows hackers to recover more than 200,000 images sent through the application.

Because, yes, if the photos and videos are ephemeral for the users, they are not so for the application which keeps the copies in its servers. A real scandal that prompted Snap Inc. to review its security.

Know the data stored by Snapchat

If you are concerned about the data that Snapchat has collected since the creation of your account, the application allows you to consult them on request. To do this, go to the site https://accounts.snapchat.com/accounts/welcome then log in with your Snapchat account.

Then click on “My data”. You can then make a request to obtain your connection history and information about your account, your history of “snaps” received and sent, your history of “chats” or “stories”, among others. A copy of your data will be sent to you by email (to the address linked to your Snapchat account).

Permanently delete Snapchat account

Uninstalling the app from your smartphone will not delete your Snapchat account. There are two methods to permanently delete your account, one from a browser, the other from the application.

From a web browser:

1. On your web browser (computer, tablet or smartphone), go to https://accounts.snapchat.com/accounts/welcome. 2. Log in to your Snapchat account (with your username or email address), remembering to confirm that you are not a robot. 3. You will be redirected to a page offering you several options: click on “Delete my account”. 4. Enter your username and password again and confirm the deletion of your account.

Delete your Snapchat account from a web browser / Credit: screenshot

Deleting your account will not take effect immediately. For thirty days, your account will simply be deactivated (if you change your mind and want to reactivate it, you can). Only after this period will your account be permanently deleted. From then on, "this means that your account, account settings, friends, 'snaps', 'chats', 'story', device data and location data stored in our main user database will be completely deleted,” the app’s support reads.

Where it is however specified: “We may retain some of your personal data for legal, commercial or security reasons. For example, we will retain information about purchases you may have made through Snapchat, and when you agreed to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. »

Delete your snap account from the app

1. From your app, go to your profile by clicking on your “bitmoji” at the top left of your screen. 2. Click on the gear at the top right of the screen to access the settings. 3. Scroll down until you reach the Assistance section, then click on “I need help”. You will be redirected to Snapchat Support. 4. In the drop-down menu (by clicking on the burger menu at the top right or by scrolling), select on “My account and security”, then on “Delete my account” (in English “Delete account”) 5. You will be redirected to a new page with instructions for deleting your account. 6. Click on the “Account Portal” link. 7. Fill in your username and password then click “Continue”.

Method to delete your Snapchat account from the app / Credit: screenshot

That's it, your account is deleted. Well almost. As with the first method, you will have to wait thirty days for the deletion to take effect. In the meantime, the account is simply deactivated.

Deactivate a Snapchat account

Snapchat does not offer account deactivation. If you do not want to permanently delete your account, you have two options:

1. You can delete Snapchat from your smartphone, so you will no longer receive notifications, but your data (your nickname, your contacts, etc.) will not be erased. You will only have to (re)download the application on your mobile and reconnect to your account with your credentials.

How to reactivate your Snapchat / Credit account: screenshot

2. You can follow all the steps to delete your account, but reactivate it before the thirtieth day following deletion by simply logging into the application again.

To go further, you will find here how to delete your Facebook account and here how to delete your profile on Instagram.

Sources: Everything you need to know about the piracy of Snapchat imagesSnapchat: the essential figures for France and the world for 2021