How to Make a Group Chat in Snapchat

Snapchat isn't just for one-on-one Snaps and Stories. The app has a solid group chat feature that lets you message, share Snaps, and even start group calls with multiple people at once. Whether you're coordinating with friends, keeping a family thread going, or running a group for an event, Snapchat's group chat works differently from what you might expect — and understanding the mechanics helps you use it more effectively.

What Is a Snapchat Group Chat?

A Snapchat group chat is a shared conversation thread where up to 100 people can send messages, photos, videos, audio notes, and Snaps. Unlike a direct message between two people, group chats have a shared name, a participant list you can manage, and their own set of notification settings.

One important thing to understand upfront: group chats in Snapchat are not the same as group Stories. A group chat is a private messaging thread. A group Story is a shared visual feed. They serve different purposes and are created separately.

How to Create a Group Chat in Snapchat

The process is straightforward on both iOS and Android. Here's how it works:

Starting from the Chat Screen

1. Open Snapchat and tap the chat bubble icon at the bottom of the screen to go to your Chat tab.
2. Tap the pencil/compose icon in the top-right corner.
3. In the "New Chat" screen, start typing the names of the friends you want to add. You can select multiple people.
4. Once you've selected everyone (up to 99 others, for a total of 100 participants including yourself), tap "Chat" at the bottom.
5. Your group chat is now created. The first time you send a message, the thread becomes active for everyone in it.

Naming Your Group Chat

By default, Snapchat names the group after the participants. To give it a custom name:

• Tap the group name or the icons at the top of the chat thread.
• Select "Group Name" and type whatever you want to call it.
• This name is visible to everyone in the group.

Naming the group isn't required, but it becomes useful quickly when you're managing multiple threads.

Managing Group Chat Settings

Once a group chat exists, there are several things you and other participants can control:

Adding members: Any participant can add new people to the group, up to the 100-person limit. Open the group info and tap "Add Members."

Leaving a group: You can leave any group chat at any time through the group settings. Once you leave, you no longer receive messages from that thread.

Notifications: You can mute notifications for a specific group chat without leaving it. Useful if the thread is active but not urgent.

Group admins: The person who creates the group is the original admin. Admins can remove members and manage some group-level settings. Admin controls in Snapchat are more limited compared to platforms like WhatsApp or Telegram, so this matters less here than it might elsewhere.

How Group Snaps Work Differently Than Group Messages 💬

This is where things get a bit more nuanced. In a group chat, you can send two distinct types of content:

• Chat messages — Text, stickers, audio, and links. These follow the standard Snapchat deletion rules (deleted after viewing, or saved depending on settings).
• Snaps — Photos or videos sent directly into the group thread. Each member can view the Snap once (or twice with replay), after which it disappears.

Saved messages work the same way in groups as they do in one-on-one chats — press and hold a message to save it to the thread so it doesn't disappear automatically.

Understanding this distinction matters because not every message type behaves the same way, and group members may have different expectations based on what they're used to.

Group Calls and Audio in Snapchat

From within any group chat, you can start a group voice or video call by tapping the phone or video camera icon at the top of the thread. Snapchat supports group calls with up to 16 participants simultaneously, even though the chat thread itself can hold up to 100 people.

This cap on active call participants versus total chat members is a common source of confusion — the chat holds more people than can be on a live call at the same time.

Variables That Affect Your Experience

Not every Snapchat group chat experience is identical. A few factors shape how this feature works in practice:

App version: Snapchat updates frequently, and some group features (like admin controls or interface layout) have changed over time. If your UI looks different from what's described here, an app update may close that gap.

Device and OS: The core functionality is consistent across iOS and Android, but minor interface differences exist. Older devices may experience lag in larger, high-activity group threads.

Friend status: You can only add people to a group chat if they're already on your Snapchat friends list. Mutual friendship isn't required — they just need to be on your list — but if someone has strict privacy settings, they may not receive the chat or may need to accept it first.

Group size and activity level: A 5-person group and a 100-person group behave very differently. High-volume threads can move quickly, notifications can become overwhelming, and media from Snaps can pile up in ways that affect how members engage. 🔔

What Changes Based on Your Situation

For someone organizing a small group of close friends, the default settings work well with minimal configuration. For someone managing a larger community — say, a team, a club, or an event group — the admin limitations in Snapchat start to matter. You can't restrict who can post, you can't pin messages, and moderation tools are minimal compared to dedicated messaging platforms.

That trade-off between Snapchat's casual, ephemeral nature and the needs of a more structured group is something each user has to weigh against their own situation. The feature is capable, but whether it fits your specific use case depends on how your group actually communicates — and what you need the thread to do. 📱