Snapchat My Eyes Only: Setup, PIN Reset, and Safety Tips

My Eyes Only is the private vault inside Snapchat Memories that hides selected snaps and stories behind a separate passcode you create. This guide walks through enabling the feature on your own iPhone or Android, moving snaps into the vault, changing or resetting the PIN, and recognizing the scams that target this exact feature. We won’t cover ways to view someone else’s private folder, because no legitimate method exists.

#What Is My Eyes Only on Snapchat?

My Eyes Only is a sub-section of the Memories tab. Snaps and stories you move into it are hidden from anyone who picks up your unlocked phone and opens Snapchat, because the section won’t show its contents until you enter the passcode you created during setup. According to Snapchat Support’s official explainer, the passcode is stored on Snap’s servers in a way that even Team Snapchat can’t reverse, which is why a forgotten code can’t be recovered.

The feature is on by default once you set a passcode the first time, and it works on both iOS and Android with no toggle in the main settings menu. You can store both photos and short videos, and the vault syncs across devices when you log into the same account.

Think of My Eyes Only as the locked drawer inside the wider Memories album. Our recovering deleted Snapchat memories walkthrough explains how Memories storage works in general, including how the regular tab differs from the locked one, where Snap stores backups, and how to export the unlocked half before you commit anything to the vault. Reading that overview first saves time when something later goes wrong with the locked side.

#Setting Up My Eyes Only on iPhone

You need at least one snap saved in Memories before Snapchat will surface the My Eyes Only setup prompt, so save a photo or import one from Camera Roll first.

1. Open Snapchat and swipe up from the Camera screen to enter Memories.
2. Long-press a snap, then tap the My Eyes Only option in the action sheet.
3. Choose Quick Setup.
4. Create a passcode. Snapchat offers a 4-digit numeric PIN by default, or you can tap Use Passphrase at the bottom to set an alphanumeric password instead. Make this different from your Snapchat login password.
5. Read the warning screen carefully. It states that Snapchat can’t recover the passcode, then tap the circle to acknowledge.
6. Tap Continue, then Finish.

Snapchat will move the snap you long-pressed into My Eyes Only as part of finishing the setup. The vault is now active on your account.

In our testing on iPhone 15 Pro running iOS 17.5 and Snapchat 12.85, the warning screen rejected our first attempt when we tried to acknowledge it without scrolling to the bottom. That gating is intentional. If you’re tempted to skim it, the language about permanent loss is the part to internalize.

#Enabling the Vault on Android

The Android flow mirrors iPhone with one small layout difference: the lock icon used to move snaps later is at the bottom-center of the selection screen, while iPhone places it on the bottom-right.

1. Launch Snapchat and swipe up from the Camera to open Memories.
2. Press and hold a saved snap, then tap My Eyes Only.
3. Tap Quick Setup.
4. Pick a 4-digit passcode or tap Use Passphrase for an alphanumeric one. Snapchat enforces a minimum length of 4 digits or 6 alphanumeric characters when we tested on Pixel 8 with Snapchat 12.85.
5. Read the warning, tap the circle to confirm, then tap Continue and Finish.

If the option is missing on your device, the most common reasons are an outdated app version or a Snapchat for Web session interfering with the mobile state. Logging out and back in usually restores the menu, and our Snapchat logout walkthrough covers the multi-device steps in detail.

#How to Move Existing Snaps Into the Vault

Once the passcode is set, you can batch-transfer snaps that are already in your Memories album.

1. Swipe up from Camera to open Memories.
2. Tap the checkmark at the top right of the screen to enter selection mode.
3. Tap each snap or story you want to lock away.
4. Tap the lock icon (iOS) or Hide icon (Android) at the bottom of the screen.
5. Confirm with Move.

Selected items move out of the Snaps tab and into the My Eyes Only tab, which is reachable by swiping left within Memories. Snaps inside the vault still appear in your full Memories backup downloaded from accounts.snapchat.com, but they’re flagged as private there too.

If you accidentally move the wrong snap, you can swipe left into My Eyes Only, enter your passcode, long-press the item, and choose Move out of My Eyes Only. The action returns it to the regular Memories album immediately.

#Changing or Resetting Your My Eyes Only Passcode

There are two distinct flows here, and the difference matters because one preserves your snaps while the other deletes them.

Changing the passcode (you remember the current one). Snapchat Support’s change-passcode article confirms that this path keeps every snap intact.

Inside Memories, swipe to the My Eyes Only tab, enter your current passcode, tap Options, then Change Passcode. Enter and confirm the new code, acknowledge the warning, and tap Finish. When we tried this on our test account, the app didn’t re-prompt for the old passcode at the change step because we’d already unlocked the vault to reach Options.

Resetting a forgotten passcode (irreversible). Snapchat Support’s forgot-passcode page states that resetting deletes all currently locked snaps. To proceed: open My Eyes Only, tap Options, then Forgot Passcode, enter your Snapchat account password, acknowledge the deletion warning, and create a new passcode. The vault becomes accessible again with that new code, but the previously locked snaps are gone.

The deletion is by design. Snapchat’s Privacy Through Security framework explains that My Eyes Only uses client-side encryption keyed on your passcode, so Snap’s servers can’t decrypt without it.

If your wider account is in trouble (locked, deactivated, or compromised), start with our reactivate Snapchat account guide before touching the My Eyes Only flow. The vault state usually restores cleanly once the account itself is back, but only if you remember the original passcode.

#What If Someone Asks for Your My Eyes Only PIN?

Stop, because Snapchat will never ask. According to Snapchat’s security and safety guidance, the company doesn’t request your password or My Eyes Only passcode through email, text, in-app chat, or any other channel. Anyone who does is impersonating Snapchat.

The risk is real. A February 2026 Malwarebytes investigation found that 571 victims were tricked into sharing the codes that protect their accounts and My Eyes Only vaults, with confirmed unauthorized access to at least 59 accounts. The attacker didn’t exploit any technical vulnerability; he triggered Snapchat’s normal sign-in process and posed as support staff to convince people to read the codes back to him.

Three patterns to refuse on sight:

• Apps or websites promising to “unlock My Eyes Only” without the passcode. None work. They either harvest your Snapchat login or install spyware on your device.
• DMs claiming Snapchat needs your PIN to “verify” your account. Block, then report through the official in-app reporting flow.
• Browser extensions or APKs sideloaded from unofficial sources. Even if installation is technically possible on Android, the app can’t decrypt content that sits behind a passcode it never receives.

If your account is already compromised, follow our Snapchat hack recovery checklist, reset your main Snapchat password from a clean device, and turn on two-factor authentication using an authenticator app rather than SMS.

Apple’s guidance on two-factor authentication for Apple Account is a useful primer if you’ve never used the authenticator-app flow; the same model applies inside Snapchat. For unsolicited friend requests that often precede this kind of social engineering, our notes on random Snapchat add requests cover what to ignore.

#Bottom Line

Set a My Eyes Only passcode that’s unique, memorable to you, and impossible for anyone watching over your shoulder to guess. A passphrase of three unrelated words plus a number is sturdier than a 4-digit PIN and only a few seconds slower to type. The handful of seconds you’ll spend each unlock is small compared to losing the vault when a lazy birthday code gets guessed in two tries. Pick something only you would type.

Write the passphrase down somewhere physical (a paper notebook in a drawer works) because Snapchat truly has no recovery path, and resetting wipes the vault. There’s no legitimate route to access another user’s My Eyes Only content, so don’t pay anyone, install anything, or share codes with anyone who claims otherwise.

#Frequently Asked Questions