Snapchat Story Viewer:
Watch Public Stories Anonymously

The short answer

Three ways work. The first two don't need a Snapchat account:

1. Snapchat's own website. Open snapchat.com/add/username in a private browser window. It shows the account's current public story, Highlights and Spotlight videos with no login.
2. A free public story viewer. PeekPublic (the "Watch a public story free" button above) shows an account's public story when you enter a username, plus public Highlights and Spotlight where they exist. It needs no Snapchat login, and if there's no active story it says so.
3. The Snapchat app. This works too, but you're signed in, so your name shows up in the story's Viewers list.

Public viewers can't show private stories, Close Friends stories, friends-only stories or snaps sent to someone else. For those you need access from the poster, and you watch through Snapchat. A site that claims otherwise is a scam.

Want to keep the snaps friends send you instead? Here's how.

Watch on snapchat.com without logging in

This is Snapchat's own public web profile, and most "viewer" sites never mention it.

1. Open a private or incognito window in your phone or computer browser.
2. Type snapchat.com/add/username straight into the browser bar, with the exact username. It redirects to snapchat.com/@username. If the Snapchat app opens instead, you're signed in there, and watching would put you in Viewers.
3. Play the current public story. Highlights and Spotlight videos are on the same page, and snapchat.com/@username/highlights opens the Highlights on their own.

The private window is a precaution. It keeps you signed out of Snapchat for Web, so the visit isn't tied to your Snapchat account. For Spotlight on its own, snapchat.com/spotlight also plays without a login.

Spotting fake viewer sites

A real public viewer needs only a username, and it can only show what Snapchat already shows to signed-out visitors. If a site asks for your Snapchat password, an app install, a survey or "human verification" before showing a story, close the tab.

Watch in the Snapchat app (not anonymous)

In the app, search the username, open the profile and tap the story, or subscribe to see new public stories in your feed. This is the only way to see public Map Snaps, because Snap Map works only in the mobile app.

The catch is that you're signed in. Snapchat lists "the friends, followers, and other Snapchatters who viewed your Story" under Viewers, and creators also see view counts in their Insights. If you watch from the app, expect to be on that list.

Will they know you watched?

A story's Viewers list names the Snapchat accounts that watched it. When you watch signed out on snapchat.com, or through a viewer that doesn't use a Snapchat account, your account isn't part of the visit. That's all "anonymous" means here: public content, watched without your account.

Two things give you away. The first is watching from your Snapchat account in the app. The second is capturing what you see on your account: Snapchat alerts the poster to every screenshot or screen recording. On the web, staying signed out is the safe default.

What counts as public, and why a username shows nothing

Snapchat accounts are private by default, and only friends can see a personal profile and its stories. A Public Profile is a profile for sharing public content, which Snapchat describes as "visible to anyone on Snapchat". Only people 16 and over can have one. Its public stories, Highlights and Spotlight videos also show on Snapchat's website to people who aren't signed in. Our guide to Snapchat public profiles covers how they work.

If a lookup comes back empty, it's usually one of these:

• No Public Profile. The account is personal, so its stories go to friends only, and no viewer has anything to show.
• No active story. Stories usually expire after 24 hours. Highlights and Spotlight videos often still show when the story is gone.
• Wrong username. Use the username, not the display name. Display names can be anything and aren't unique.
• The account changed. It was renamed, deleted or switched back to private.

Private stories and the snaps friends send you

No viewer can open a private, Close Friends or friends-only story; only the people the poster picked can watch them, inside Snapchat.

Keeping the snaps friends send you

If what you actually want is to keep the snaps friends send you, that's a different problem. Snapchat alerts the sender to every screen capture:

• Screenshots
• Screen recordings
• Screen mirroring and casting
• Screenshots or recordings of Snapchat Web on a computer
• The airplane-mode trick, where the alert arrives when you reconnect

Saving a friend's chat photo to your camera roll posts a notice in the chat. Modded apps and saver apps like Snapchat++, SnapEnhance and Phantom are patched or gone, and Snapchat locks accounts caught using them.

That leaves two ways that don't alert the sender: photographing the screen with a second phone, which looks as bad as it sounds, and SnapNinja.

SnapNinja is a cloud service you use from your phone's browser, with nothing to install. You connect your own Snapchat account, SnapNinja lists the unopened photo and video snaps waiting in your chats, and you tap Save on the ones you want to keep. It copies the original file into a private online gallery. No screenshot is taken, so Snapchat has no screenshot alert to send. Save a snap before you open it on your phone. Once you open it there, it drops off SnapNinja's list.

What it doesn't do: SnapNinja doesn't view or save anyone's stories, public or private. It saves photos and videos sent to your account in chats. Connecting is free. Saving needs a subscription at $29.99 a month or $199 a year, and gallery access requires an active subscription. You can cancel anytime. Snapchat doesn't endorse automated access, so there's some account risk.

See how SnapNinja works.