How Does Quick Add Work On Snapchat & Can You Turn It Off?

Although Quick Add is a staple Snapchat feature, users may not know how it works and how to turn it off. Snapchat allows users to add friends in different ways. Users can upload their contacts to the app to add people they know, add friends through the Search section, and by mentions in Snapchat stories. Snapchat also displays friend recommendations, similar to Instagram and Facebook's 'People you may know' suggestions.

Snapchat's Quick Add feature allows users to discover other users based on mutual friends, subscriptions, and several other factors. Getting friend recommendations on Snapchat is common, and thanks to the Quick Add feature, users can easily discover and add friends. However, Quick Add might result in users getting random friend requests from unknown people. If this happens, they might want to disable the feature entirely. Quick Add suggestions usually appear in the Add Friends section and search screen on Snapchat.

Related: How To Make Someone Your No. 1 Best Friend On Snapchat (Super BFF)

How To Turn Off Quick Add On Snapchat

Users will see Quick Add suggestions in the form of display names with avatars, usernames, and the number of mutual friends, if applicable. To add the recommended Snapchat user as a friend, tap the 'Add' button that appears next to their name, and to delete the suggestion, tap the 'x' button on the side. While Quick Add can come up with some excellent friend recommendations, it doesn't always get them right. Sometimes, users see people they don't know, or people they don't want to add to their Snapchat in the Quick Add list.

This is why turning the Quick Add feature off is a good idea, especially for users who don't want their profile details, such as usernames and avatars, to appear as recommendations to strangers. To do this, open the Snapchat app, tap on the Bitmoji avatar in the top left corner of the display, and tap on the gear icon in the top right to open the Settings menu. Under 'Privacy Controls,' tap on the 'See me in Quick Add' option. Tap on the toggle to turn it off and the user will stop showing in other Snapchatters' Quick Add sections.

If Someone Is On Your Quick Add Are You On Theirs?

According to Snapchat, Quick Add suggestions "are based on who you're already friends with, who you subscribe to, and other factors." Quick Add suggestions are also based on a person's contact list – if a contact in a user's phone book is on Snapchat, it's very likely that they will show up on Quick Add, provided they have a Snapchat account. Quick Add also shows recommendations from mutual friends, or friends of friends.

While it isn't guaranteed that just because a Snapchatter shows up in a user's Quick Add, the user will show up in theirs, it's very likely. The same factors that caused the Snapchat algorithm to show a person in one user's Quick Add should technically work both ways. At the end of the day, Quick Add is a finite list, and there are only so many suggestions Snapchat will show based on mutual friends and contacts.

Source: Snapchat