What Is Ghost Mode on Snapchat and How to Turn It On?

What Is Ghost Mode on Snapchat and How to Turn It On

Almost all of the apps you use seem to track your whereabouts. The fear of someone staring at where you are or where you’re going can be a source of worry. You may simply desire the piece of mind that comes with knowing no one knows where you are.

Snapchat’s location services, in particular, are utilized to show your Snapchat buddies your approximate location. This allows you to see who is in your immediate vicinity, what your friends are up to, and how many friends you have.

However, Snapchat has a function called “Ghost Mode” that allows you to erase yourself from the map.

What Is Snapchat’s Ghost Mode and How Do I Use It?

Snapchat will no longer reveal your location with your pals if you enable Ghost Mode on your account. Here’s more on how Snapchat location sharing works to help you understand.

If you have location sharing turned on for your friends in the Snapchat app, it will update and place your Bitmoji on the Snap Map to show where you are. Unless you open Snapchat, it will not update your location.

You can control who sees your shared location, which is where Snapchat’s Ghost Mode comes in. You can opt to share your location with all of your friends (once you’ve added them back), select friends you choose to share your location with, or just yourself, which is known as Ghost Mode.

People won’t be able to see you on Snap Maps, the globe map within the Snapchat app, if you’re in Ghost Mode. Additionally, your location will no longer be updated. People can still request to see your location, but you must first accept the request before your location is sent.

If you don’t want your location to appear on Snap Maps but still want some friends to know where you are, selecting the Select Friends option when setting your location sharing might be a better alternative. You can activate Ghost Mode if you don’t want anyone to see you at all. Here’s how to go about it.

How to Enable Snapchat’s Ghost Mode

To activate Ghost Mode, open Snapchat and follow these steps:

  1. Select your profile photo.
  2. In the top right corner, tap the settings symbol, which resembles a gear.
  3. Tap on See My Location after scrolling down to Who Can…

The Ghost Mode option is located at the top of the page. When you turn it on, you’ll be given the option of setting a timer for Ghost Mode. You can set it to stay on for 3 hours, 24 hours, or until you manually turn it off.

Tap the same toggle to turn off Ghost Mode.

You may also go to the Snap Map part of the app and tap the gear icon in the top-right corner to see the same location sharing settings screen.

You can also select to exclude some people from seeing your location on this screen, or choose pals who can see it while the rest of your friends can’t.

You may also choose whether or not you wish to allow your friends to request your location under Location Requests. Nobody will be able to send you a location share request if this is disabled.

How to Modify Snapchat’s Location Access

You can make certain modifications to your smartphone settings if you don’t want Snapchat to have access to your location at all. On iOS, here’s how to adjust these settings.

  1. Go to the Settings menu.
  2. Select Snapchat from the list of apps at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Select Location.

Tap Never under Allow Location Access.

This will prevent Snapchat from seeing your location and effectively place you in Ghost Mode, as no one else will be able to see your whereabouts. The Precise Location setting is another option that can be beneficial.

If you enable this, Snapchat will be able to determine your exact location and display it on the Snap Map for others to see. Turn this off if you still want to be visible on the map but don’t want people to know your specific position. Snap Maps will show you around the area where you are, but not your specific location.

Using Snapchat’s Ghost Mode

If you don’t want your location to be visible to everyone, Ghost Mode can be incredibly handy. Because you can set a timer for Ghost Mode, you can turn it on and off whenever you choose. If you’re more concerned about Snapchat gaining access to your location, you can change the settings on your phone.

Keep in mind that if you aren’t sharing your location, you may not be able to use the app’s location-specific filters. You can always turn location sharing back on for a brief amount of time to see whether any of these filters are available.

Keeping your location hidden might protect you from others who might try to pry or find out your location for nefarious purposes. This is particularly crucial because you may not always know who you’re adding as a Snapchat friend.

Jennifer Thomas
Jennifer Thomas is the Co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer at Cybers Guards. Prior to that, She was responsible for leading its Cyber Security Practice and Cyber Security Operations Center, which provided managed security services.