Snapchat is a popular social media app that took the world by storm. The secret behind its success was undoubtedly the entertainment factor it accurately captured. One such entertaining feature was introduced in 2016, known as Snapstreak. The feature allows users to send to and fro snaps with friends and family to initiate a streak, hence the name. However, this streak could be maintained indefinitely. It encourages daily exchange between contacts and also offers so-called bragging rights to the user. But what to do if you suddenly lose this streak after working hard for days, months, or even years? Well, worry not, as we will tackle the topic of restoring Snapchat Snapstreaks in this very article.
What is a SnapStreak?
As we already mentioned, Snapstreak is a Snapshot feature that allows users to send and receive snaps from contacts within 24 hours to create a snap streak. It starts when you successfully send Snaps to a particular person for three consecutive days. After that, you might notice a fire emblem next to the contact name. The fire emblem symbolizes an ongoing streak.
After that, all you have to do is maintain a snap, which is really not that hard. As long as you can keep on sending Snaps to that particular person within a 24-hour interval, your Snapstreak will remain active, given that the contact also reciprocates in kind. However, there are some clear rules and distinctions to this feature. Chats and video calls do not count toward a successful snap. Neither does Snapshot Memories nor Stories. Lastly, a Snapstreak can only be maintained with an individual as in a single contact. Group Snaps are invalid.
How does it work?
In order to understand the world of Snapstreaks, users must first familiarize themselves with the different emblems associated with this feature. These are as follows:
- The Fire Emoji – It indicates the beginning of a Snapstreak. Once you have crossed the threshold of the 03 days exchange, you will find this emblem next to the name of the person in your Contact list.
- The 100 Emoji – As the name suggests, this emblem represents an ongoing snap that is a hundred days old.
- The Mountain Emoji – It is an Easter Egg that Snapchat rewards users with when certain conditions are met. As to what these conditions are, Snapchat hasn’t revealed them yet.
- The Hourglass Emoji – It serves as a warning that your Snapstreak is about to expire if you do not exchange a snap within the allocated 24-hour time period. The only way to get rid of this emblem is to either send your contact a snap or request the person to send one to you.
A Snapstreak is a joint effort as it takes two individuals working together to initiate.
Why does one lose a SnapStreak?
Although users do lose their Snapstreaks due to some glitches or app errors, the most common and pretty obvious reason behind losing a streak is inactivity. Either you or your friends didn’t send a Snap in the last 24 hours, which ended in the termination of the Snapstreak.
Other issues include connectivity problems, hardware faults, server downtime issues, or a bug. In most cases Snapchat does help users with restoring their Snaps. However, with the recent Snapchat update of 1st May 2023, the company stated it would no longer restore Snapstreaks via customer support. Instead, they are now testing a new feature that offers a Restore Snapstreak button, which can recover a lost streak for free but only one single time.
What won’t substitute as a SnapStreak?
As per Snapstreak rules, some Snapchat interactions do not contribute to an ongoing streak. These are as follows:
- Chatting – A user won’t be able to initiate and or maintain a Snapstreak by chatting with the person. Any text-based chat will not count towards your streak.
- Group Chats – Similarly, group chats are also excluded. However, unlike normal Snaps, non-text group chats also disqualify for Snapstreaks because a streak can only happen between two individuals.
- Stories – Your daily Snapchat Stories do not affect your streak, no matter who the audience is. It is a totally different feature.
- Spectacles – Again, it is a different feature that won’t contribute towards your Snapstreak even if you send Spectacles to your contact daily.
- Memories – Memories are Snapchat milestones. Sharing Memories with your friend is different from a Snapstreak.
Only photos or videos sent to a contact can contribute to a successful SnapStreak.
How to restore a SnapStreak?
And finally, we are at the last segment of the article. Initially, Snapchat offered Snapstreak restoration via customer support. All the user had to do was to go to their apps, find customer support, and raise the request for Snapstreak restoration. If the representative found it valid, he would then proceed to restore the streak. However, things have recently changed. Now, the app specifically informs users that it won’t restore any Snapstreaks via the support form. So how can one restore a Snapstreak? Here’s how:
Note – Before we begin, we want to inform users that the Restore Snapstreak feature launched in the recent update is the only way one can recover lost streaks. The app allows everyone a single free restoration. After that, they can only restore streaks via in-app purchases on the Chat feed. We will once again repeat that Snapchat Support will no longer restore your Snapstreaks.
To restore your Snapstreak via the app, follow the steps prescribed below:
- First, update your Snapchat app.
- Go to your app store, either Google Play Store or the Apple App Store and download the latest Snapchat app.
- After that tap the app icon to launch it and login.
- Now go to your Chat feed and click on a contact with whom the streak has ended recently.
- You will encounter a Restore Snapstreak button. Tap it.
- Doing so will launch the Reply camera where you can resend a Snap to recover your streak.
- Lastly, follow the on-screen instructions to successfully restore your Snapstreak.
If you lost your Snapchat account, you may take a look at our Snapchat account recovery article.
