Why is Snapchat Not Working & How To Fix It

In this day of advanced technology and constant interaction, people are always looking for ways to share more of their lives with the world around them. Snapchat is the appropriate forum for those transient occurrences that do not merit their permanent posts but are nevertheless of interest to its audience.

Snapchat transformed the way we communicate online. With Snapchat, you can quickly send a photo of yourself wearing a rainbow-colored filter to a friend, and it will disappear as they open it. They could potentially catch it and answer with their image or video response, which they could then broadcast to their narrative for their friends and followers to see. Along with its ability to resonate with its users, the app has such a simple and effective UI, it’s astonishing. The app also gives you several filters that are always increasing and users can also make their filters. Apart from that, you can text people too. This program has several uses. It’s tough not to see its value and why it’s unique.

What If Snapchat Stops Working?

Well since the app is so great and famous, what happens when it stops working? You won’t be able to take cool selfies and send them to your friends, essentially you won’t be able to do things that you want to do on Snapchat. As sad as it may sound, it is not the end of the world. There are several ways to fix this issue.

How To Fix It?

When such an instance occurs where Snapchat isn’t working, don’t be sad and start to think there’s something wrong with your phone. It could be that the app is facing some errors and requires a little bit of tweaking to get it working again. Your server could be down or it could be a connectivity issue, it could also be a problem with the cache of the app. Here are a few ways in which you can fix your Snapchat problems easily:

1. Check whether Snapchat is down or only a few of its filters are not working

There are several instances where Snapchat is down for everyone. You can cross-check with your friends to ensure this. If in case Snapchat is not working for everyone then it’s an issue of the provider and you can’t do anything about it except wait. If you can use Snapchat, but there are certain things you can’t do with it, then the problem could be from your end. If you can’t take a picture or apply filters, this could be a permissions issue. It could be that you have not granted the app the required permissions to access all of your phone’s functions. Open the permissions settings and make sure that all of them are turned on. You can do it in several easy steps:

  • Go to the setting section of your phone and tap on the app and notifications option.
  • Go through the list of apps and find Snapchat.
  • When you find Snapchat click on it and tap on the permissions option.
  • Go through all the permissions options and turn all of them one by one.
  • The same process can be used for both ios and android users.

If some of the permissions aren’t switched on your phone might not allow you to use Snapchat. It could be that you’ve not given Snapchat to use the gallery or maybe you haven’t permitted it to use the wi-fi connection. So the first step you can take is to allow the app several permissions so that it can function properly.

2. Check if Snapchat is down for everyone

When Snapchat suddenly stops operating, it might be due to a server-side issue rather than a fault on your end. It is typically a good idea to check to see whether the service is unavailable. If Snapchat isn’t working for you, chances are it’s not working for everyone. In this case, you could always blame Snapchat’s servers; however, this also suggests that millions of other people are having the same problem. When Snapchat’s servers fail, it’s usually due to overcrowding, a technical problem, or because too many people are using the same server thus resulting in overcrowding. Because Snapchat does not provide a real-time live status page to inform its’ users of any kind of discrepancy, you may utilize services such as Downdetector to see whether other Snapchat users are experiencing problems with the service. You may also follow Snapchat’s official support account on Twitter, where the firm broadcasts information about server problems and outages.

3. Try to reboot the app and log in again

Sometimes the issue could be a glitch or a bug in the phone too. If Snapchat is up and running but is not working properly for you, try closing and reloading the app. Reopening the app may address any problems it was having. Resuming the app, on the other hand, will end any existing processes. If the issue continues, sign out and then sign back into your account. Logging back in will resynchronize your local snaps with the server, which may fix the problem.

Another approach for addressing the issue is to uninstall and reinstall the software. This might potentially be advantageous in certain cases. In addition to reinstalling the app, you may reset your phone. Restarting your device is the first step in resolving the majority of problems that you may experience at any time. It also refreshes both software and hardware features, shuts down all background processes, and starts a new session on your phone without your interaction. This will help you remove any bugs that were causing Snapchat to stop working on your phone. If you want to take this method a step further, logout of Snapchat and sign back in.

4. Update the app

Several times the app may stop working if it has not been updated for a long time. Some updates are crucial for the functioning of an app and if you have not yet updated it, you may want to check your update list. 

If your app has not been updated, you will miss out on any new features added, new updates of the app, better security practices, and even a few snaps that people who have updated apps may have sent you. Often few new features that have been added after an update are not visible or accessible to someone who has not yet updated their app. So, to enjoy Snapchat fully and ensure that you have not missed out on anything, update the app regularly and keep looking out for new ones. Here is an easy method to update Snapchat if you don’t know-how:

  • Go to your Google Play store if you are an android user or App store if you are an ios user.
  • Simply type Snapchat on the search bar to find the app, if you use android, you can go to the installed apps section which shows all the available updates for each one of your installed apps.
  • Find Snapchat and check if it needs any updates.
  • If there is an update required for the app, make sure to update the app and wait for its installation too.
  • Once the updated version has been installed, you will find that your app is working perfectly again.
  • After the app has been updated, you may be required to log in again, make certain that you put in your information correctly, and log in again for the smooth functioning of the app.

5. Clear any cache on the app

For android users, clearing the cache of an app is pretty easy. What is cache? A cache is a collection of files that is used by an app to help run it smoothly. Most of the apps use cache. However, Snapchat uses cache for almost every one of its features making the amount of cache of the app large in number. Several times this amount of files is corrupted and therefore will result in the app not working properly.

This cache could be a reason why you aren’t able to open your Snapchat or use it properly. However, the only way to find out if that’s the case is to delete all the cache of Snapchat. How can you delete the Snapchat cache you ask? Here is how to delete cache in Snapchat for android users:

  • Press on the Snapchat app for a minute and keep holding it.
  • Once an icon ‘I’ appears denoting the information sign, click on it.
  • When you access the info page of the app, click on ‘storage and cache’.
  • After clicking on this option, the storage page will appear, click on the ‘clear cache’ option to remove all the cache from your phone.
  • After the cache has been cleared you can simply restart the app to check if the problem has been solved.
  • For iPhone users, there is no such option of clearing cache so they will have to delete the app and download it again. This will remove all the cache of Snapchat from their phone and the app will store new caches.

6. Check your connection

Snapchat is an app that functions on the internet. The only offline function it delivers is to go through your old photos. So if you are unable to access any filters or text any of your friends, one of the reasons could be that you are facing a connectivity issue. It could be that you have reached your data limit, or your phone has disconnected from wi-fi, or even that the area you are in does not have a good connection. Sometimes the internet service providers could also be facing an issue in providing the connection.

To check if this is the issue that could hinder your use of the app, you can simply connect to another internet connection. In case you have forgotten to turn on your mobile data, you can check it and turn it on. If your daily data has finished you can recharge again to see if that is the issue or not.

7. Delete your conversations

Another underrated reason why your Snapchat is not working properly or not sending texts as it should be can be the previous conversations. It could be that deleting your previous conversations could give Snapchat the jump it needs to finally start working. Often Snapchat simply freezes and you are unable to text your friends or send them snaps, deleting conversations may end the freeze and allow you to send texts again. However, you should keep in mind that once you have deleted these conversations, all snaps whether opened or unopened will be deleted. Here’s how to delete conversations on Snapchat:

  • Open the app and locate the settings option in your profile section.
  • The settings option is denoted by a gear sign like always, click on it.
  • In the settings option, scroll down to privacy.
  • Once you click on privacy several options will drop down.
  • Click on ‘clear conversations’
  • All your conversations will pop up on your screen ranging from the latest to the oldest.
  • You can simply select the conversation you want to delete and click on it.
  • Click on delete conversation and all your selected conversations will be deleted.

Concluding Thoughts

Today, Snapchat has more than 500 Million users. There are many reasons for its growing popularity. Snapchat is a terrific way to keep in touch with friends and family, it is another great way to explore your hobby in editing photos and trying out your knack for photography as well. But if it isn’t working, you may be out of the loop. We’ve prepared a list of remedies for those dreadful times when Snapchat isn’t working. 

The steps listed above give quick fixes for those vexing days when you encounter a problem while using Snapchat. While you won’t be able to deal with Snapchat server issues, you should be able to fix problems with your device or the app. We hope that the above-mentioned methods have helped you fix your Snapchat and allowed you to use the app once again.