Turn off story notifications from non-friends in Snapchat settings

Snapchat sends story notifications to everyone by default — including people who aren't your friends. You can turn these off so you only get notified when friends post stories. The setting lives in your notification preferences and takes about 30 seconds to change.

Open Snapchat and tap your profile icon in the top left corner. Tap the gear icon to open Settings. Scroll down and tap Notifications. Look for the section labeled "Stories" and tap it. You'll see an option that says "Story Notifications From" — tap that option and select "Friends" instead of "Everyone".

After you make this change, Snapchat will only notify you when people on your friends list post stories. You can still watch stories from non-friends if you open the app and look for them manually — this setting only controls whether you get a notification about them.

Key Takeaways

  • Snapchat's default setting sends story notifications from everyone, including accounts you don't follow.
  • Changing "Story Notifications From" to "Friends" stops notifications from non-friends while keeping friend notifications active.
  • This setting only affects notifications — you can still view non-friend stories by opening the app and browsing manually.
  • The same menu controls notifications for other Snapchat activity like messages and friend requests.

Why Snapchat notifies you about non-friend stories

Snapchat treats stories differently from direct messages. Stories are public or semi-public by default, and the app assumes you might want to know when anyone posts one. This is why the notification setting defaults to "Everyone" rather than just friends.

The reasoning is that you might follow accounts you don't consider close friends — celebrities, brands, public figures, or acquaintances — and still want to see their stories. But if you're getting notifications from accounts you don't recognize or don't care about, that default setting is working against you.

What happens if you mute someone instead

Snapchat also has a separate mute feature that works differently from the notification setting. If you mute a specific person, you won't see their stories in your feed at all, and they won't know you muted them. You can still message them and they can still message you.

Muting is useful if there's one specific account bothering you. To mute someone, hold down their name in your friends list and tap "Mute Story". But if you're getting notifications from many non-friends, changing the global notification setting is faster than muting each person individually.

Controlling notifications from specific friends

Once you've set story notifications to "Friends only", you can fine-tune further. If a friend posts stories constantly and you want to stop seeing their notifications without unfriending them, you can mute just that person's stories.

You can also turn off all notifications from Snapchat entirely by going back to Settings > Notifications and toggling off the main notification switch. This stops all alerts from the app, including messages and friend requests, so it's a more drastic step than just changing the story setting.

If you still get notifications after changing the setting

Sometimes the setting doesn't take effect when ready. Close Snapchat completely and reopen it — don't just swipe it away, but force-close it from your phone's app switcher. Then check that the setting is still set to "Friends".

If you're still getting notifications from non-friends after closing and reopening the app, check whether those accounts might actually be on your friends list. Snapchat sometimes adds people to your friends list automatically if you've messaged them or they've messaged you, even if you don't think of them as friends.

Managing notifications on different devices

If you use Snapchat on both a phone and a tablet, the notification settings sync between them. Changing the setting on one device changes it on all devices where you're logged in.

Your phone's operating system also has its own notification controls separate from Snapchat's settings. On iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Snapchat and make sure "Allow Notifications" is turned on if you want any Snapchat alerts. On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Snapchat > Notifications. These system-level controls override Snapchat's own settings, so if notifications aren't working the way you expect, check both places.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will people know if I mute their stories?

No. Muting someone's stories is invisible to them. They won't see any indication that you muted them, and you can still message them and be friends normally. You just won't see their stories in your feed or get notifications about them.

Can I turn off notifications for one person but keep them for everyone else?

Not directly through Snapchat's settings. You can either set notifications to "Friends only" (which affects all friends equally) or mute individual people's stories. If you want notifications from most friends but not one specific friend, muting that person is your best option.

What if I want notifications from non-friends but not from one specific non-friend?

Keep the setting on "Everyone" and mute the specific person whose stories are bothering you. This way you'll still get notifications from other non-friends, but not from the muted account.

Do story notifications work the same way on Snapchat+ (the paid version)?

Snapchat+ is a paid subscription that adds extra features, but the basic story notification settings work the same way. You can still choose between "Friends" and "Everyone" for story notifications regardless of whether you have the paid version.