How to Half Swipe on Snapchat Without Opening Chats

Half swipe on Snapchat allows you to preview the message without opening it or letting the sender know. Snapchat’s Half swipe lets you read the message by just swiping it gently. Snapchat moves fast, and with the use of small tricks, you can read and respond to messages. One of the most talked-about moves is the Half swipe Snapchat in Snapchat Planets.

It is a better trick if you want to keep your privacy and want to read someone’s messages without marking them as opened. In this guide, you will get a complete and clear answer to what a half swipe is in Snapchat.

What is Half Swipe on Snapchat?

Half swipe Snapchat means to preview someone’s messages without marking them as opened. Normally, when you tap on a chat, the app indicates the signal on the sender’s screen that you have opened it, but with a Snapchat Plus half-swipe feature in Snapchat Planets, you can easily read the message without sending the read receipt.

 Snapchat premium features half swipe, became more popular as it gives more control to the user. You can check the messages of a sender without feeling pressured to reply. As you have read the messages by the half swipe on Snapchat, you can easily maintain your privacy and decide whether you want to respond or not. Learn more about Time Sensitive on Snapchat to see how disappearing messages work and how they can change your chats. 

Why Half-Swiping on Snapchat Matters

Half swipe on Snapchat Planets helps you to read the message of the sender, and in many ways, given below:

• Snapchat Plus’s half-swipe feature will help you when you want to see someone’s messages but don’t want to reply yet.
• If you want to maintain privacy, do not open the message.
• If you want to avoid emotional and any other conversation but still want to stay updated.
• Snapchat premium features, like half swipe, help you in your busy schedule and allow you to quickly look at messages.

Does Half Swiping Still Work in 2025?

In 2025, Snapchat became smarter in tracking how people interact with chats. In older versions, users can easily use Half half-swipe feature on Snapchat, and this trick works almost every time. But with recent updates, half swipe Snapchat Plus has become harder to pull off due to the advanced security improvements.

According to some users, this feature is still working properly on older phones, while some users notice that sometimes, messages show as read when the user swipes carefully. In short half-swipe feature still works, but not always. For a better message experience, check out our full guide on How to Pin Someone on Snapchat.

How to Half Swipe on Snapchat (Step-by-Step)

Here’s an easy step-by-step way to half swipe on Snapchat so you can quietly check messages without opening the chat or alerting the sender.

1. Open the Snapchat app: Make sure that you are on the chats screen so that you can see your conversations and streaks. Do not tap the chat you want to preview yet.
2. Place your finger on the user profile icon: Instead of swiping from the middle of the chat, press and hold on the person’s profile or bitmoji. Located on the left side of their name.
3. Slowly swipe right: While keeping your finger down, slowly drag your finger to the right, and you will be able to see the latest messages.
4. Read the message without reading: You can see as many of the messages as half a screen allows. 
5. Swipe back to the left: Without lifting your finger, carefully slide it back to the left until the cat preview disappears. Now, you have successfully half-swiped.

Can Someone See if you Half-Swipe on Snapchat

If you have done the half swipe according to the above steps, the other person will not know you half swiped. Snapchat will not send a notification or show the opened status if you avoid fully swiping. In case you lift your finger while the message is still half open, you may accidentally fully open it, and Snapchat will send a notification to the sender that you have read the message. 

Risks & Limitations of Half Swiping

Although this trick is sometimes useful, it is not fully supportive. You have to keep the following points in mind:

1. Accidental full open: If you swipe too far or too fast, Snapchat will consider it a full read.
2. Snapchat app update: Snapchat has improved its detection mechanism. Some older app versions do not support half-swiping, especially on Android.
3. Snapchat+ does not support half-swipe: Snapchat+ users may not be completely able to use the half-swipe feature, and in the future, this trick will not be further supported.
4. Only works for text chats: This method only works on messages and is not supportive for snaps and photos. Once you tap a snap, it’s opened, and the sender will receive a notification that you have read it.

Is Half Swiping Ethical?

It really depends on how you use it. Some people think half swiping is sneaky whale, others see it as a smarter way to look at the sender’s messages before replying. So that you can easily answer the conversation confidently. So if you are using these features to take a time before responding, this is good for the user. 

FAQs

Conclusion

Half swipe on Snapchat is a smart way to preview the messages without marking them as opened. It is a perfect way to stay private, avoid unwanted conversations, and simply take some time before replying. This feature is reliable on older versions and is less reliable on Snapchat+. These features only work for text chats and do not work for snaps and photos.