These days, many social media users have become familiar with Snapchat, an app that lets you send quick and temporary pictures and chats that will soon become wiped clean. However, anything involving the internet can be temperamental, and sometimes you might find that when you open Snapchat, the app doesn’t seem to work.
There are many reasons your Snapchat might not be working. The whole app may be down, but it may also be something on your end. You may not be connected to the internet, your phone may need an app update or restart, or you may need to delete and reinstall the app.
Let’s take a closer look at all of the reasons that Snapchat might not be working for you and how you can fix the issue, so you can get back into the app before your streaks expire!
Reasons Your Snapchat isn’t Working
One possible reason your Snapchat isn’t working is the app may be down, whether unexpectedly or for maintenance. A good way to suss out what’s happening quickly is to head to Google or social media.
For example, searching for something like “Snapchat down” on Twitter can quickly confirm your suspicions.
On the other hand, you may see no results and realize that you’re the only one having this issue. In this case, the possible reasons are:
- You’re not connected to the internet.
- Your app needs to be updated.
- Your phone needs to be restarted.
- You may need to factory reset your phone.
Let’s take a closer look at all of the reasons that Snapchat may not be working for you.
You Aren’t Connected to the Internet
One big reason your app may not be working is you aren’t connected to the internet. For example, the WiFi can go down, or you may be in an area with bad reception.
The first thing you should do is look at the top right corner of your screen. You should see a signal that you’re connected to the WiFi or the cellular network.
If that’s confirmed, then it’s still possible there’s an internet issue. Test if other things are loading by trying to open another app or loading a browser page. If all of that works, you know the problem with Snapchat.
You should also make sure the internet is turned on in your settings. People often turn their data off and don’t realize it, meaning everything is down the next time they try to access the internet.
Lastly, it could be that your phone network’s internet is down. If this happens, you’ll notice you can’t connect to anything if you aren’t on WiFi. But again, you can call your provider if you suspect this is the issue, and they should be able to let you know if there’s an outage in your area.
Your App Needs an Update
Many people don’t keep up with updates on their phones’ software or apps and let the number pile up in the background. Updates, however, don’t just bring exciting new features to apps—they also get rid of bugs. Also, the old versions of an app will slowly become irrelevant and may not be supported anymore.
That’s why it’s essential to keep up with regular updates. You can check the App Store and type in the app on an Apple phone to see if the app needs to be updated and go from there. On Android, you’ll find the same option on the Play Store.
You already have the latest version if there’s no option to update the app.
You should also ensure your phone’s software is up to date. Manufacturers release frequent updates for the whole system, and you can set them to download automatically. If you haven’t done this, you can check if any lingering issues may be causing a problem.
Your Phone Needs a Restart
Smartphones are designed to be left on 24/7, and that’s what most people do. However, this means that the running software never gets a break, which can eventually be a problem. As a result, things may run more slowly, and your phone might have trouble loading items.
That’s where it comes in handy to let your phone rest for a couple of minutes every once in a while.
Turn your phone off and leave it alone for a couple of minutes before you power it back on. Once you’ve done that, you can try opening the app again.
You should also ensure you have a lot of battery on your phone. Sometimes when a phone’s battery dips low enough, automatic settings will kick in to make the battery last longer. However, as it’s full of media, Snapchat is a highly draining app, and your phone may fight back against it, depending on the settings.
Still Not Working? Try This
Although these simple solutions will work for most users, who can’t open their Snapchat, more severe solutions might sometimes be required.
Factory Reset Your Phone
If you’re having persistent problems with Snapchat and nothing is fixed, you may need to factory reset your phone. You can do this in the settings or, if you have an iPhone, by plugging it into a computer and following the options through iTunes.
This will wipe all of the data from your phone, so you should ensure you back it up first. However, it will reset all the settings and software, so if Snapchat worked in the past, it should, theoretically, work now that your phone has been reset.
You can also back the phone to an earlier date and time when Snapchat was working if you make frequent backups of your phone and have one to turn to.
If you have an Apple iPhone, you’ll also have the option to reset network settings without wiping content. This may not work to clear any phone bugs, but it’s worth trying if the issue involves your internet connection.
Delete and Redownload the App
If the problem seems specific to Snapchat, you can try to delete and redownload the app if there are no downloads.
By doing this, you remove the software from your phone and then reinstate it, so hopefully, any bugs that were happening get wiped out of the system.
Log in and Out of Your Account
There’s always a chance it’s something specifically to do with your Snapchat account rather than the app or your phone’s software. Try logging out through the app and logging back in to see if it makes any difference.
To Wrap Things Up
Overall, there are many different reasons why Snapchat may not be working for you one day. For example, it could be that the app is down (which a quick internet search should confirm), or it may be a problem on your end, such as your phone software not being updated or not being connected to the internet.
The good news is that most of these problems are easily fixable with the above solutions.
However, if you try all of this and nothing works, you may need to see a repair specialist to see if something is wrong with the phone’s software.