Guides

Who Can See Your Snapchat Story? A Privacy Guide

Published October 26, 2026 · Social Viewer

If you use Snapchat, it's worth knowing exactly who can see what you post. This guide covers story audiences, Public Profiles and simple steps to keep your content private.

The short answer

By default, your regular story is shared with your friends, not the public. Only content you deliberately post publicly, from a Public Profile, can be seen by people who aren't your friends, including on websites like this one.

Your story's audience

Snapchat lets you choose who can view your story in your privacy settings. You'll typically find these under Settings → Privacy Controls. The exact menu names can change between app versions. The common options are:

• Friends: only people you've added and who've added you back.
• Custom: your friends, except specific people you exclude.
• Public story: available to accounts with a Public Profile, and visible to anyone.

When you post, check which story you're adding to. Public and private stories are separate, and it's easy to pick the wrong one.

What's never public

• Snaps and chats sent directly to people
• Friends-only and custom stories
• Your friend list
• Your location, unless you choose to share it on Snap Map

Social Viewer, and any tool that only reads public pages, can't see any of these.

Tips to keep your snaps private

1. Review your story audience: make sure it's set to Friends or Custom if you don't want strangers to see it.
2. Think before posting publicly: anything in a public story or highlight can be seen by anyone, and screenshots last longer than 24 hours.
3. Check Snap Map: use Ghost Mode if you don't want friends to see your location.
4. Remove old highlights: if you have a Public Profile, delete highlights you no longer want public.
5. Only add people you know: anyone you accept as a friend can see your friends-only stories.

Want to see what's public about an account?

Enter the username on the home page. If nothing shows up beyond the username, there's no public story or highlights for that account.

More guides

• What Is a Snapchat Public Profile?
• How to View Public Snapchat Stories Without the App
• Snapchat Stories, Highlights and Spotlight Explained