After nearly a decade of serving as a digital scrapbook for life’s moments, Snapchat is introducing a major change to one of its most popular features — Memories. The company has announced plans to cap free Memories storage at 5GB, effectively placing a price tag on how users preserve their snaps.
Snapchat to Introduce Paid Storage Plans
Snapchat confirmed to that users who exceed the 5GB limit will need to either export their Memories or subscribe to one of the company’s new Memories Storage plans.
The new tiered pricing system includes:
- $1.99/month for 100GB of storage
- $3.99/month for 250GB (included in the Snapchat+ subscription)
- $15.99/month for 5TB (as part of the Snapchat Platinum plan)
If a user’s Memories exceed the free limit but they don’t upgrade, Snapchat says it will automatically retain older Snaps while deleting newer ones to stay within the cap.
The company will, however, provide a 12-month grace period for users to download or manage any excess Memories before automatic deletion begins.
Users Weigh Options: Pay or Export
The announcement has prompted mixed reactions among Snapchat’s loyal users. While some plan to upgrade for convenience, others are opting to save their Memories elsewhere — a move that’s possible through Snapchat’s export and data download tools.
If you’d rather not pay for additional storage, here are two ways to preserve your Snapchat Memories for free.
Option 1: Export Your Memories to Your Camera Roll
One straightforward way to keep your Snaps is to export them to your device’s camera roll. However, this process can be time-consuming if you have a large archive — Snapchat limits downloads to 100 Memories per batch.
Still, it’s a practical method if you only want to keep your favorite or most important Snaps.
How to export your Snapchat Memories:
Open the Snapchat app and tap the “Memories” icon beside the camera button.
Tap “Select” in the top-right corner.
Choose up to 100 Memories you’d like to save.
Tap “Export” at the bottom-right corner.
Select “Download” to save them directly to your camera roll.
Repeat this process for additional batches.
While this manual method may take time, it gives you more control over which Snaps are worth keeping — and which can be left behind.
Option 2: Download All Your Snapchat Data
If you have a large collection of Memories and don’t want to go through them manually, Snapchat offers a simpler solution: the “Download My Data” tool.
This feature lets you export all your Memories at once and receive them via email as a downloadable .zip file.
How to download your Snapchat data:
Open Snapchat and go to your Profile.
Tap the Settings icon (⚙️) in the top right.
Scroll to “My Data.”
Select Memories, HTML Files, and JSON Files (you can uncheck other options unless you want to include chat history or account info).
Tap Next.
Choose “All Time” when asked for a date range.
Confirm your email address and tap Submit.
Snapchat will prepare your data and email you when it’s ready. The delivery time varies depending on how much content you’ve saved.
Once downloaded, you can unzip the file and access your Memories in a browser or file viewer.
Why the Change Matters
Snapchat’s decision signals a broader trend among social media platforms seeking to monetize data storage as users generate more media content than ever before. With hundreds of millions of users creating and saving photos and videos daily, the costs of cloud storage continue to rise.
For Snapchat, introducing paid storage is a way to sustain long-term infrastructure costs while encouraging users to be more selective about what they store.
Still, for many users, the change feels like the end of an era — when saving memories didn’t come with a price tag.
Bottom Line
Whether you decide to pay for additional space or export your Snaps manually, it’s worth taking the next few months to organize and secure your digital memories.
For users who have been on Snapchat since its early days, this may be the perfect time to revisit old Snaps, relive some nostalgia — and ensure those memories stay yours, no matter what.
