You can remove a Best Friend from Snapchat in two taps, and they won't be notified

Open Snapchat and go to your profile by tapping your avatar in the top left corner. Scroll down to the "Friendship" section and find the person you want to remove. Press and hold their name, then tap "Remove Friend" from the menu that appears. That's it — they're gone from your Best Friends list, and Snapchat doesn't send them a notification that you did this.

The person can still see that you're no longer Best Friends if they look at their own Best Friends list, but they won't get a message saying you removed them. If you want to remove them as a friend entirely (not just from Best Friends), you'd use the same menu and choose "Remove Friend" instead — but that's a separate action.

Key Takeaways

  • Open your profile, find the person in your Friendship section, press and hold their name, and tap "Remove Friend" to take them off your Best Friends list.
  • Snapchat does not notify the person that you removed them from Best Friends, though they can see the change if they check their own list.
  • Removing someone from Best Friends is different from removing them as a friend entirely — Best Friends removal keeps them in your regular friends list.
  • Your Best Friends list updates based on who you message most, so people move on and off it automatically over time.

Why your Best Friends list changes automatically

Snapchat's Best Friends list isn't something you set once and leave alone. The app tracks who you message and snap to most frequently, and it updates your list every few days based on that activity. If you stop messaging someone regularly, they'll eventually drop off the list on their own. If you start messaging someone new a lot, they'll move up and potentially land on your Best Friends list without you doing anything.

This automatic behavior is why you might see people appear and disappear from your Best Friends list without taking action yourself. The list typically shows your 8 closest contacts, though the exact number can vary. If you want to keep someone off your Best Friends list even though you message them often, manually removing them is the way to do it.

The difference between Best Friends and regular friends

Your Best Friends list is just a visibility thing — it shows a gold heart next to their name in your chat list and lets them (and you) see who your closest contacts are. Removing someone from Best Friends doesn't change your friendship status or prevent you from messaging them. They stay in your regular friends list, and you can still send them snaps and messages normally.

If you want to completely stop being friends with someone on Snapchat, you'd remove them as a friend entirely using the same menu. That's a bigger step: they won't be able to see your story unless it's set to public, and you won't see theirs. Removing from Best Friends is much less disruptive — it just changes how visible your friendship is to others.

What happens when you remove someone from Best Friends

When you remove someone from your Best Friends list, the gold heart next to their name disappears from your chat. On their end, they'll see that the gold heart is gone from your name in their chat list too. They can figure out that something changed, but Snapchat doesn't send a notification saying "Priya removed you from Best Friends."

The person can still message you, and you can still message them. Your chat history stays intact. Nothing about your actual friendship changes — only the label that says you're close contacts. If you're worried about hurting someone's feelings, keep in mind that Best Friends lists change constantly as people's messaging habits shift, so most people don't read much into it.

How to prevent someone from seeing your Best Friends list

If you don't want certain people to see who your Best Friends are at all, you can change your privacy settings. Go to your profile, tap the settings icon (gear) in the top right, scroll to "Who Can..." and select "See My Best Friends." You can choose between "Everyone," "Friends," or "Private." Setting it to "Private" means only you can see your Best Friends list.

This is different from removing someone from Best Friends — it hides the entire list from everyone except you. Use this if you want to keep your closest contacts private rather than removing specific people. You can change this setting anytime without notifying anyone.

If you accidentally removed someone and want to add them back

There's no "undo" button for removing someone from Best Friends, but you can add them back by messaging them more. Since Snapchat's algorithm bases Best Friends on messaging frequency, if you start snapping or messaging that person regularly again, they'll naturally move back onto your Best Friends list within a few days.

If you want to speed this up, you could message them directly, but that might feel awkward if you just removed them. The safest approach is to resume normal messaging and let the list update on its own. Snapchat recalculates Best Friends every few days, so the change won't take long.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the person know I removed them from Best Friends?

Snapchat doesn't send a notification, but they can see the gold heart is gone from your name if they look at their chat list. Most people don't notice unless they're paying close attention. The change is visible but not announced.

Can I remove someone from Best Friends without removing them as a friend?

Yes. Removing from Best Friends keeps them in your regular friends list — you can still message and snap with them. You only remove them as a friend entirely if you want to stop being friends altogether.

What if I want to hide my Best Friends list from one specific person?

You can't hide it from just one person. Your Best Friends privacy setting applies to everyone — you can set it to "Everyone," "Friends," or "Private." If you want to hide it from someone, you'd have to set it to "Private" for everyone.

How often does Snapchat update my Best Friends list?

Snapchat recalculates your Best Friends list every few days based on who you message most. The list isn't updated in real time, so changes take a few days to show up. Manual removals take effect immediately, but automatic changes based on messaging patterns take longer.

Can I see who removed me from their Best Friends?

No. You can see that someone is no longer showing a gold heart next to your name in your chat, but Snapchat doesn't tell you when or why that happened. You'd have to notice the change yourself.