Snapchat will archive older Memories from January 2027. Here’s what that means.
Snap has confirmed the timeline in writing. From January 2027, “Memories that are more than one year old and are not part of your oldest 5GB of Memories will be archived and remain stored on Snapchat.” You keep access to the last year and to your oldest 5 GB. Everything else turns into thumbnails that you “will need to upgrade your storage to open, edit, or share.”
What exactly gets archived
- Kept open: Memories saved within the last 12 months, plus your oldest 5 GB.
- Archived: everything older than a year that isn’t in that oldest 5 GB.
- Rolling rule: every year another year of Memories crosses the one-year line, so this repeats.
- Notice: Snap says no Memories are archived before January 2027 and that it will warn you in the app first.
What keeping access costs
| Option | Storage | US price (Snap) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 5 GB | $0 |
| Memories plan | 100 GB | $1.99/month or $20/year |
| Snapchat+ | 250 GB | subscription |
| Snapchat+ Platinum | 5 TB | subscription |
Snap first announced the plans on 26 September 2025 and promised 12 months of temporary storage before any change. Bloomberg reported in August 2026 that many users pushed back on paying for storage.
The free alternative: export, then fix the files
- Request your data in Snapchat (Settings → My Data) with Export your Memories on. See how to export your Snapchat Memories.
- Download every ZIP part when Snap emails you (it can take up to 7 days for big accounts).
- Fix the files before importing them. The raw export has no capture dates in the files and keeps captions as separate
-overlay.pnglayers (what those files are). Restamp writes the real date, time, GPS and captions back.
Restore your export in your browser
Drop the Snapchat ZIP parts and get every Memory back with its real date, place and captions. Nothing is uploaded.
Open my exportFAQ
Will Snapchat delete my Memories?
No. Snap says Memories will not be deleted if you do not upgrade. They will be archived: visible as thumbnails, but opening, editing or sharing needs a storage plan or a downloaded copy.
How much is the Snapchat Memories storage plan?
In the US, Snap lists a 100 GB Memories-only plan at