How to Block Someone on Snapchat (and Save Evidence First)

To block someone on Snapchat, open your chat with them or find their profile, tap their name or profile icon, open the menu, and choose Block. A blocked person can’t send you snaps or chats, can’t see your story, and can’t see your location on Snap Map, and Snapchat doesn’t notify them. Because Snapchat chats and snaps are designed to disappear, save any evidence you need before you block.

Snapchat is built around close contacts and short-lived messages, which changes how blocking works in practice. The main risk isn’t that you’ll block the wrong person; it’s that the proof of what they sent may vanish before you need it. This guide covers the choice between removing and blocking, the steps, evidence on an ephemeral app, and when to escalate.

Remove, block, mute or report: which to use

Option	What it does	When to use it
Remove friend	Takes them off your friends list; what they can still see and send depends on your privacy settings	Drifting apart or someone you’d rather not share stories with, with no harm involved
Block	Stops them sending you snaps or chats, viewing your story, or seeing you on Snap Map	Unwanted contact, pressure, harassment or anyone who makes you uneasy
Mute story or notifications	Hides their stories or silences their messages for you, without them knowing	Friends whose content you’d rather not see for a while
Report	Asks Snapchat to review the account or a specific snap or story	Threats, sexual content, scams, impersonation, or anything illegal

Removing someone is quieter, but it’s weaker than it sounds. If your settings let “Everyone” contact you or view your story, a removed friend may still be able to reach you. If you want someone out completely, block them.

What a blocked person can and can’t do on Snapchat

Once you block someone, they generally can’t:

• Send you snaps, chats or calls.
• View your story or your content.
• See your location on Snap Map.
• Find and add you again from that account.

Some things a block can’t do. It doesn’t delete snaps or screenshots they’ve already saved from you. It doesn’t cover other accounts they create. And your chat with them may disappear from your chat list once you block, which is the main reason to save evidence first.

Snapchat doesn’t send a notification when you block someone, but a blocked person may notice that they can no longer find you or that your story has stopped appearing. App behavior changes, so if a specific detail matters, check Snapchat’s own support pages.

How to block someone on Snapchat

Snapchat redesigns its screens often, so these steps describe the route rather than exact button names.

1. Open the Chat screen and find the conversation with the person, or search for their name.
2. Press and hold their name, or tap their profile icon to open their profile.
3. Tap the menu (usually three dots) and look for an option such as Manage Friendship.
4. Choose Block and confirm.

You can also block someone from the profile of a person who has added you, before you ever accept them. Your blocked list is in your settings, where you can unblock someone later. Unblocking doesn’t re-add them as a friend.

Save evidence on an app built to forget

This is where Snapchat differs from every other platform in this series. By default, chats delete after they’re viewed or after a set time, and snaps disappear after viewing. If someone is harassing or threatening you, you need to capture what they sent while you still can.

• Save chats in the conversation. Snapchat lets you press and hold a chat message to save it, so it stays in the conversation. The other person can see that a message was saved.
• Take screenshots with care. Snapchat generally notifies the sender when you screenshot a snap or chat. If you’re worried that tipping them off could escalate things, photograph your screen with a second device instead.
• Capture the profile. Screenshot or photograph their profile showing the username, not just the display name. Display names can be changed; the username is what Snapchat uses to find the account.
• Write it down. For snaps that disappeared before you could capture them, write a note straight away: the date, time, username and what was sent. A contemporaneous note is better than nothing.
• Keep everything in one place the other person can’t access, and consider sharing access with someone you trust.

Once you’ve saved what you need, block. Don’t keep the conversation open just to collect more.

Worked example: pressure after a party

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client.

A 23-year-old swaps Snapchat usernames with someone at a party. Over the next week he sends dozens of snaps a day, gets angry when she doesn’t reply, and eventually sends a chat saying he knows which gym she goes to. Snap Map had been showing her location to friends.

She photographs the chats and his profile with her roommate’s phone so he isn’t alerted to screenshots, and writes down the times of the snaps she didn’t capture. She turns on Ghost Mode in Snap Map so her location stops being shared, then reports the account for harassment and blocks it. Because the gym message feels like a threat, she calls her local police non-emergency line to make a report and tells the gym’s front desk.

A few days later a new account adds her. She doesn’t accept it, reports it with a note that it looks like the same person, and blocks it. Her record is ready if the police need it.

Lock down the settings that matter most

A block handles one account. These settings reduce how exposed you are to the next one:

• Who can contact me: set to friends only, so strangers and removed friends can’t message you.
• Who can view my story: friends only, or a custom list.
• Snap Map: use Ghost Mode, or share with only a few trusted friends.
• Quick Add or friend suggestions: consider turning off your appearance in suggestions, so people who know your contacts can’t find you as easily.

Our guide to Snapchat privacy settings covers each of these in more detail.

When to report and when to call the police

Snapchat’s Community Guidelines prohibit harassment, threats, sexual content involving minors, sharing private information, and impersonation. Report the account or the specific snap or story from the options menu on the content or profile. A report asks Snapchat to review; a block protects you. Do both when the behavior is serious.

Contact police when someone threatens violence, suggests they know where you are or will find you, or threatens to share intimate images unless you do something. Call 911 if you’re in immediate danger. Threats to share images for money or more images are often called sextortion; don’t pay, save what you can, and report it to police and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. For a teenager, tell a trusted adult. Parents can find more in our guide to parental controls for social media.

Our help resources page lists organizations that support people facing online abuse, and our step-by-step guide on online harassment covers the wider plan.

Mistakes to avoid on Snapchat

• Blocking before saving. The conversation may vanish from your list, and disappeared snaps are gone.
• Screenshotting a volatile person without thinking. The screenshot alert can provoke them. Use a second device if that’s a risk.
• Relying on “remove friend”. With open contact settings, they may still reach you.
• Leaving Snap Map on. Location sharing and a harasser are a bad combination. Check it straight away.
• Accepting a new add from an unknown account during or right after a problem. It may be the same person.

When it goes beyond Snapchat

Because snaps disappear, Snapchat harassment rarely shows up in search results. The exception is when screenshots get reposted on other platforms or sites. If that happens, our personal reputation management service can help you work out which reposts can be reported or removed, and our guide to leaked photos covers the removal routes for images.

Frequently asked questions

Does Snapchat tell someone when you block them?

No, Snapchat doesn’t notify someone when you block them. They may notice that they can’t find you or see your story any more.

What's the difference between blocking and removing a friend on Snapchat?

Removing a friend takes them off your list, but depending on your privacy settings they may still be able to message you or see public content. Blocking stops them contacting you and viewing your story or location.

Will blocking someone on Snapchat delete our chats?

Your conversation may disappear from your chat list once you block. Save important messages in the chat, or photograph them, before you block.

Does Snapchat notify people when you screenshot?

Generally, yes: Snapchat alerts the sender when you screenshot a snap or chat. If that could make things worse, photograph your screen with another device instead.

Can a blocked person see my location on Snapchat?

Blocking stops them seeing you on Snap Map. It’s still worth turning on Ghost Mode if you’re worried, because it stops your location being shared with anyone.