How-To

Steps for Sending a Picture as a New Snap on Snapchat

By Jeff Butts

Published April 1, 2024

While looking at old pictures, you see one you wish was in Snapchat. No worries, you can send a picture Camera Roll as a Snap on Snapchat.

It’s a blast playing around with the different filters and lenses in the Snapchat app. But, sometimes you might wonder if you can send an old pic as a new snap. Maybe you’ve got a really great photo in your camera roll that you want to send on Snapchat. Good news, because you can totally do that. Here’s what you need to do if you want to send a picture you’ve already taken as a new snap on Snapchat.

Sending Snaps on Snapchat from Your Camera Roll Pictures

If you want to send an old (or new) picture from your camera roll as a snap on Snapchat, here’s what you need to do.

1. In the Snapchat app where you would create a snap, tap the Memories icon at the bottom left corner.
   
2. Next, select the Camera Roll tab.
   
3. Choose the picture from your camera roll that you want to use in your Snap.
4. You can bedazzle your new Snap using the tools along the right of the screen and add a lens from the bottom left.
   
5. To add a lens, swipe through the options until you find the one you like. Tap the shutter icon to take a Snap photo or hold it to create a video.
   
   Note: Interactive lenses, like ones that require you to open your mouth or blink your eyes, likely won’t work with your still photos.
   
6. Once you’re happy with your Snap, tap Story or Send to.
   
7. Choose the person to whom you want to send your Snap.
   
8. Finally, tap the Send button.
   

It’s important to remember that just because you can access your camera roll from Snapchat, that doesn’t mean those pictures are backed up to Snapchat. If you want to keep backups of your phone’s camera roll, you’ll need to do so another way.

Troubleshooting Adding Snaps from the Camera Roll

If you didn’t allow Snapchat access to your camera roll, Snapchat will tell you that when you try to access one of your pictures. All you need to do in this case is tap Enable in the Camera Roll tab, and the app will send you off to give it the permission it needs.

You also need to realize that your editing capabilities are going to be a bit limited when you create a Snap from the camera roll. Animations, as previously noted, won’t work. Neither will Bitmojis, since the photo you’re making a Snap from wasn’t taken with the Snapchat app.

When to Turn to the Camera Roll for Your Snaps

If you’re an avid Snapchat user, you probably know when the time is right for a Snap. But then again, sometimes we might not realize what a great Snap a picture would make until later. If you’ve realized that one of your plain photos is Snap-worthy after the fact, all is not lost.

You might miss out on some of the fancier features, like animations and interactive lenses, but you can still create some fantastic creations in Snapchat from the photo.