Snapchat has come a long way since its humble beginning as a photo-sharing app. Gone are the days of logging into the app to receive the latest memes and the ugliest pictures of your friends that would disappear before you even thought of screenshotting them. While you can still use Snapchat to share photos that disappear in seconds, the app has so much more to offer. Users can post snap stories that will stay on their profile for a total of 24 hours, send messages, and even play games.
The app’s function is still fundamentally the same as it has been for years. Still, with every update, Snapchat implements new changes that can cause some confusion. Snapchat’s use of emojis and features like Snapchat scores are already bewildering for many users, but the app continues to make an effort to improve. While not all the app’s changes are welcome, most of these features can actually be helpful…if you can figure out what they mean.
If you’ve ever noticed an X next to someone’s Snapchat username and wondered what it could mean, you’re not alone. We did our research so you don’t have to and discovered the meaning of the X.
What does the X mean on Snapchat?
There are a few possible reasons you would see an X next to someone’s Snapchat name.
An “X” could mean a friend request
The most likely reason is actually the simplest: they sent you a friend request, and you haven’t accepted yet. You can easily check if this is the case by clicking on the name. This will trigger a prompt where you can either accept or reject the friend request. If you click on the X, it will give you the option to block, report, or delete the entire conversation. Once you accept the request, you can snap each other immediately and the X will disappear.
It could also mean that you are blocked or removed
If you’re sure you accepted the friend request, there are some other reasons you might be seeing the X. Alternatively, the dark-gray X could mean the person blocked you or removed you from their friends’ list.
Don’t immediately jump to conclusions though, the X doesn’t always mean you’ve been blocked. It could also mean the user is in your phone contacts, but you haven’t actually added each other or snapped before.
The final explanation is you’re not on their friends list or haven’t interacted
Some users also see the X when they’ve never sent or received a snap from that person. Ultimately, the X just means you’re either not actually on each other’s friends list or you’ve never interacted on the app. Once you start interacting, that X should go away.
We hope this clarifies things so you can get back to happily snapping!