Snapchat has a lot of buttons and symbols for users to keep track of – including a confusing 'X' icon that appears next to some Snapchat names on the Chat screen. On the surface, Snapchat seems like it should be a fairly simple app. You can receive pictures/videos from friends, send your own pics that you want to share, and watch public posts from Snapchat friends. The Spotlight page has even more content to see — housing endless TikTok-like videos for you to scroll through.
With so much happening on Snapchat, it's not surprising that people often have questions about what certain buttons/settings in the app do. A prime example of this is the X that often appears next to Snapchat names. The Chat page on Snapchat shows a list of all your ongoing conversations. If you last received a photo from someone, a camera icon appears next to their name. If you got a text message from them, a chat icon shows up instead. But sometimes the camera and chat icons are replaced by an X.
Related: What Does A Purple Circle Around A Snapchat Story Mean?
The Real Meaning Behind The Gray 'X' In Snapchat
Like many parts of Snapchat, the X next to people's names isn't clearly explained. Some names have the camera and chat icons next to them, other names have the X icon, and there's no guidance about what any of it means. Thankfully, the answer is actually quite simple. If you see the X next to a Snapchat name, all it means is that person sent you a friend request that you haven't accepted yet.
Tapping the name shows two buttons: An 'Okay' button that accepts the friend request, and a 'Report or Block' button that lets you report or block the person. Alternatively, tapping the X next to the name brings up a few options right from the Chat page — allowing you to report, block, or clear the conversation from your screen. That's all there is to it! The X next to Snapchat names isn't a bug or troublesome feature. If you see it, it's just a reminder that you have pending friend requests to deal with. It'd be nice if Snapchat made that more apparent, but now you know.
Does The X On Snapchat Mean Someone Unadded Or Blocked You?
Some users might be wondering why they're seeing an X next to the name of someone they were previously friends with on Snapchat. The X only appears next to users who are currently not a person's friend, but have sent them a friend request. If someone unadded you as a friend on Snapchat, and then proceeded to send you a friend request later, it's entirely possible that an X might show up next to their name.
It could be a similar situation if someone blocked you on Snapchat. Once you're blocked on Snapchat, you're automatically removed as that person's friend. If they decide to unblock you and send you a friend request again, you might see an X next to their name on the Chat screen. However, if you've never chatted or been friends with the user before on Snapchat, an X next to their name doesn't mean you've been unadded or blocked, and just indicates that the person added you as a friend.
What Do The Icons On The Chat Screen Mean?
Apart from the X icon next to a person's name, there are several other icons that show up on the Chat screen that might seem confusing to Snapchat users. The main thing to remember is that the icons are color-coded, with each color indicating a specific type of Snap. Red means a Snap without audio, purple means a Snap with audio, and blue refers to a chat. With the colors out of the way, here's what the different icons mean.
The filled colored arrows are for Snaps you've sent to a friend, while the outlined arrows mean that a friend has opened the Snap. The filled squares signify when you have an unread chat or unopened Snap, while the outlined squares appear next to your viewed Snaps. The screenshot icon takes the form of two overlapping arrows, while the replay icon is indicated by an arrow in the form of a circle. Sometimes, the icons might be gray. A gray arrow may appear next to a sent chat if the person hasn't accepted your friend request yet. A gray outlined square, on the other hand, means you have a pending or expired chat from a Snapchat user.
Source: Snapchat
