Snapchat temporary storage: what it means and until when
It's the 12 months of extra room Snapchat gave everyone with more than 5GB of Memories when it brought in storage plans. It ends in January 2027: then memories over a year old beyond your oldest 5GB are archived, still there as thumbnails but only opened with a paid plan or a download.
What it means
On 26 September 2025 Snapchat limited free Memories storage to 5GB and brought in paid plans for more. Anyone who already had more than 5GB didn’t lose the rest: Snapchat promised 12 months of temporary storage for everything above 5GB, so people had time to choose. If Snapchat says your memories are in temporary storage, you’re one of them.
Most people have less than 5GB, and for them nothing changes.
Until when?
Snapchat says no Memories will be archived before January 2027, and that it will tell you in the app before anything changes for you. It hasn’t given an exact day. Our storage calculator shows roughly which of your years would be affected.
What happens after
Nothing is deleted. From January 2027, memories that are more than a year old and aren’t part of your oldest 5GB are archived. They stay in Memories as thumbnails, but to open, edit or share them you need a paid storage plan or a copy you downloaded. Your oldest 5GB and everything from the last 12 months stay open either way.
What you can do before then
- Pay for a plan to keep everything open in Snapchat. The 100GB plan is $1.99 a month in the US.
- Download everything once, for free, with Snapchat’s data export. Our guide shows how.
- Or both: a copy of your own is worth having anyway.
The export’s files need fixing before you keep them: photos have no date or place inside them, captions come as separate images and long videos are cut into 10-second pieces. BackupMemories puts that back, free. There’s more on what’s wrong with the export.
My Eyes Only
My Eyes Only memories are saved in Memories too. But Snapchat’s export lists them without including their files, so a download leaves them out. To keep them, move them out of My Eyes Only before you ask for your export.
Is it the same as “cloud storage full”?
They’re two sides of the same change. “Cloud storage full” tells you you’re over 5GB; temporary storage is the time Snapchat gave you before archiving starts. There’s more in Snapchat cloud storage full.
Waiting for Snapchat's email?
Snapchat usually takes a day or two to send your export, sometimes up to a week. Leave your email and we'll send you one reminder, with what to do next.