What Does a Grey Arrow Mean on Snapchat? Snapchat Arrows Explained

Co-authored by Imad Jbara and Aly Rusciano

Last Updated: March 11, 2022

When you send a Snap on Snapchat, you may notice that a colored arrow appears next to your friend's name, but what does it mean when the arrow is grey? The grey arrow isn’t as common as the others, so we’ve put together a guide to help you understand what this icon means. Keep reading to learn all about Snapchat’s icons, including the mysterious grey arrow.

Section 1 of 4:

Snapchat Grey Arrow Meanings

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Friend request pending. If you’ve sent a Snap to someone you’ve recently sent a friend request to and a grey arrow appears, it means they haven’t accepted your friend request yet. “Pending” and a filled-in grey arrow will appear under this person’s name. Once they accept your request, your Snap will send and the arrow will turn blue.^{[1]
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Removed from friends list. Suppose your Snap says it was delivered, but a grey arrow appears. In this case, it could be because they’ve deleted your Snapchat contact information or have changed their settings to only receive Snaps from friends. They probably received the Snap but removed you from their list without opening it.^{[2]
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Blocked. If you send a friend a Snap and a grey arrow and “Pending” appear by their contact, it may be because they’ve blocked you. Check to see if you’re still friends by searching their username in Snapchat’s search bar. If their name pops up, they’ve unfriended you. If nothing comes up, they’ve blocked you.^{[3]
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Section 2 of 4:

Other Snapchat Arrows

The grey arrow isn’t the only arrow that appears when you send a Snap. There are two types of arrows on Snapchat: opened and sent. An opened arrow icon is a colored outline of an arrow and means that a friend has opened your message. A sent arrow icon is a filled-in colored icon that shows your Snap was delivered. Here is what each colored arrow represents:^{[4]
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- Purple: A Snap with audio
- Blue: A Chat
- Red: A Snap without audio

Section 3 of 4:

Other Snapchat Icons

Snapchat icons tell the status of your Snap. There are squares, speech bubbles, double arrows, and replay signs along with arrows. These icons appear underneath a username when they’ve interacted with your Snap. Here’s a simple guide to help you learn what each icon means:^{[5]
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- Red solid square: Sent a Snap without audio
- Red unfilled square: You viewed a Snap without audio
- Red double unfilled arrows: Friend took a screenshot of a Snap without audio
- Red replay: Friend replayed a Snap without audio
- Purple solid square: Sent a Snap with audio
- Purple unfilled square: You viewed a Snap with audio
- Purple double unfilled arrows: Friend took a screenshot of a Snap with audio
- Purple replay: Friend replayed a Snap with audio
- Blue solid square: Sent a Chat message
- Blue unfilled square: You opened a Chat message
- Blue double unfilled arrows: Friend took a screenshot of a Chat

Section 4 of 4:

Snapchat Friendship Emojis

On Snapchat, your friendship status is displayed with fun emojis. The number of times you Snap and Chat with a friend can boost or lower your friendship level. To see how close you and a friend are on the app, check if one of these emojis is by their username:^{[6]
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- 💛: BFFs (you send the most Snaps to each other)
- ❤️: BFFs for two weeks straight
- 💕: BFFs for two months straight
- 😏: You’re one of their BFFs, but they’re not one of yours
- 😎: One of your BFFs is their BFF
- 😊: You send a lot of Snaps to each other
- 🔥: Snapstreak (Snapped every day for at least three days)
- 💯: 100-day Snapstreak
- ⌛: Snapstreak is about to end
- 😬: Same BFF
- 🎂: Birthday
- 👶: New friend