Quick Links
- What Are Streaks on Snapchat?
- How to Start a Snapstreak (and Keep It Going)
- How You Can Lose Your Snapstreak
Key Takeaways
A Snapstreak is a series of consecutive days you've sent and received Snaps with a friend on Snapchat. To start a streak, you must exchange Snaps for three consecutive days. You then have a 24-hour window after each Snap to keep the streak going.
If you've been exchanging Snaps with your friends, you've likely heard of the term Snapchat streaks or Snapstreaks. So what are Snap streaks, and how do they work? Here's what to know and how you can start your own Snapstreak.
Related: Is Snapchat Really Deleting My Snaps?
What Are Streaks on Snapchat?
A Snapstreak is basically the number of days you and your friend have exchanged Snaps on Snapchat. When you send and receive a Snap from a friend for three consecutive days, you start a Snapstreak.
A Snapchat streak is indicated by the fire emoji next to your friend's name on Snapchat's "Chat" tab. This emoji indicates that you and your friend have a streak.
So what are Snapstreaks for? Snapchat wants you to remain in touch with your friends, and it encourages that by rewarding you with a streak. Since you gain a streak for regularly exchanging Snaps, you're more likely to continue the momentum and keep sending and receiving Snaps from your friends.
Related: Nothing Beneficial Comes From Mindless Scrolling
How to Start a Snapstreak (and Keep It Going)
Starting a Snapstreak is as easy as sending and receiving a Snap from one of your friends. However, you should adhere to the following rules to successfully start a Snapchat streak:
- You must send and receive a Snap and not a chat message.
- Your Snap can be a photo or a video.
- Only the Snaps sent to individuals are counted.
- Snaps sent from Memories or Spectacles aren't counted.
- You must exchange Snaps for at least three consecutive days to begin a streak.
With that in mind, start by launching Snapchat on your iPhone or Android phone. Then, tap the "Chat" tab.
On the "Chat" page, select the friend you want to start a streak with.
On the conversation page that opens, in the bottom-left corner, tap the camera icon.
Capture a photo or a video. You can take a photo by tapping the Shutter button or record a video by tapping and holding down the Shutter button.
After capturing a Snap, send it to your friend by tapping "Send" in the bottom-right corner.
Now that you've sent your Snap, ask your friend to send you one in return. Once you've done this consecutively for at least three days, your Snapstreak will begin.
Related: How to Pin Someone on Snapchat
How You Can Lose Your Snapstreak
At some point your streak may disappear, meaning you lost your Snapstreak. Unlike Snapscores on Snapchat, you can lose a Snapstreak, and it can happen for a couple of reasons.
You Didn't Exchange Snaps
If you don't send and receive a Snap from your friend in a 24-hour window, you lose your Snapstreak with that friend. As a result, Snapchat removes the fire emoji that's displayed next to your friend's name on the "Chat" tab.
Snapchat will actually try to help you avoid losing your streak. It does so by displaying a thread emoji next to your friend's name on the "Chat" tab when you're about to lose your streak. This way, you can get active again and exchange a Snap to keep the streak going.
In case you lose your Snapstreak, you'll have to start all over again---send and receive a Snap from your friend for three consecutive days.
Snapchat Has a Bug
If you've lost a Snapstreak despite regularly exchanging Snaps, Snapchat might be experiencing technical problems.
In this case, if you're on a Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook computer, access Snapchat's support site and report the bug. The company will review it and get back to you.
If you're using Snapchat's iPhone or Android app, you can submit the bug from within the app. To do that, launch Snapchat on your phone and select your profile icon or Bitmoji in the top-left corner.
In the top-right corner of the following page, choose the gear icon.
In "Settings," scroll down and select "I Spotted a Bug."
On the "Bug" page, choose "Friends."
Tap the text field and explain your Snapstreak issue. Optionally, add a screenshot of your issue by tapping "Add Attachment."
Tap the "Choose Topic" option and select "Snapstreaks." Then finally, tap the "Submit" button.
Snapchat will receive your bug report and look into it. It will then get back to you and help you fix your Snapstreak issue if it was caused by a bug.
And that's all there is to know about Snapchat's Snapstreak feature. We hope it helps you keep your communication going with your friends on this platform!
Related: How to Save Videos on Snapchat
