On Snapchat, a message waiting is easy to find: a gray arrow appears next to your message, indicating that your Snap or chat message was not delivered.
What does a pending message mean on Snapchat?
A message waiting, it's a Snap or a chat message that was sent from your end but never delivered to the recipient. The small gray arrow in your chat list is a telltale sign. This status is almost always due to one of these four reasons.
1. A weak internet signal
Snapchat consumes a lot of mobile data to send your Snaps and chats. So even an unstable connection is enough to block sending and leave the gray arrow displayed indefinitely.
2. Your friend hasn't accepted your request yet
By default, message exchange remains blocked until both users have accepted each other.
If you haven't seen it yet, you'll see this notification in your chats: “Your Snaps and chats will be suspended until the user adds you as a friend”.
As soon as the person accept your friend request, the message is sent and the gray arrow disappears.
3. The person you're messaging has blocked you
If the person you're writing to has blocked, your message reaches the servers but never makes it to its destination. Here are the telltale signs:
- You can no longer view their profile or see their Snapscore.
- Your message remains in that state indefinitely “on hold”, without ever getting through.
To confirm, check their profile: if their name has disappeared from your friends list, that's the most reliable sign of a jam.
4. Your contact is no longer on Snapchat
If your contact has left Snapchat, your messages remain pending: the content is successfully sent to the servers, but no active account can receive it.
Data from a deactivated account is permanently deleted after 30 days without reconnecting. The contact's name will then disappear from your list, and the pending notification will be cleared along with it.
If the person you're calling is just busy, they may have also responded with the symbol SR on Snapchat.
How can I fix the "pending" status of messages on Snapchat?
1. Check your Internet connection
Start by checking your Internet connection. If you're in mobile data, switch to Wi-Fi for a more stable connection.
Helpful tip: Turn on the airplane mode Turn it on for a few moments, then turn it off. This forces your phone to reconnect to the servers. If the message is still pending after that, the problem lies elsewhere.
2. Check to see if the person you're messaging has accepted your friend request
Open your contact's profile and check their chat option. If it still says “on hold”, your request to be added has not yet been approved.
In that case, be patient or send him a reminder through another channel. Once he adds you back, your messages will go through as usual.
3. Check to make sure he's still using the app
If the pending status If it persists even though the person seems active, there's a good chance they've blocked or removed from their friends list.
Meaning of other symbols on Snapchat
Beyond the gray arrow, Snapchat uses a real color code to indicate the type and status of each piece of content sent. Here's how to interpret these icons at a glance and understand all the Snapchat symbols.
1. Red
The red arrow indicates that the snap was sent does not contain sound. Even when it's full, your friend hasn't opened it yet. To learn more, check out our article on the Meaning of the red snap.
2. Purple
The purple arrow indicates a Snap with sound. It lets you tell at a glance whether audio content is playing or muted.
3. Blue
The blue arrow indicates that you have just sent a cat, that is, a text message. When it becomes digs (just the outline)—your contact has opened and read.
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