Does Your Snap Score Increase With Unopened Snaps?

SK
Apr 3
4 min read

Does your snap score increase with unopened snaps? Not clearly. Receiving a Snap may contribute a small amount, but opening it is what most reliably moves your score. Letting Snaps sit unread generally does very little.

What Is a Snapscore and Does Your Snap Score Increase With Unopened Snaps?

How Snapchat Officially Describes It

Snapchat describes your Snapscore as the result of a "super-secret, special equation." That's not a joke that's the actual language on their official support page. They confirm it factors in Snaps sent, Snaps received, Stories posted, and "a couple other factors."

Beyond that, Snapchat hasn't published a formula, weighting system, or breakdown of any kind.

So right away, you're working with limited official information. That's worth keeping in mind throughout.

What Factors Are Confirmed to Affect Your Snapscore

Based on what Snapchat has publicly stated, these are the confirmed inputs.

As noted by Wikipedia, the Snapscore records the amount of Snaps a user has sent and received, and is visible to their friends:

Factor	Confirmed by Snapchat?
Snaps Sent	Yes
Snaps Received	Yes
Stories Posted	Yes
Other Factors	Mentioned, not specified
Opening Snaps specifically	Not confirmed separately
Unopened Snaps	Not addressed

In practice, most users find that actively sending Snaps moves their score the most noticeably. Receiving tends to count too, but to what degree and under what conditions isn't spelled out.

Does Receiving a Snap Increase Your Score?

What Snapchat's Official Statement Covers

Snapchat lists "Snaps received" as a contributing factor. That much is stated. What they don't clarify is whether "received" means delivered to your account, or opened by you.

Those are two different things, and the distinction matters for this exact question.

What Users Generally Observe

Interestingly, many users report that their score does tick upward after receiving Snaps even before opening them. It's not a dramatic jump.

But a small increment seems to occur on receipt in some cases. This is widely observed but not officially confirmed by Snapchat.

What's often overlooked is that Snapchat's scoring likely processes events server-side, not purely based on your in-app actions. So the moment a Snap lands in your account, the system may already log it.

As reported by TechCrunch, the Snapscore has long been described as a count of Snaps sent and received on the platform with no explicit distinction made between opened and unopened receipt events.

Do Unopened Snaps Specifically Count Toward Your Score?

The Distinction Between Receiving and Opening a Snap

This is the core of the question. Receiving a Snap and opening a Snap are separate actions. Snapchat confirms received Snaps count. They say nothing specific about whether the act of opening adds additional points on top of that.

At first glance it seems like opening should matter more but based on available information, there's no confirmed separate point value tied to the open action itself.

What Happens to Your Score When a Snap Goes Unopened

If a Snap sits in your inbox and you never open it, your score may still reflect a small increase from the receipt event. The score doesn't appear to be held back pending your action. That said, this is based on community-observed patterns, not official documentation.

What Happens If an Unopened Snap Expires

Snaps expire after a set period if left unopened. There's no confirmed mechanism where an expired unopened Snap retroactively removes points already added.

Once logged, that receipt event appears to stick though again, Snapchat hasn't explicitly addressed this scenario.

What Actions Are Most Likely to Increase Your Snapscore?

Confirmed Contributing Actions

These are the actions Snapchat has directly acknowledged:

Sending Snaps — consistently cited as the primary driver
Receiving Snaps — confirmed as a factor
Posting Stories — confirmed

Sending tends to have the most visible impact. Users who send Snaps regularly see their score move faster than those who mostly receive.

Actions With Unclear or Unconfirmed Impact

Opening received Snaps — not confirmed as a separate point event
Chatting via text — generally believed to have no effect
Viewing Stories — not confirmed
Snap streaks — related to engagement but not directly tied to score increments in any confirmed way

Why Does Your Snapscore Sometimes Seem Inconsistent?

Delayed Score Updates

Your Snapscore doesn't always update in real time. There's often a short delay sometimes minutes, sometimes longer. So if you send a few Snaps and check immediately, the number might not have moved yet. That's normal. It catches up.

Factors That Do Not Reset or Lower Your Score

Snapchat has confirmed there's no way to lower or reset your Snapscore. It only goes up. Inactive periods may slow accumulation, but they won't reduce what you've already earned.

Snapscore and Unopened Snaps — Summary Table

Scenario	Effect on Snapscore
You send a Snap	Likely increases score
Someone sends you a Snap (you open it)	Likely increases score
Someone sends you a Snap (you don't open it)	May increase slightly on receipt
Snap expires before you open it	No confirmed reduction
You post a Story	Likely increases score
You chat via text only	No confirmed effect
You view someone else's Story	No confirmed effect

Conclusion

Your Snapscore increases most reliably when you send and receive Snaps. Unopened Snaps may add a small amount on receipt, but they're not a meaningful or confirmed score driver. Snapchat keeps the exact formula private, so some uncertainty here is unavoidable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does your Snapscore go up when someone sends you a Snap you never open?

Possibly by a small amount. Snapchat confirms received Snaps count toward your score, but doesn't specify whether opening is required. Community observations suggest receipt alone may log a minor increment.

Does your score increase if a Snap expires before you open it?

There's no confirmed mechanism that removes points after a Snap expires. If a receipt event was already logged, that increment likely remains.

Can you increase your Snapscore without sending Snaps?

Yes, to a limited extent. Receiving Snaps and posting Stories are confirmed factors. But sending Snaps is the most consistently reported driver of score increases.

Is there any way to reset your Snapscore?

No. Snapchat has explicitly stated there is no way to lower or reset your Snapscore.

Why is my Snapscore not updating?

Score updates are often delayed. They don't always reflect instantly after an action. Wait a few minutes and refresh your profile it usually catches up.