How to Recover Snapchat Photos (Android/iOS)

Sent or received an interesting or enticing photo via Snapchat, but now it’s gone? That’s not unusual – the premise of Snapchat is to send or receive media that will auto-destruct after a set time of between 1 second and 10 seconds. But what if the things truly are worth saving, even if only to take a second look? This is much easier if you’re the sender, but not impossible as a recipient either. And believe us, the effort will certainly be worth it, as it’ll feel like reconnecting with a long-lost friend. If that piqued your interest, here’s how to recover Snapchat photos.

Table of Contents

Method 1. Recovering Snapchat photos you sent via Memories

For this Snapchat photo recovery method to work, you must be the sender. Also, you must have enabled Memories, Snapchat’s version of Archive. With it, the files you sent are backed up indefinitely.

1. Are Snapchat Memories enabled?

Here’s how to check whether Snapchat Memories are turned on:

In My Profile, tap on the cogwheel icon (Settings).
Scroll down and tap on Memories.
One or both of the options need to have been enabled for successful recovery of Snapchat photos: Import Snaps from Camera Roll and Auto-Save My Story Snaps.

2. Check the Memories backup status

If either of the two was enabled beforehand, follow these steps to look into the Snapchat backup status:

Follow steps 1 and 2 above.
Verify that Backup Progress says Complete.
If it says No Network Connection or X Snaps Remaining, turn your Wi-Fi on and give it some time.
The snaps that were deleted should appear under Memories after a while.

3. Restore from a Snapchat Memories backup

If you don’t get your photos back automatically, you can try to retrieve them from a Snapchat backup like this:

Tap on Settings in the top right corner again.
Scroll all the way down and tap on My Data.
Scroll and tap on Submit Request.
Tip: You can also log in to your Snapchat account in a browser on Mac/PC and request data from there.
A new e-mail, titled Your Snapchat Data Is Ready For Download will arrive into the Inbox of the address tied to the Snapchat account.
Open the file in the browser and click on Memories in the left sidebar to browse Snapchat images.

Method 2. Try these methods as the sender

Here are 3 potential solutions for getting pictures from Snapchat if you sent them:

Check the Recently Deleted category inside of your Photo app for original images from the Camera Roll.
Try to restore a complete iCloud backup. Some or all pictures from the Camera Roll should be inside.
Contact Snapchat Support for help, although you shouldn’t get your hopes up.

Method 3. How to recover Snapchat images via storage

On both iOS and Android, Snapchat doesn’t permanently delete photos. Instead, it renames them so that they become unrecognizable to the system, and replaced in time. Finding them isn’t hard either, so let’s dive into it.

1. Getting Snapchat pictures back from Android storage

You likely won’t need to root a smartphone using Android for this to work. Follow these instructions to extract Snapchat pictures via Android:

Open a File Manager app and look for the data folder.
There might be a second data folder inside.
Inside of the data should be a folder titled either snapchat.android or com.snapchat.android.
Tip: Check both internal and external (SD Card) storage for it.
Inside of that folder, open the folder titled cache.
Deleted Snapchat pictures will have a unique name but always end in .nomedia. For example, snap1.nomedia.
Rename .nomedia to an image extension. For example, snap1.jpg.
Check whether you can preview the image and it was damaged.

2. Extracting Snapchat images from iOS storage

For this method, use a third-party file manager software on PC or Mac. Do this to get old Snapchat pictures using iOS storage:

Download, install and open an app such as iFunbox.
Connect your iPhone via USB cable.
Use search to find a folder titled var.
Go to Mobile > Applications or User Application.
Go to the Snapchat folder, then tmp.
You’ll see a host of photos you’ve shared using Snapchat.

You may also be able to recover Snapchat videos using this method.

Method 4. Getting back Snapchat photos from an iTunes backup

If you’ve made a backup of your iPhone using iTunes, you can retrieve your Snapchat photos from that backup. But here’s the catch; just like restoring from iCloud, recovering Snapchat photos from an iTunes backup will overwrite your current iPhone data. That means you might end up losing other important files. To make sure your data stays safe, you can rely on iPhone photo and video recovery software that supports retrieving iPhone data from iTunes without any complicated steps.

Here’s how to restore Snapchat photos from an iTunes backup:

First, go to the settings on your iPhone. You’ll find it by tapping the gear icon.
In the settings, look for “General” and tap on it. It’s usually near the top.
Once you’re in the General Settings, scroll down until you see “Reset.” Tap on it.
Among the reset options, choose “Erase All Content and Settings.” This will prepare your iPhone for the restoration process.
Now, go back to the main screen and follow the on-screen instructions until you reach the “Apps & Data” screen.
From there, select “Restore from iTunes Backup.”
Finally, pick the backup file from iTunes that contains all your Snapchat photos, and tap on “Restore.” This will bring those snaps back to your iPhone.

iTunes backups may also contain your messages (if it was a full phone backup). Hence, if you also want to recover your Snapchat messages, you may follow the same method.

Method 5. Recovering Snapchat Photos on Android using Google Photos

Guess what? Google has a smart way of making sure your data stays safe. So, if you accidentally deleted your Snapchat photos, you can quickly retrieve them using Google Photos. The cool thing is, your phone automatically syncs your data to Google Photos, but make sure you’ve enabled the “auto-sync” feature for it to work its magic. Once that’s done, follow these simple steps to recover your photos from your Android device.

Start by signing in to your Google account. Remember, you’ll need your account name and password for this.
After you’ve successfully signed in, tap on the folder labeled “Recent backup.” That’s where you’ll find your recent data, including your photos.
In the “Recent backup” folder, locate the photos from Snapchat that you want to recover.
Select the specific photos you require, and then look for the “Restore” option. Tap on it, and voilà! Your photos will be back on your Android device, good as new.

Method 6. Restore Snapchat photos using data recovery software

If neither of the two methods above worked, Snapchat must have deleted the temporary files. That’s where the best data recovery software for iPhone and top Android data recovery software come in. Both will scrape the surface of your storage drive, and look for fragments and entire files, giving a preview of the images it found. We don’t like to endorse a particular product, so we’ll use EaseUS software that we reviewed for demonstration.

1. How to use EaseUS Data Mobi Saver on Android

Keep in mind, you’ll most likely need to root your Android smartphone. Download, install and run EaseUS MobiSaver for Android and then do this:

Connect your PC/Mac and your Android smartphone via USB cable.
Enable USB debugging. Follow the steps mentioned in our guide to recover Android phone after a factory reset.
Select your smartphone’s drive letter.
Start the scan.
Click on Gallery/Pictures in the left sidebar and look through images.
Mark the ones you want to retrieve, click on Recover, and select an output location.

2. How does EaseUS Data Mobi Saver for iOS work?

Once again, you most likely must jailbreak your iPhone. Here’s what to do next after downloading, installing, and launching EaseUS MobiSaver for iOS:

Connect your iPhone to your PC or Mac via USB cable.
Click on Recover from iOS Device.
Click on the Scan button next to the iPhone name.
Wait for the scan to finish.
Under the iPhone category, browse the Photos and App Photos subcategories.
Mark the Snapchat images you want to get back and click on Recover in the bottom right corner.
Select an output destination and confirm.