Find Friends is our tool for helping Snapchatters find real-life friends and family. You can learn more about how Find Friends works and the safeguards we have in place here.
In order to meet our obligations under the UK Online Safety Act, friend suggestions in Find Friends will be off by default for users under 18 in the UK.
What does turning off friend suggestions in Find Friends by default mean?
If friend suggestions in Find Friends are off, that means that you will not see friend suggestions on your Add Friends page nor will you be included in others’ Find Friend suggestions. Additionally, both 'Enable Find Friends' and 'Show me in Find Friends' in your Settings are off unless you turn them on. If you have chosen to sync your contacts with Snapchat, you will see people from your own contact book on your Add Friends page and will be able to send them a friend request.
When friend suggestions are off, which is your new default setting, other users on Snapchat will not see you in Find Friends (i.e., you will not be suggested as a friend to them) unless you turn Find Friends on. You can still be found in Search when someone looks up an exact match for your name or username.
If you don’t enable Find Friends, there are still other ways to find and connect with your friends and family on Snapchat, like searching for someone’s username, their display name, or by finding their Snapcode. You will also still be able to see people from your contact book (if you have chosen to sync your contacts).
How do I turn Find Friends on?
You may see a message on the Camera or Add Friends page asking if you want to enable Find Friends. Tap 'Enable Find Friends' to see friend suggestions and appear in the friend suggestions of others or you can dismiss the notice, tap ‘I Understand’ or tap 'Keep Default Settings' to keep your default setting and keep Find Friends off.
If you turn Find Friends on, you will get the full Find Friends experience, including suggestions of (and being suggested to) people we think you may know in real life. As always, Find Friends is designed to help you connect with real-life connections. Turning Find Friends on means that you could see and be seen by adults and people you may not know. You should think carefully before adding and accepting friends on Snapchat and remember that having mutual friends does not necessarily mean a person is safe. Adding or accepting people you don’t know in real life may not be safe and can increase the risk of unwanted contact. If you do not want to see or be seen by more people, you can keep the default setting or turn Find Friends off at any time in Settings.
You can manage Find Friends anytime in Settings:
- Tap the Profile icon
- Tap the gear icon to open Settings
- Tap 'Privacy Controls'
- Tap 'Find Friends'
- ToggleTurn on or off 'Enable Find Friends' and/or 'Show me in Find Friends'
Will I still get friend suggestion notifications?
If you do not change the default setting, and therefore Find Friends is off, you will not get suggestion-based or 'recently joined' friend notifications. Adults are also not notified when a UK Snapchatter under 18 joins or appears as a new contact while Find Friends is off for that teen.
Remember: you're always in full control of your Snapchat experience. If you don’t feel safe, you can block someone, remove them as a friend, and report the issue. Anyone pressuring you into sharing images you don’t want to share, using inappropriate language, or asking for personal details may be in violation of our Community Guidelines. If these happen to you, block the user and report them to Snap.
For more information on the laws that guide these changes, please see this Online Safety Act explainer.