Nearly ten years after launching its “Memories” feature, Snapchat is putting a limit on how much you can store for free. The company announced it will soon cap free Memories storage at 5GB, a move that effectively ends the platform’s role as an unlimited digital time capsule.
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If you’ve saved more than that, you’ll need to either export your Snaps or pay for one of Snapchat’s new storage plans.
The first paid tier offers 100GB for $1.99/month, while Snapchat+ subscribers will get 250GB as part of their $3.99/month plan. The new Platinum plan, priced at $15.99/month, includes a massive 5TB of storage.
Those who exceed the free limit without upgrading will keep their oldest Snaps, but newer ones will be deleted to stay under the cap.
Snapchat says users will have a 12-month grace period to back up or export any extra Memories before the new policy takes effect, and many are already doing just that.
If you’d rather not pay, you have two options: you can manually export batches of Memories (up to 100 at a time) directly to your phone’s camera roll, or you can use Snapchat’s Download My Data tool to request a complete archive of your Snaps via email in a .zip file.
The change signals a new era for the app, one where your memories might cost a little extra to keep.
How to export your Snapchat Memories to your device’s camera roll
- Open the Snapchat app and select the “Memories” icon next to the camera button
- Tap the “Select” option in the top right corner
- Select up to 100 Memories that you want to keep
- Tap the “Export” button that appears at the bottom right of your screen
- Select “Download” to save them to your camera roll
Repeat this process to save another batch of 100 Memories.
How to download your Snapchat data
- Open the Snapchat app and navigate to your Profile
- Tap the Settings icon in the top right of your screen
- Scroll down to the “My Data” option
- Select the Memories, HTML Files, and JSON Files options. (Uncheck the options below unless you also want to save additional information, such as your chat history, user data, and more. Just keep in mind, it might be harder to find your Memories later in the .zip file.)
- Tap “Next”
- Select the “All Time” option when prompted to choose a date range for the export
- Confirm your email address
- Tap “Submit”
The time it takes to receive your data may vary depending on how much you have stored.