How to Tell When Someone Was Last Seen on Snapchat

Snapchat prides itself on being the most honest social media platform out there. It offers features and information that most social apps don’t, like who checked or took a screenshot of your story. Nonetheless, for all its transparency, Snapchat doesn’t show when someone was last online. So, how can you tell when a friend was last seen on the app? This article will explain how to determine a friend’s online presence on Snapchat.

How to Check Someone’s Active Status on Snapchat

Snapchat has a green dot that appears next to the Bitmoji to show when someone is online. However, users can turn this feature off. After going offline, the green bubble moves away after a while, but Snapchat doesn’t show the timestamp for when someone was last seen. Fortunately, a few methods make it possible to work out when a person last used the app.

Check for New Stories

Checking when someone uploaded their story can give you a clue of the time they were last active. In the top left corner, Snapchat attaches a time stamp to every new story a user posts under their name.

However, getting an accurate timestamp is challenging if the user posts a story from their camera roll. The timestamps on these stories usually indicate how long ago the users posted on Snapchat. For instance, if a friend shares a story they created two weeks ago, today, Snapchat will show “Created two weeks ago.”

Here’s how to view someone’s story:

1. Open the Snapchat app and ensure you’ve logged in to your account.
   
2. Go to the bottom right corner and select the “Stories” icon.
   
3. Below the “Friends’ header,” you’ll see a list of all stories from your friends.
   
4. Locate the “Story of the friend” whose last seen status you want to know and tap it.
   
5. When the story starts to play, go to the top of the screen and check when they posted it.
   

If that person has blocked you on Snapchat, you cannot view their stories.

Observing Chat Delivery Status

Snapchat enables icons that show whether a message has been received or opened. If the notification on the chat shows “Delivered,” it means that the recipient is either offline or has received the message but has not read it. If it indicates “Opened,” then the person has read your message and is currently active or was online recently.

Using Snap Maps

Snap Maps is a feature that helps your Snapchat friends determine your location when you’re actively using the app. Snapchat updates the location each time you use it. As such, you can use it to tell when your friend last used Snapchat and where they were. However, this method only works if your friend has enabled the Snap Maps settings to “My friends.” If they’ve enabled the “Ghost mode,” this method might not work. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Launch the Snapchat app and ensure you’ve logged in to your account.
   
2. Navigate to the bottom left corner and select the “Map pin” icon. This will open the Snap map.
   
3. Move to the bottom right corner and tap the Bitmoji named “Friends.”
   
4. Look for your friend in the list and select their “Bitmoji.” If they don’t appear among your friends, they have enabled the “Ghost mode.”
   
5. Once you select your friend’s Bitmoji, the Snap Map opens with their location beneath their name. To the right of the name, you’ll also see the time they were last active on Snapchat. Depending on when they were last active, you can see:
   
   • “Seen now,” meaning they’re active.
   • “Seen xx minutes ago.”
   • “Last seen” if they were last active a couple of hours ago.

Check Who Viewed Your Story

You can tell if someone is stalking you on Snapchat by checking who has viewed your story. This way, you can tell which of your friends was last active by checking the list of views. The friends who appear at the top of the list were recently active. In contrast, those toward the bottom viewed the story earlier.

1. Open your Snapchat app and tap your “Bitmoji” in the top left corner of the screen.
   
2. On the new page, tap “My story.” Your story will open and start playing on the screen.
   
3. Move to the bottom left corner and select the “Eyeball” icon.
   
4. On the “Window” that slides up, check for your friend whose last seen status you want to view. If you don’t see them on the list, it means they have not been active since you posted your Story.
   

For this method to work, you must have an active story. Another thing to note is that it might not be entirely accurate because your friend could be active and fail to view your story.

Enable Notification for Your Friend’s Story

When you enable notifications for your friend’s story, Snapchat will alert you in real-time. This way, you can spot your friend when actively sharing content. The downside of this method is that it doesn’t give you updates about other activities, such as chatting or viewing snaps. If your friend was active on Snapchat but didn’t post a story, you won’t know.

1. Launch the Snapchat app and tap your “Bitmoji” in the top left corner.
   
2. Navigate to the top right corner and select the “Settings” icon.
   
3. Scroll down and select the “Notifications” option.
   
4. Enable the toggle for “Stories from friends.”
   
5. To customize the settings to a specific friend, move to the bottom of the menu and select “Managing story notifications.” On the list of your friends that appears, select the friend whose story notifications you want to receive.
   
6. When you finish, hit “Done” at the bottom of the menu. Anytime your friend posts a story, you’ll get a notification.
   

Check Your Friend’s Snapscore

A Snapscore shows how active you’ve been on Snapchat. It increases with the number of stories you post, snaps you receive and send, and the friends you have. By monitoring your friends’ Snapscore, you can tell if they have been active on Snapchat or not.

1. Open the Snapchat app and select the “Bitmoji” in the top left corner.
   
2. Select “Friends” to see the list of all your friends.
   
3. Locate the friend whose activity you want to see.
   
4. Press and hold the contact. A new window will appear on the screen.
   
5. Go to the “Ghost” icon and check the number listed there, as it’s the friend’s Snapscore.
   
6. After a while, return to Snapchat and check your friend’s score, as it updates after every few minutes. If the score goes up, your friend has been active on Snapchat recently.
   

If your friend is making a Snapchat Streak, this will be fun to track, as the scores will jump too often.

FAQs

Does Snapchat have an online indicator?

Initially, Snapchat didn’t have an online indicator. However, in 2023, it introduced a green bubble next to the Bitmoji to indicate a user has recently been active on the platform. That said, users can turn it off from the settings.

Can you see the exact time someone was active on Snapchat?

Snapchat doesn’t provide the time stamp for a user’s last active. However, the user’s activities can be estimated when they were last active.

Can a friend know if I checked their last seen on Snapchat?

No, if you check their last seen on the app, Snapchat doesn’t notify anyone. This is part of your private activities, and Snapchat can’t share it with anyone else.

Know Your Friend’s Snapchat Online Status

Snapchat aims to keep users’ activities private, contrary to what other social platforms do. Though nowadays you can tell when someone is active using the green bubble, you can’t see the exact time they signed off. However, there are methods you can use to estimate when a user was last on the app.

Have you ever checked someone’s last seen on Snapchat? Did you use any of the methods above? Tell us in the comments section below.