You can delete stickers from Snapchat in two ways: remove them before you send, or delete the entire message or story after it's posted

Snapchat stickers stay on a message or story until you take them off. If you've already sent something, you can delete the whole post — but you cannot edit out just the sticker and keep the rest. If you haven't sent it yet, you can remove stickers one at a time before hitting send.

The steps differ slightly depending on whether you're working with a message to one person, a group chat, or a story that goes to all your friends. Both routes take less than a minute.

Key Takeaways

  • Before you send a message or story, tap any sticker on the screen and press delete to remove it without affecting the photo or text underneath.
  • After you've sent a message to one person or a group, you can delete the entire message, but Snapchat does not let you remove only the sticker.
  • Stories can be deleted entirely from your profile, which removes all stickers along with the photo or video.
  • Stickers you've added yourself are different from stickers others have sent you — you can only delete your own posts.

How to remove a sticker before sending

Open Snapchat and create a new message or story the way you normally would — take a photo or video, add text if you want, then tap the sticker icon (it looks like a smiley face with a corner folded). Choose the sticker you want and place it on the screen.

Once the sticker is on your message, tap it directly. A menu will appear with options including a trash or delete icon. Tap that icon to remove the sticker. The photo, video, or text underneath stays exactly as it was. Repeat for any other stickers you want to remove, then send the message or post to your story as normal.

How to delete a message with a sticker already sent

If you've already sent a message to one person or a group chat, open the conversation and find the message with the sticker. Press and hold on that message until a menu pops up. You'll see options including "Delete" — tap it to remove the entire message from the chat.

The message disappears from both your chat and the recipient's chat. Keep in mind that Snapchat does not let you delete just the sticker while keeping the message — you have to remove the whole thing. If the message has text or a photo you want to keep, you'll need to send it again without the sticker.

How to delete a story that has a sticker

Stories work differently from direct messages. Open your profile by tapping your avatar in the top left corner, then find the story you want to delete. Tap and hold on that story until a menu appears with a trash icon or "Delete" option. Tap it to remove the entire story.

Once deleted, the story disappears from your profile and no one can see it anymore. Like messages, you cannot remove only the sticker from a story — you have to delete the whole post if you want the sticker gone.

Why you might want to delete a sticker

Stickers can change the tone of a message in ways you didn't intend, or they might not match what you wanted to say. A silly sticker on a serious photo, or one that covers an important part of the image, are common reasons to take it off. Sometimes you just change your mind about how the message looks.

The good news is that removing a sticker before you send takes just a few taps, so you can experiment with different stickers and delete the ones that don't work without any lasting effect.

Stickers others have sent you

If someone else sent you a message or story with a sticker on it, you cannot delete their sticker. You can only delete messages or stories that you created yourself. If a message from someone else bothers you, you can delete the entire conversation or mute the person, but you cannot edit their posts.

If you want to remove a sticker from something you're about to forward or screenshot, remember that you're working with their original post — taking a screenshot captures the sticker as part of the image, and forwarding sends it exactly as they posted it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I edit a message to remove just the sticker and keep the photo?

No. Snapchat does not have an edit feature that lets you change individual elements of a sent message. You can only delete the entire message and send a new one without the sticker if you want to keep the photo or text.

What happens when I delete a message with a sticker?

The message disappears from both your chat and the other person's chat. They will see that a message was deleted, but they cannot see what was in it. If they took a screenshot before you deleted it, the screenshot remains on their phone.

Can I delete a sticker from a story after people have already seen it?

No. Once a story is posted, you can only delete the entire story. If you want to remove a sticker, you'll have to delete the story and post it again without the sticker. Anyone who already viewed it will have seen the original version.

Do stickers take up more space or make messages load slower?

No. Stickers are part of the message file and do not affect how fast Snapchat sends or receives messages. Removing a sticker does not make the message smaller or faster.