How to View Snapchat Stories Anonymously: Guide for 2025

To view Snapchat stories anonymously, load the story and use Airplane mode to watch it. You can also create a second account to view Snapchat stories without the owner knowing. On the other hand, you can watch public stories on Snapchat for the web without a Snapchat account.

For parents, the best way to view a child’s Snapchat stories is by using a parental control app. You don’t need a Snapchat account, and their stories will not disappear after 24 hours.

When would it be beneficial to watch Snapchat stories anonymously?

• to watch your child’s snaps without alerting them to your monitoring;
• researching a potential business partner without them knowing you’re looking at their personal life;
• when doing market research about other Snapchatters’ marketing strategies;
• keeping up with other people’s lives without them knowing;
• viewing someone’s stories without the social pressure of responding.

Snapchat mirrors face-to-face communication. It’s easy to see why over 4 billion snaps are sent daily on the app. When you want to be part of the action while keeping your activities private, knowing how to view Snapchat stories anonymously will help you big time.

Comparison of Different Ways to View Snapchat Stories

So, what can you see with or without a Snapchat account and via different methods?

What You Should Know About Snapchat Stories

A Snapchat story is a snap that you share on your Stories feed. Stories live for 24 hours. People can view them as often as they want in 24 hours, and then Snapchat deletes them.

There are different types of Snapchat stories.

Private Stories

When you add snaps to your Private stories, you can decide which friends can view them. The friends who can view your private story will see the snaps alongside your My Story.

Public Stories

Public stories are snaps that you share to My Stories – Public and your story settings are set to Everyone. When you post public stories, your friends, followers, and everyone else can view them.

My Story – Friends

Stories posted to My Story – Friends can only be seen by your friends.

Shared Stories

Shared stories are for you and your friends. Only you and the friends you choose can view and add snaps to a shared story.

Snap Map

Stories shared on Snap Map are public and may appear both on Snap Map and outside of Snapchat.

Community Stories

If you belong to a Snapchat Community, you can submit content to the Community Story. These submissions are also public and can be viewed by community members.

How Snapchat Records Story Views

When someone views your story, you will see their username in the Viewers list. You can access the Viewers list by going to My Stories. It will show you the number of views at the top of the story. You can tap on it to see the people who watched your snaps.

“You cannot change Snapchat settings to prevent another person from seeing that you watched their stories. You have to find ways to view Snapchat stories anonymously like Airplane mode and anonymous Snapchat story viewers.”

So, let’s see how to view someone’s Snapchat story anonymously and discuss the benefits and limitations of each method.

Use Snapchat Webpage to View Public Story Anonymously

Snapchat Web is the browser version of Snapchat. Unlike the Snapchat app, you don’t have to log in to see stories.

Benefits: You can search for public stories belonging to people you know.

Limitations: You can’t view private Snapchat stories set to friends only.

You can view public Stories, Spotlight, and Lenses content through the webpage. If someone posts stories to their public profile, their stories will be available when you search for their username.

To view public stories anonymously using Snapchat Web:

1. Open Snapchat for web by typing https://www.snapchat.com/ on a browser tab.
   
2. Type in a person’s Snapchat username in the search bar in the top-left corner. If the person has posted public snaps to their story, you can view them without the person’s knowledge.
   

Unfortunately, you can’t see stories posted to My Story.Friends. Nevertheless, you won’t need to log in to Snapchat, so your views will be anonymous.

Using Snapchat web to watch someone’s Snapchat story is great for public profiles.

Note that most people who have set their stories to public are content creators. Hence, if you don’t want to create a Snapchat account but are interested in a particular public figure, you can use this method to view public Snapchat stories anonymously.

How to View Friends’ Snapchat Stories Without Them Knowing

You can view a friend’s Snapchat stories anonymously using airplane mode. This mode disconnects all wireless connections, including Wi-Fi and cellular data.

Benefits: Snapchat won’t record your view.

Limitations: Video snaps won’t load until the end.

When you load a Snapchat story but don’t click it and then turn on Airplane mode, you can view it, but Snapchat will not record your view. And no, you don’t need to uninstall Snapchat after using this hack, as someone may tell you.

To use Airplane mode to view Snapchat Stories:

1. Open the Snapchat app and swipe left to go to the story page. Your friends’ stories will appear at the top.
2. Do not click on any of the stories.
3. Swipe down on your screen to turn on Airplane mode and turn off Wi-Fi connectivity if your phone does not do so automatically.
4. Close the Snapchat app and open it again.
5. Open the stories feature and tap on the story you want to see. The stories that loaded before you turned on Airplane mode will open.
   Mostly, only the first and second story loads, and sometimes you won’t watch until the end. Still, this method can show you the relevant content of a story without them knowing.
6. Once you watch the story, exit Snapchat and close the app before turning off Airplane mode.

How to Watch Private Snap Stories Anonymously

To watch private Snapchat stories anonymously, you need a parental control app that works as a phone tracking and monitoring tool. Otherwise, watching private stories is impossible without sharing them with you.

Benefits: Shows all private stories posted from a Snapchat account. It does not require having a Snapchat account.

Limitations: Cannot search Snapchat directly for other people’s stories.

Since it would breach a person’s privacy if you hacked their Snapchat, this method will work only for parents of teenagers. A Snapchat phone monitoring app can show what snaps your child sends to their private stories and what they are chatting about.

Based on our research, the mSpy Snapchat viewer can show you private stories as they are posted directly from your teen’s Snapchat account. mSpy takes screenshots of Snapchat activities, which means it will capture all their stories, including private ones.

To use mSpy to watch private Snap Stories:

1. Go to mspy.com to create an account. You will be asked to choose the phone’s operating system you want to monitor.
   • Android: you will get a QR code to scan using the target device;
   • iPhone: you will be asked for your child’s iCloud credentials.
2. Go through the steps to configure mSpy correctly until you can access the online dashboard.
3. Open the mSpy dashboard and head over to social networks.
4. Click Snapchat. mSpy will open screenshots taken of the Snapchat app. You will see their activities, such as the snaps they took and which ones they posted to their story page.

Note that mSpy does not record Snapchat stories in the form of videos. However, on Android phones, you can use the screen recorder to view videos on Snapchat. This method can require sifting through their phone’s activities, but you can see what they said in their snaps.

mSpy is excellent at monitoring social media platforms. It uploads data from Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and other social media platforms onto the control panel. You can also monitor their calls, texts, photos, and videos. If they are not using Snapchat responsibly, you can talk to your child or block the app entirely.

Try mSpy

Use Anonymous Snapchat Story Viewer

Anonymous Snapchat story viewers are online services that can view public Snapchat stories. They are different from the Snapchat web because they have a download option.

Benefits: Can display and download public Snapchat stories.
Limitations: Cannot see friends’ stories set to friends only.

With Snapchat viewers, you don’t need to log in, so you’ll surf Stories anonymously. Besides, you can take screenshots, and Snapchat won’t warn a user that you have just taken a screenshot.

After researching anonymous Snapchat story viewers, we found Megastory and Storyclone great options. They work the same. All you need is the person’s username.

As an example, let’s see how to use Megastory to view Snapchat Stories:

1. Open Megastory at https://megastory.org/snapchat-viewer.
2. Enter the Snapchat username in the search bar. Megastory will load that person’s stories in the feed.
3. Click on a story to view or the down arrow symbol to download the story.

Create Secondary Snapchat Account

The secondary account can help you see a friend’s story without them knowing. Still, Snapchat forbids having two accounts with the same phone number and email address.

You will require another phone number or email address. Remember that you should not impersonate another person, as it’s illegal. However, you can use a different name.

To create a secondary Snapchat account:

1. Go to your current Snapchat > Settings > Log Out.
   
2. Click Sign Up and input the details required.
   
3. Once you’ve set up the account, go to the search bar, enter your friend’s username, and tap the Add button. This will send them a friend request.
4. When your friend accepts your request, you can view Snapchat stories without them knowing your real personality.

Conclusion

After experimenting with all methods, I can conclude that using Airplane mode is the best way to view Snapchat stories anonymously. It is fast and preserves your privacy. You can see the story in a few minutes and go back to normal Snapchat scrolling.

Meanwhile, if you don’t have a Snapchat account, Snapchat web is the best for viewing public Snapchat stories.

If you’re a parent and want to monitor your child’s snaps, use the mSpy parental control app.