Cancelling a storage plan
How to stop paying Snapchat for Memories storage without losing anything
Updated
Export first, then cancel, in that order. Cancelling a storage plan while you're over 5GB doesn't delete anything, but from January 2027 Snapchat archives Memories that are more than a year old and aren't part of your oldest 5GB: they stay in the app as thumbnails that need a paid plan to open. Take a full export while every one of them is still openable, and cancelling costs you nothing but the thumbnails.
The order that loses nothing
- 1. Request the export while the plan is still active. Settings → Privacy Controls → My Data. Tick Export your Memories and Export JSON Files, and choose All Time. The JSON is where the dates and locations live; without it nothing can put them back.
- 2. Download every part the day the email lands. A large library arrives as several ZIPs, only the first one carries the JSON, and the links expire within days.
- 3. Put the dates, captions and locations back. The export strips all three. Copy the raw files into a photo library and every memory lands on the day you downloaded it.
- 4. Move them somewhere you trust. iCloud Photos, Google Photos, Immich, Synology Photos, or an external drive.
- 5. Check them, then cancel. Scroll by year, open a few videos, make sure the count looks right. Only then cancel the plan.
Where the cancel button is
Snapchat's support page says a Memories-only storage plan is managed from your Memories settings in the app. If your storage comes with Snapchat+ or Platinum, it's a subscription like any other. Cancel it wherever you started it: the App Store, Google Play, or Snapchat's website.
What happens after you cancel
- Under 5GB: nothing changes.
- Over 5GB: nothing is deleted. Snapchat's support page answers that question with a flat no.
- From January 2027: Memories more than a year old that aren't in your oldest 5GB get archived. You still see them, as thumbnails, but opening, editing or sharing one needs a paid plan again.
- Before it happens to you: Snapchat says it will give notice in the app first, so there's no single day everyone's library changes.
Is the plan worth keeping?
$1.99 a month or $20 a year for 100GB is small, and it's forever. If you open old Memories constantly, send throwbacks to friends, or live in On This Day, keep it. An export doesn't do any of that. If you mostly want them kept safe and rarely look, one export is cheaper than every year after it.
Don't delete anything from Snapchat yet
There's no reason to. Cancelling doesn't require clearing your Memories, and until you've opened the exported copy and checked it, the copy in the app is the only one you know is complete.
Do the export part properly
This puts the dates, captions and locations back into your export in your browser, with nothing uploaded. The first 500 files are free, so you can check the result before cancelling anything.