Updated on October 1, 2025
Guys who break up with their girlfriends don’t always drop off the radar. Sometimes they stay around and confuse their exes by liking their social media posts, sending memes, buying gifts, showing up unannounced, and sending pictures (snapchats). They do this because they don’t want to fall out of touch completely. They want to stay in their exes’ lives to a small degree and, by doing so, continue to benefit from them.
Interacting with their exes gives them a sense of control and prevents them from feeling bad for dumping and hurting them. They don’t realize that their unchanged behavior gives their exes hope and makes it much harder for them to let go and move on with their lives. All they know is that sending snapchats reassures and empowers them, and that they’d like to stay in touch as friends.
If a guy broke up with you but still Snapchats you, you need to understand that you’re dealing with someone who doesn’t know how you feel. The guy has no idea that the breakup shredded your heart to pieces and that the last thing you want is for him to act like nothing happened. Whenever he acts like your boyfriend or a very good friend, his behavior makes you think that he still feels something for you and that he’s coming back around.
Obviously, this messes with your heart and makes it impossible for you to focus on things you need to focus on to leave the past behind. Things like your family, friends, work, hobbies, or anything that keeps your mind engaged and distracted.
His snapchats pull you back in and tempt you to seek validation from your ex, rather than relying on yourself and others for detachment, healing, and growth. Every time your ex sends you Snapchats, you receive an update on your ex’s life (even if it’s insignificant) and continue to obsess over your ex.
You can heal much quicker if you stop Snapchatting each other and avoid interacting with your ex altogether. Not only will you avoid thinking about your ex’s new life and analysing his snapchats, but you’ll also find healthier ways to cope with the loss of the relationship. You’ll find methods that work for you and make you stronger as a result.
So if he broke up with you but still sends you snapchats, don’t continue to open his snaps and delay your own recovery. Take charge of your life instead, either by asking him not to snap you, removing him, leaving his snaps unopened, or not opening the app.
I don’t care if you have a 5-year streak with him. You’re no longer together, so sending and/or opening snaps is doing you harm. It’s reminding you that your ex is still around and that it’d be nice if you could reconnect intimately. Snapchats bring you back to the past and trigger emotions you’re trying to work through and leave behind.
The breakup is a clear indication that things couldn’t work out how you wanted them to, and that they won’t work even if you stay in touch as snap buddies. It’s extremely difficult to downgrade to friendship and then upgrade back to a relationship. A transition like that is nearly impossible, as it requires a sudden realization and feelings.
And feelings don’t come back slowly like they do in the movies (through communication, apologies, and grand gestures). They come back when dumpers venture into the single world with a high ego and unreasonable expectations, thinking they’re on top of the world. That’s when they hit a snag, suffer a shock, reflect, become regretful, and miss the person they took for granted and dumped.
Again, feelings require a powerful incentive. Pain and suffering are the best incentives, as they force dumpers to stop thinking highly of themselves and lowly of their ex. They make them see that life didn’t go according to plan and that they need to make some changes if they want it to be meaningful and joyful. They must learn from their lessons (especially failures) if they want to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
The point is, tolerating breadcrumbs from an ex just because he’s your ex is pointless and a waste of time. You have a higher chance of getting back with your ex by cutting your ex off and starting no contact. At least no contact tells your ex that you respect and prioritize yourself, and that you won’t hold on to hope.
When your ex sees that you love yourself and put yourself first, your ex will think about you and respect you more than when you still reply to texts, calls, and snaps. Your ex won’t know what you’re thinking, feeling, and doing, so your ex will want to know more.
He or she might reach out just to breadcrumb you, but it’s an improvement over settling for friendship. It’s much better to occasionally receive a “How are you” text than to constantly receive Snapchat and wonder if there’s a deeper meaning behind them.
As a dumpee, your top priority is to recover emotionally and regain your independence. The sooner you take your ex off the pedestal, boost your self-esteem, and get your life back in order, the sooner you can expect to stop caring about your ex and start caring about your own life.
So don’t waste your time thinking about your ex’s snapchats or other types of reach-outs. The relationship has ended, which means the things your ex says and does no longer matter. They don’t change the fact that your ex has lost feelings and that he doesn’t intend to regain them by addressing the issues he left you for. All the guy wants is to focus on himself and send you a few Snapchats once in a while.
Some dumpers do that because they don’t know or care that their reach-outs affect dumpees and hinder their recovery.
In today’s post, we’ll discuss why he still Snapchats you when he broke up with you.
He broke up with me, but still Snapchats me
If your boyfriend broke up with you and still snapschats you as if you’re together, the guy lacks empathy, sympathy, or awareness. He doesn’t understand or care that his snapchats are hurting/confusing you, giving you hope, and making you want to be with him more than anything.
Every time he sends you a picture, video, or text, he reminds you of how nice it would be to be together and act like a real couple. His snapchats basically reopen your wounds and deepen your longings.
Don’t think that he’s snapping you because he’s having a hard time moving on. He may be missing you, but he’s not missing you romantically. He probably misses the non-romantic aspect of the relationship and wants to stay in touch out of habit.
He’s used to sending you snapchats, so he wants to keep doing it for now. He won’t do it forever, but he’ll probably hold on to the habit for as long as it gives him comfort or attention. Eventually, his interest will fade—either naturally over time or because he finds someone else to engage with.
That’s when he’ll stop Snapchatting you completely and show you that he never intended to get back together. He just wanted to keep the streak going and give and receive updates. Some exes (male or female) see nothing wrong with texting/snapchatting exes. They don’t know how their ex feels, so they take the liberty to contact their ex and confuse him or her.
They reach out for as long as doing so benefits them.
So why does he still Snapchat you after breaking up with you? Clearly, he gets something out of it. Whether it’s friendship, validation, forgiveness, reassurance, or a Snapchat streak, he likes doing it, otherwise, he would have cut you off completely a long time ago. Snapchatting counts as impersonal and indirect communication, so it doesn’t overwhelm him.
He can reach out and respond at his own pace without feeling pressured, guilt-tripped, or scared. By reaching out when and how he wants, the conversation remains light, casual, and expectationless.
Many guys send indirect breadcrumbs to show their ex that they still care. This lowers their ex’s fears of abandonment, prevents harsh reactions, eases their own guilt, and allows the connection to fade gradually. When the connection is completely gone, they shift their focus to people with whom they have to actively build and maintain a bond.
So if you want to know why he broke up with you but still Snapchats you, remember that his reasons for snapping you have nothing to do with his romantic feelings and expectations. You may want to get back together, but not him. He could be interacting with you to avoid making you go cold turkey. If he were to see you in pain, he could feel bad or even more guilty for turning your life upside down.
That’s why he may be checking up on you in a way that gives you a tiny bit of reassurance and assuages his guilt.
Most guys don’t reach out to help their ex feel better. They reach out when they’re curious about their ex and want to know what their ex is up to. Some send Snapchats, whereas others choose other communication methods.
Regardless of how they reach out, their passive approach shows that they’re happy with their decision and that they don’t want to work on rebuilding trust and love.
Having said that, here’s why your ex still sends you Snapchats despite breaking up with you and ripping your heart out.
What to do when your ex sends you Snapchats?
If you’ve been reading this or similar blogs, or simply reflecting on your emotions, you know just how damaging breadcrumbs from an ex can be. You know that they make you feel anxious and hopeful, and that you feel worse because of them.
Snapchats from an ex don’t add any value to your life. And because they don’t do you any good, you must do your best to deal with them and avoid them in the future.
The best way to do that is to simply ignore them. Don’t open them and give your ex reasons to send more. Your ex may be sending them to everyone on his list. But even if they’re specifically meant for you, try not to take them personally and feel the need to respond.
If your ex has something important to say, your ex will reach out directly. It probably won’t be on Snapchat or similar apps. Instead, your ex will text or call you and express regret and desire to be with you. Until that happens, don’t open your ex’s snaps. If you have trouble resisting the urge to see what your ex sent you, delete the app or your ex.
You need to stop seeing how your ex is doing without you, especially if your ex appears to be dating someone and/or doing great. You simply can’t know because it makes you think about an ex who no longer matters and assume the worst.
So don’t open your ex’s snaps and expect to feel better. You’ll heal much quicker if you cease all contact and focus on your life instead. Ask dumpees who went no contact and stopped interacting with their ex, and they’ll tell you that they processed things faster as a result of proper breakup behavior.
They didn’t get over their ex immediately, but they did encounter fewer emotional withdrawals and, as a result, obsessed less. Because they analysed things less often, they were able to shift their attention to themselves and stopped thinking highly of their ex as quickly as they could.
On the other hand, those who kept opening snaps and interacting with their ex stayed obsessed and took longer to detach. They kept thinking about their ex, craving their ex’s validation, blaming themselves, and wondering if their ex would come back to invest in them.
You can avoid that by handling your ex’s snapchats confidently and learning to rely on yourself for healing, detachment, and growth.
Does your ex still send you Snapchats? How does he make you feel? Share your breakup experience in the comments below.
However, if you’d like to chat with us about your ex, feel free to subscribe to 1-on-1 coaching.
My name is Zan and I’m the founder of Magnet of Success. I enjoy writing realistic relationship and breakup articles and helping readers heal and grow. With more than 5 years of experience in the self-improvement, relationship, and breakup sphere, my goal is to provide advice that fosters positivity and success and avoids preventable mistakes and pain. Buy me a coffee, learn more about me, or get in touch today.
