Ever sent a funny Snap to your pals, excitedly waiting for their response, only to hear crickets? You spot the red arrow next to their name, but it stays empty. Is your joke bombing? Did your Snap even get through?
Snapchat icons can be baffling, especially the “opened” ones. If you’re puzzled, this blog’s got your back. Keep reading.
What Is The Meaning Of “Opened” On Snapchat?
Snapchat allows its users to send and receive snaps with/without audio, and chats via messages. They track the activity of each of these messages and monitor their status. When someone sends a snap or chat, the receiver receives and opens it to view the message. Among those, the Opened icon is one of the most important.
The ‘Opened’ status on Snapchat indicates that your friend or recipient has viewed the chat or snap you sent. When you send a message and it’s marked as delivered, the ‘Opened’ status confirms that it has been received and viewed on the recipient’s device.
However, both the Sent and Opened icons look similar as they have arrows pointing to the right. While Sent icons are solid, Opened icons are hollow.
Opened Icons:
This status is denoted by a hollow arrow pointing right. The specific color of the arrow depends on the type of message you sent. Here’s a breakdown of the ‘Opened’ icons:
The distinction between Sent and Opened icons is important: Sent/Delivered icons are solid, while Opened icons are hollow, making it easy to differentiate between them. These icons help users understand the status of their messages and snaps on Snapchat.
How To View the Current Status Of Your Sent Snaps/Messages
Here’s how to see if your individual Snaps or messages within a chat have been opened on Snapchat:
- Open Snapchat on your device and Go to the “Chat icon” (speech bubble icon) next to the capture button.
- Find the Conversation by locating the chat with the message or Snap you want to track the status of.
- Open the conversation to check the status of a specific Message/Snap. You will see an icon indicating its delivery status.
3a. If you find Solid colored arrow, the message/snap is unopened (red for photo, purple for video, blue for chat)
3b. If you find an Outlined colored arrow, the message/snap has been opened.
Note:
- Replayed Snaps will show a circular arrow icon instead of an outlined arrow.
- Someone can screenshot your Snap without triggering the “Opened”
How To Tell If Your Snapchat Was Opened?
Here’s a step-by-step guide to see if someone opened your Snapchat picture, video, or message:
1. Send Your Snap:
- Open Snapchat and capture a Snap (photo or video hold for up to 10 seconds).
- Edit your Snap with filters, captions, stickers, or drawings.
- Save the Snap to your memories if you want to keep it.
- Tap the “Send To” button (blue arrow) in the bottom right corner.
- Select the friends you want to send the Snap to.
- Alternatively, tap “My Story” to add it either to your public story/friends only.
- Finally, tap “Send” to deliver your Snap.
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Check the Delivery Status:
- Go to the Chat screen where your sent Snap appears.
- Look for the Snap you sent – it will be listed chronologically.
If the Snap is unopened:
- A solid-colored arrow (red for photo, purple for video, blue for chat) will appear next to it.
- “Delivered” will be displayed below the Snap with the time it was sent.
If the Snap has been opened:
- The colored arrow will become an outline.
- “Opened” or “Received” will appear below the Snap along with the time it was opened.
Important Notes:
- A replayed Snap will show a circular arrow icon instead of the outlined arrow.
- Someone can screenshot your Snap without triggering the “Opened” notification.
- These steps can easily check if your friends have viewed your Snapchat messages.
What If Opened or Received Status Doesn’t Appear?
In some cases, you might not see a “Received” or “Opened” status for your Snap or message. Here are some possibilities:
- Poor Internet Connection: A weak internet connection can disrupt sending Snaps. Try sending it again with a stronger connection.
- Snap Not Fully Sent: Sometimes, the sending process might glitch. Try swiping away from the chat and reopening it to refresh the status.
- Recipient Offline: If the recipient is offline, they won’t be able to receive your Snap immediately. The “Received” status will appear once they come online.
- Blocked or Deleted: While Snapchat won’t explicitly tell you, it’s possible the recipient blocked you or deleted your account.
Additional Tips: If you’re concerned someone might have blocked you, you can try searching for their username. If you can’t find them, it might be a sign they blocked you.
FAQs:
Both the Received and Opened statuses seem similar but they hold distinct meanings. When you send a message, “Received” simply means your message reached the recipient’s device. “Opened” indicates they not only received it but actively viewed it.
It depends! Opening a new, unopened chat will notify the sender with the “Opened” status. However, if you access a chat from your saved history, Snapchat won’t trigger a notification to the sender.
Unfortunately, Snapchat doesn’t currently offer a way to open snaps without notifying the sender. However, you can use certain workarounds like enabling Airplane Mode, exploiting app functionalities, or using third-party apps, but these methods may violate Snapchat’s terms of service.
Clearing an unopened conversation from your chat feed removes the chat from your view. However, the sender will still see “Opened” because the message reached them even though you didn’t view it. Note that this cleared conversation can be accessed as it is stored in the conversation history.
Snapchat uses a simple icon system to show message/snap statuses that are sent and received:
* Arrow pointing right (solid) – Message sent by you (not yet opened by the recipient)
* Arrow pointing right (hollow) – Message opened by the recipient
* Empty square – Viewed message you received
* Solid Square – Message received yet unopened by the recipient
* New Chat notification – You received a new message or snap
Conclusion:
In short, seeing “Opened” under your snap or chat on Snapchat means your recipient has viewed it. While it doesn’t guarantee they watched it for a long time, at least you know they received and opened your message.
Did this answer your question about Snapchat’s “Opened” notification? Let us know in the comments below!
6 Responses
Great article! The part about what to do if the ‘Opened’ status isn’t showing was helpful. Are there any other reasons why the ‘Opened’ notification might not appear besides the ones mentioned?
Apart from those common reasons, additional factors include snaps expiring if not opened within 24 hours, or after one view for chats, which removes them from the message queue without an “Opened” notification. Also, temporary glitches in Snapchat may block the notifications. Restarting the app or checking your internet connection can help resolve it.
This is very informative! Does the ‘Opened’ notification disappear if someone replays the snap? I’m curious if there’s a way to tell the difference between someone viewing and replaying my snap.
When it comes to Snapchat notifications, the “Opened” indicator disappears completely once the recipient views your snap for the first time, regardless of whether they replay it or not. As a result, there’s currently no method within Snapchat to determine if a recipient has replayed your snap.
This is a really helpful guide! It covers everything you need to know about the ‘Opened’ icon on Snapchat, including how to check the status of your snaps and what the different icons mean. The extra tips about troubleshooting unopened snaps are great too.
Wow, the screenshots in this article are a game-changer! They make it so easy to see the difference between all the ‘Opened’ icon variations. Huge thanks for such a clear and visually helpful guide.