What Does Sent, Received and Delivered Mean in Snapchat? (2024)

Snapchat is an intuitive social network that uses icons to describe statuses, various activities, and events. Once you know what each means, the platform is easy to use. The platform can be confusing until you understand each icon’s meaning. If you’re new to Snapchat, this tutorial will show you what sent, received, and delivered status icons mean in Snapchat.

Snapchat is enormous in a highly competitive space in the social media market, and it continues to grow and improve. Like other social media apps, Snapchat brings out new features, navigational changes, and even icons. So, what do the current sent, received, and delivered status icons mean in Snapchat? Here’s a detailed explanation of each one.

Snapchat uses icons in the Friends screen to help you quickly identify the status of a Snap or chat message.

What are the Sent Icons on Snapchat?

Snapchat has three icons to signify the status of a Snap or chat message you sent to a friend and a fourth for pending friend requests.

• A “red arrow” represents a successfully sent Snap without audio.
• A “purple arrow” represents a successfully sent Snap with audio.
• A “blue arrow” represents a successfully sent chat.

What are the Received Icons on Snapchat?

Received icons are squares and mean you have received one of three types of communication from a friend, including Snaps without audio, Snaps with audio, and Chat messages.

• A “red square” means you have received a Snap or Snaps without audio.
• A “purple square” means you have received a Snap or Snaps with audio.
• A “blue square” means you have received a chat.

What are the Opened Icons on Snapchat?

Once your friend has viewed a Snap or chat, you should see the “opened icon” next to it. This is a hollow arrow in the same shape as the sent arrow.

• A “hollow red arrow” means your Snap without audio was opened.
• A “hollow purple arrow” means your Snap with audio was opened.
• A “hollow blue arrow” means your chat was opened.
• A “hollow green arrow” means your cash gift was opened.

If you didn’t notice, the arrow icon colors remain the same for all statuses, except you also have a hollow green arrow for opened cash gifts. Therefore, it’s easier to remember that red is Snaps without audio, purple is Snaps with audio, and blue is Chats.

• Solid arrows are for sent Snaps or chats.
• Hollow arrows are for opened Snaps or chats.
• Solid squares are for received Snaps or chats.
• Hollow squares are for opened Snaps or chats.

What are the Viewed Icons on Snapchat?

Once you have opened your Snap or chat, you should see the square icon change to a hollow one. This tells you the message has been read.

• A hollow red square means you have opened a Snap or Snaps without audio.
• A hollow purple square means you have opened a Snap or Snaps with audio.
• A hollow blue square means you have opened a chat.
• A hollow gray square means a Snap you were sent expired.

What are the Screenshot Icons on Snapchat?

Screenshot icons are warnings that someone you sent a Snap or chat to has screenshotted it. This is usually fine as friends will want to keep some stuff around for longer, but if you’re sharing things you don’t want hanging around longer than 24 hours, this tells you to be on your guard. The icons look like two hollow arrows with one over the other in the opposite direction.

• A pair of crossed, hollow red arrows mean your Snap without audio was screenshotted.
• A pair of crossed, hollow purple arrows means your Snap with audio was screenshotted.
• A pair of crossed, hollow blue arrows means your chat was screenshotted.

What are the Replay Icons in Snapchat?

The final icons to remember if you’re new to Snapchat are the replay icons. This means someone has replayed a Snap you sent. The replay icon is standard, a circle with an arrow tip pointing counterclockwise.

• The red replay icon means your Snap without audio was replayed.
• The purple replay icon means your Snap with audio was replayed.

In closing, the sent, received, delivered, viewed, replayed, and screenshotted icons are statuses to identify communication and actions on Snapchat better. They tell you what has happened to your Snap or chat and are very straightforward.

As mentioned, you can monitor the status of any message you’ve sent on Snapchat by the icons. If you’re concerned someone is ignoring your messages, keep an eye on the activity indicators within the Snap or chat.

Snapchat Status Icons FAQs

What if someone hasn’t opened my Snap yet?

Snapchat should take seconds to show you a sent, received, or delivered icon on your Snap or chat. Your message/post goes from the app to the Snapchat server, producing the sent status. The Snapchat server acknowledges the Snap, providing you with the received icon. It sends the Snap to the recipient, and once the app recognizes it, you see the delivered icon.

Opening a Snap or chat is another thing, which depends on activities by the recipient, such as seeing the new Snap or even opening the app. Many things can delay someone opening a Snap, and you should bear that in mind when sending them. People will open their messages quickly when they see them but won’t always be able to do that. Be patient, and don’t get anxious when they don’t. Our lives are getting steadily busier, so patience is sometimes necessary when waiting for a reply.

Why is my Snapchat Snap pending?

When you’ve sent a Snap or message, you may notice a “Pending” status. This can mean a few things because if it got delivered, it would say delivered, and if it were read, it would say read.

You can check out the article on what pending means in Snapchat for more information, but the awaiting status primarily represents that you got blocked or the other person has closed their Snap account. The Snap or chat message was never technically delivered. There was no place for it to go.

Do my unread Snaps expire?

Yes, all unread Snaps expire after a specific time. Due to the apps’ anonymity culture, even unread messages and snaps get deleted.

There are two separate time frames to keep in mind when considering unread Snaps:

If you send a message to a group of people, your message disappears in 24 hours.

If you send a message to only one user, the message disappears after 30 days.