Snapchat snapchat.com How to turn off your location on Snapchat
Open the Map, tap the gear icon, turn on Ghost Mode and pick Until Turned Off. That hides you from others only. To stop the app itself, change Snapchat's location permission in your phone settings.
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- snapchat.com
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- Privacy settings
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Step by step
- 1
Open the Map
In Snapchat, open the Snap Map.
- 2
Open Map Settings
Tap the gear icon to open Map Settings.
- 3
Turn on Ghost Mode
Toggle on Ghost Mode and pick how long it lasts: 3 hours, 24 hours or Until Turned Off. Choose Until Turned Off if you want it to stay hidden.
- 4
Stop Snapchat reading your phone's location
Ghost Mode only hides you from other people. To cut the app's access, change Snapchat's permission in your phone settings: Location Services for Snapchat on iPhone, or the app's Permissions on Android.
- 5
Limit background location
In your phone settings, set Snapchat's location access to "Only while using" so it doesn't collect location in the background.
Watch out for
- Snap Map can't be disabled entirely once you've set it up. Ghost Mode is the built-in way to hide.
- With Ghost Mode on, your location is still shared with Snap. It just isn't visible to anyone else on the Map.
- If you share your location with Snapchat, it's shared with My AI too, even in Ghost Mode. Only the phone permission stops that.
- Snaps you submit to Snap Map can still show up on the Map, whatever location setting you choose.
Other ways to do it
- 1
Turn off Footsteps
Footsteps tracks where you've been whenever you're not in Ghost Mode. Snapchat says you can turn it off under Map settings in My Account.
What stays out there
Hiding your location on Snapchat limits what friends and the Map can see. That stops new data at that one company. It doesn't touch copies that data brokers, people-search sites and old search results already hold, such as an address people-search sites already tied to your name or a phone number in caller-ID databases.
Serus finds where your details are listed and removes them. It doesn't close accounts or change settings for you, so do the steps above yourself first. You can start with a free scan at https://www.serus.ai/.
Frequently asked
Does Ghost Mode stop Snapchat knowing where I am?
No. Snapchat says your location is still shared with Snap, but isn't visible to others on the Map.
Can I turn off Snap Map completely?
Snapchat says that once you've set it up for the first time you can't disable it altogether, so Ghost Mode is the option.
Does My AI see my location in Ghost Mode?
If you share your location with Snapchat, it's shared with My AI, even in Ghost Mode. Change the permission in your phone settings to stop that.
What is Footsteps?
A feature that tracks where you've been whenever you're not in Ghost Mode. You can turn it off in Map settings under My Account.
Sources
Related guide Guide: How to Delete Yourself from the Internet Something changed? If these steps no longer match what you see, tell us and we'll re-check it.
