Snapchat Stories: See Who Viewed, Private and Shared Stories, Following, and “Limited Distribution”

Does this match what you see?

• You can’t see the names of everyone who viewed your Story.
• You can’t create another Private Story.
• Your public Story Snap says Submitted or limited distribution.
• You want to stop seeing an account’s Stories.

iPhone & iPadAndroid

Based on Snapchat Support’s Stories articles supplied by the site owner. For public Stories and your Public Profile, see Snapchat Public Profile and public Story.

Why this happens: the possible causes

Common Story limits Snapchat sets.

• Your Story passed 200 viewsCheck this first

  Snapchat says it shows the names of up to 200 viewers, then a number but no more names.

• Your public Snap is still being reviewedCheck this first

  Snapchat says public Story Snaps must be reviewed before non-followers in Discover can see them.

How to fix it, step by step

Work through these in order. They start with the quickest, safest checks and only move to steps that sign you out or remove data later.

Delete a Snap or your whole Story

Snapchat says to delete a whole Story you delete each Snap in it: open My Account, under My Stories tap My Story, then press and hold each Snap and tap Delete Snap.

Snapchat says it tries to remove deleted Snaps from its servers and friends’ devices, but with a bad connection or an old app version a deleted Snap may still appear briefly.

Manage your own Stories

Snapchat says My Account is where you add Snaps to your Stories, manage them, see who viewed them and delete Snaps from your Story. You can also view and manage active Snaps you’ve submitted to Snap Map, which can appear on the Map and elsewhere in Snapchat.

Choose who can see your Story

Snapchat says only friends can see your Story by default. Change it in Settings > App & Privacy > My Privacy & Data > View My Story (My Friends or Custom). Full steps: Snapchat privacy settings.

• Snapchat says each Snap keeps the setting it was posted with, even if you change it later.
• Some accounts may still have Everyone, meaning any Snapchatter can view the Story.
• To post for everyone, use My Story · Public instead of My Story · Friends (see public Story).

Watch, follow and unfollow Stories

• Watch a friend’s Story: tap the tile with their name at the top of the Stories screen. Snapchat says you can watch it as many times as you like for 24 hours; no Story by their name means you’re caught up.
• From Chat: a round preview next to a friend’s name means a new Story; tap it. To re-watch, tap their Bitmoji to open their Friendship Profile and tap their Story.
• Controls: tap for the next Snap, tap the left side to go back, swipe up to reply, swipe left or right for the next or previous friend, and swipe down to exit. To send a Snap from a Story, press and hold it and tap the blue arrow.
• Follow an account: press and hold its Story > Add. Unfollow: press and hold > Added.
• Manage who you follow: on the Stories screen, tap the three dots > Manage Accounts I Follow. Tap the bell to turn notifications on or off for each account, or Edit to remove accounts. Accounts you follow are also under Subscriptions or Following.

“Submitted” and “limited distribution” on public Stories

• Submitted: Snapchat says a public Story Snap is usually available to your followers straight away, but must be reviewed (by machines and people) before non-followers see it in Discover. Review times vary.
• Limited distribution: Snapchat says your Snap isn’t being shown to some or all non-followers because it doesn’t meet its Content Guidelines for Recommendation Eligibility (external site, opens in a new tab), so expect less engagement from non-followers. See why content isn’t recommended.
• Appeals: Snapchat says you can appeal moderation for Saved Stories and Spotlights in the app, but not Public Stories at the moment.
• Snapchat says you can see moderation decisions in the app and in Story Studio; on organization Profiles, Org Admin, Profile Admin and Editor roles can manage these alerts.

How to know it worked

• You can see your Story’s viewers, and new Stories reach the people you chose.

Still not working? Your next steps

1. Stories won’t load? See Snapchat Snaps not sending or loading. Someone’s Story bothering you? See report on Snapchat or block someone.

Frequently asked questions