Snapchat on a computer is a good idea for one reason: chatting with a real keyboard. It is a worse idea if the web version simply gives you the same Stories, Spotlight and Lenses that fill your phone, now on a bigger screen and in a tab that stays open. This guide explains how to use Snapchat Web, and then how a free browser extension turns it into what many people actually want from it: a place to talk to your friends and nothing else.
Short answer: open Snapchat in your desktop browser and sign in. To keep it to chat, install Stillfeed's free browser extension: it hides Stories, Spotlight and Lenses in the top menu and sends those pages to Chat. It needs no account and nothing leaves your browser. Get the extension.
How to use Snapchat Web
Snapchat offers a web version for desktop browsers. The basics are the same in any browser, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Opera and Arc, which is what people mean when they search for "snapchat chrome" or "snapchat for web browser". It is the same website, not a separate Chrome app.
- Go to Snapchat's website. Open Snapchat's web version from snapchat.com, or go straight to web.snapchat.com.
- Sign in with your Snapchat account. You use the same username and password as on your phone. Snapchat may ask you to confirm the sign-in, so keep your phone nearby the first time.
- Open Chat. Your conversations are listed, and you can read and reply with your keyboard.
- Allow the browser permissions you need. Features that use a camera or microphone depend on your browser asking, and you choosing, whether to allow access.
Snapchat's own support pages are the source of truth for what the web version can do and which browsers and account types it supports, and those details change. If something on the page does not match what we describe, Snapchat's help pages win. What follows is about what you see once you are in, and how to trim it.
Why Snapchat Web still pulls you in
The mobile app opens on the camera. The web version opens somewhere calmer, but the top menu still lists the same things the app does: Chat, Stories, Spotlight and Lenses. Chat is the reason most people open it. The other three are the feed-shaped parts: Stories from friends and creators, Spotlight's endless run of short videos, and Lenses for the camera.
The trouble with a menu that lists all four is that you rarely only use one. You open the tab to answer a message, glance at the top, see a Stories ring or a Spotlight link, and the quick reply becomes fifteen minutes. On a computer, where there is no home-screen app to close, the tab can stay open all day with a menu full of reasons to click.
If you already know the pattern from your phone, we wrote about it for the iPhone Duo in Snapchat Spotlight on the iPhone Duo. The desktop version is the same pull in a different window. For the phone version, see how to turn off Spotlight on Snapchat.
What the extension changes
Stillfeed is a free extension for desktop browsers. Its Snapchat rule is on by default after you install it, and you can turn Snapchat off in the popup if you want the full menu back. It does three things:
- Stories is hidden in the top menu.
- Spotlight is hidden in the top menu, and Spotlight pages are sent to Chat.
- Lenses is hidden in the top menu, and its page is sent to Chat.
The entries are matched by their links, so the hiding does not depend on your Snapchat being in English. Anyone who clicks an old Spotlight link or a creator's Spotlight page lands on Chat instead of a video player.
The result is a Snapchat Web that opens to your conversations and offers little else, which is the version of Snapchat on a computer that most people wanted in the first place.
Installing it
Start at stillfeed.pro/extension.
Firefox
Firefox has a one-click install on Firefox Add-ons, linked from the extension page.
Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera and Arc
These browsers install from the Chrome Web Store, where Stillfeed is listed:
- Open the Stillfeed page on the Chrome Web Store, or start from the extension page.
- Click the add button and confirm your browser's prompt.
Edge and Opera may ask you to allow extensions from other stores first; follow the prompt your browser shows.
What you keep
Chat itself, profiles, stories shared with you, Snapchat+ and sign-in are all left alone. The extension removes the entry points to the feed-like parts of Snapchat Web, not the things you came for. If a friend sends you a story, that still opens. What disappears is the habit of browsing Stories and Spotlight yourself from the menu.
Time tools for Snapchat
Hiding the menu entries stops the browsing. A time limit is for the conversation that never ends. The extension's time tools work on Snapchat and on the seven other supported sites: Instagram, YouTube, X, Reddit, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn.
- Daily limit: a total for the day. When it is used up, those sites close until midnight, and you can add five more minutes once per visit.
- Session timer: two, five, ten or fifteen minutes per visit.
- Quiet hours: named schedules that close chosen sites on chosen days, with overnight windows included. Useful if you do not want Snapchat open during work or after midnight.
- Pause before opening: five or ten seconds before the site loads.
- Grayscale: drains the color from the page.
These limits apply in this browser only.
Honest limits
- Layouts change. The rules find the menu entries by their links. If Snapchat reshapes the top menu, a rule might need an update.
- Snapchat's scope here is small. On Snapchat the extension covers the three menu entries and the time tools. The optional controls that other sites get, such as word filters or hiding counts, are not part of Snapchat's setup yet.
- This browser only. It does nothing to the Snapchat app on your phone.
On your phone
Stillfeed's main product is an iPhone app that blocks Reels, Shorts and more in a distraction-free browser, and blocking in the app is free. The extension is a separate install for your computer, and the two do not sync. If you want the broader picture for your phone, see how to block social media on iPhone or the Snapchat platform page.
Common questions
Is Snapchat Web free?
Snapchat's website does not require you to pay to open it. Stillfeed's extension is free too, with no account.
Is there a Snapchat app for Chrome?
Snapchat on a computer runs as a website in your browser, Chrome included. The Stillfeed extension is a separate thing that changes how that website looks.
Will Chat still work with the extension on?
Yes. Chat and sign-in are left alone.
What happens if I click a Spotlight link?
You land on Chat. Spotlight and Lenses pages are sent there.
Does the extension see my messages?
No. It runs in your browser, sends no data to us or anyone else, and has no account or analytics.
Is it in the Chrome Web Store?
Yes. Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera and Arc users install it from the Chrome Web Store listing, and Firefox has a one-click install on Firefox Add-ons.
More guides
- Social media addiction: what it is and how to cut back
- How to do a social media detox
- Snapchat Spotlight on the iPhone Duo
More browser extension guides
- How to Block YouTube Shorts on Chrome (and Other Desktop Browsers)
- How to Set a YouTube Time Limit in Chrome (and Other Desktop Browsers)
- Unhook YouTube Extension vs Stillfeed: What Each One Does
- A Website Blocker for Firefox That Blocks the Feed, Not the Whole Site
- Instagram on a Computer Without Reels, Explore or Suggested Posts
- How to Hide Reels on Facebook on a Computer
- How to Block a Website in Chrome (and When You Only Want the Feed Gone)
- News Feed Eradicator Alternative: Hide Feeds on 8 Sites, Plus Time Limits
- How to Block r/popular and r/all on Reddit in Your Browser
- Block Distracting Sites on Edge, Brave, Opera and Arc (Free Extension)
