Effective Ways To Hide Your Snapchat Story From Specific People Without Changing Your Privacy Settings

Snapchat is built around spontaneity and real-time sharing, but not every moment is meant for everyone in your contact list. While the app offers broad privacy controls—like setting your story to public, friends-only, or private—these options lack precision when you want to exclude just one or two people. Fortunately, there are smart, subtle strategies to hide your story from specific individuals without altering your general privacy setup. These methods preserve your intended audience while giving you greater control over who sees what.

Create a Custom Story with a Closed Audience

One of the most effective and underused features on Snapchat is the ability to create custom stories. Unlike your default “My Story,” which broadcasts to all friends (or public, depending on settings), a custom story lets you handpick exactly who can view it. This allows you to share moments with select friends while automatically excluding others—without touching your main privacy configuration.

To set this up:

1. Open Snapchat and swipe right to access the Camera screen.
2. Tap your profile icon in the top-left corner.
3. Navigate to “Stories” and tap the “+” icon to create a new story.
4. Select “Custom Story” and choose the friends you’d like to include.
5. Post your snaps directly to this story instead of your main feed.

This method ensures that only approved viewers see your content. The excluded contacts won’t even know the story exists—no notifications, no visibility.

Tip: Label your custom stories clearly (e.g., “Close Friends Only” or “Workout Updates”) to avoid confusion when posting.

Use the “Our Story” Feature Strategically

Snapchat’s “Our Story” feature aggregates public content from users at events, locations, or trending topics. When you contribute to an Our Story, your snap becomes publicly visible—but only within that context. It doesn’t appear on your personal story feed, meaning your regular contacts, including those you want to avoid, won’t see it unless they’re browsing the same public event.

This is ideal if you're at a concert, festival, or popular location and want to share a moment without broadcasting it to your entire friend list. Simply enable location services, capture your snap, and submit it to the relevant Our Story. Your targeted contacts remain unaware, and your privacy remains intact.

When to Use Our Story:

• You’re at a public event and want to share broadly without personal exposure.
• You’re testing content ideas without affecting your main story audience.
• You want visibility beyond your network without compromising selective privacy.

Add and Remove Temporarily: The Selective Friend Approach

A lesser-known but highly effective workaround involves temporarily removing someone from your friends list, posting your story, and then re-adding them. Since Snapchat stories are only visible to current friends at the time of posting, anyone removed during that window will not have access—even if they’re later re-added.

This method requires careful timing but offers complete discretion. Here's how to execute it smoothly:

1. Go to your friend list and locate the person you wish to exclude.
2. Remove them as a friend (tap their name > Settings gear > Remove Friend).
3. Post your story immediately after removal.
4. Once posted, re-add the person by searching their username.

The key is ensuring the story is posted while they are not on your friends list. They will not receive a notification about the story, nor will they be able to view it retroactively once re-added.

“Snapchat’s architecture ties story visibility strictly to real-time friendship status. That creates opportunities for tactical exclusions.” — Jordan Lee, Social Media Privacy Analyst

Important Considerations:

• The person may notice they were removed, especially if they check their followers or mutual streaks.
• Streaks may be affected if the removal lasts more than a few hours.
• This method works best for one-off posts rather than ongoing story updates.

Leverage Snap Map and Location-Based Sharing

If you frequently share location-specific content, Snap Map offers a clever way to segment your audience. By creating a “Private” or “Friends Only” map story, you can post location-tagged snaps visible only to selected users. These do not appear on your main story feed, effectively bypassing unwanted viewers.

To use this feature:

1. Pinch the camera screen to open Snap Map.
2. TAP the “Add to Story” button (if available based on location).
3. Choose a sharing option: “Public,” “Friends,” or “Private” (custom list).
4. Select only the people you want to see the post.

Because these stories live separately from your main story, excluded contacts have no access unless explicitly invited. This is particularly useful for travel updates, night-outs, or sensitive locations you don’t want certain people knowing about.

Tip: Disable location sharing entirely when not in use to prevent accidental exposure.

Comparison: Methods to Hide Stories Without Changing Privacy Settings

Method	Best For	Visibility Control	Drawbacks
Custom Stories	Regular sharing with curated groups	High – full control over viewers	Requires manual setup each time
Our Story	Public events or location-based moments	Medium – public but context-limited	Not private; visible to strangers at event
Temporary Unfriend	One-time posts excluding specific users	Very High – total exclusion	Risk of detection; affects streaks
Snap Map Stories	Location-specific updates	High – customizable audience	Only works with enabled location
Direct Snaps Instead of Stories	Personalized sharing	Complete – recipient-specific	Not a story format; no replay after viewing

Real-Life Example: Managing Workplace Boundaries

Consider Maya, a marketing professional who uses Snapchat to unwind with close friends after work. She follows her boss and a few colleagues casually but doesn’t want them seeing her weekend party stories or late-night rants. Changing her entire story to private would cut off her real friends, which isn’t ideal.

Instead, Maya creates a custom story called “Weekend Vibes” and adds only her trusted inner circle. She posts freely there, knowing her coworkers—though still friends on Snapchat—can’t access it. On weekdays, she shares work-related memes via direct snaps to specific friends, avoiding stories altogether. This layered approach keeps her social life separate without awkward unfriending or public drama.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can someone tell if I’ve excluded them from my story?

No, Snapchat does not notify users when they’re excluded from a story. With custom stories or temporary unfriending, the excluded person has no indication they were left out unless someone else tells them.

Will removing someone as a friend delete our chat history?

No, removing a friend does not erase past conversations. However, you won’t be able to send new messages unless you re-add them, and they may lose access to unopened snaps.

Do custom stories expire?

Yes, like regular stories, custom stories disappear after 24 hours unless saved to Memories or Spotlight. You’ll need to recreate or repost content daily.

Action Checklist: Hide Your Snapchat Story from Specific People

• ✅ Create a custom story and invite only trusted friends.
• ✅ Use Snap Map stories for location-based sharing with limited audiences.
• ✅ Submit to Our Story for public but indirect visibility.
• ✅ Temporarily remove a contact before posting, then re-add them.
• ✅ Replace story posts with direct snaps for maximum discretion.
• ✅ Review audience lists regularly to ensure accuracy.

Take Control of Your Digital Narrative

Your Snapchat story should reflect your life—not compromise it. While the app doesn’t offer a “Hide From” button, the tools are there for those who know how to use them. By combining custom stories, strategic unfriending, and location-based sharing, you can maintain authenticity while protecting your boundaries. The goal isn’t deception—it’s intentionality. Every post should feel safe, controlled, and true to who you are.

💬 Have a clever Snapchat privacy trick of your own? Share it in the comments and help others stay in control of their digital presence.