If you have ever opened Snapchat and wondered why certain people appear at the top of your friends list, you are not alone. Snapchat’s Best Friends feature is designed around the people you Snap and Chat with the most, and you can have up to eight Best Friends at a time. The list updates regularly, so it can change as your interactions change.
In this guide, I’ll explain how the Snapchat Top 8 Friends list works, what Snapchat officially confirms, how it relates to Friend Solar System, what you can and cannot control, and which common tricks are not supported by Snapchat. That distinction matters because there are plenty of claims online about secret ranking formulas that Snapchat has never officially published.
What Is the Snapchat Top 8 Friends List?
Snapchat calls these people your Best Friends. They are the friends you Snap and Chat with the most, and Snapchat can show up to eight of them. Best Friends are featured prominently on the Send To screen and in the Chat section of your profile. Snapchat also says the list is updated regularly.
Your Best Friends list is personal to your account. Other people may be able to tell that they are among your Best Friends, but Snapchat says that nobody else can see your complete Best Friends list.
How Does Snapchat Choose Your Top 8?
The safest way to understand the ranking is to start with what Snapchat actually confirms: Best Friends are based on the people you Snap and Chat with the most. Snapchat does not publish a precise scoring formula that tells us exactly how many points a Snap, Chat, Story reply, video, sticker, or other action is worth.
- Snapping: Direct Snap activity is part of the Best Friends system.
- Chatting: Chat activity is also included in Snapchat’s description of Best Friends.
- Regular interaction: Your list can change as the people you interact with most change.
- Recent contact: Snapchat separately says the order of friends on the Chat screen is influenced by how much you keep in touch and who has reached out most recently. That Chat-screen order should not be confused with the Best Friends ranking itself.
So, if someone suddenly moves into your Top 8, it does not necessarily mean Snapchat has a secret preference for that person. It may simply reflect changes in how you and your friends are using the app.
Snapchat Top 8 vs. the Friend Solar System
These two features are closely connected, but they are not exactly the same thing. Your Best Friends list contains up to eight people. For Snapchat+ subscribers, the Friend Solar System gives a visual way to see your position in another person’s Best Friends list.
Snapchat says that when you see the gold-ringed Best Friends badge on a Friendship Profile, tapping it can show which planet you represent in that person’s Solar System. Each planet represents a different position in their Best Friends list.
- Mercury: 1st position
- Venus: 2nd position
- Earth: 3rd position
- Mars: 4th position
- Jupiter: 5th position
- Saturn: 6th position
- Uranus: 7th position
- Neptune: 8th position
One important detail: Snapchat says Friend Solar System is turned off by default for first-time Snapchat+ subscribers. If you want to use it, you can turn the feature on from the Snapchat+ feature management page, and Snapchat says it can be switched on or off at any time.
Can You Manually Change Your Top 8?
There is no normal Snapchat setting that lets you drag eight friends into a custom Best Friends order. Snapchat describes Best Friends as people you Snap and Chat with the most, and says the list is updated regularly.
If you want your Best Friends list to change naturally, the practical approach is to change who you actually interact with. Spending more time Snapping and Chatting with someone can affect whether they become one of your Best Friends, while interacting less can eventually change their position. Snapchat does not provide a guaranteed number of Snaps or a guaranteed time period for moving into or out of the Top 8.
How to Manage Your Snapchat Top 8 Naturally
1. Keep in Touch With the People You Actually Want There
If you want your closest friends to remain near the top, use Snapchat naturally with them. Send Snaps, have conversations, and reply when you genuinely want to. There is no need to manufacture activity just to chase a particular rank.
2. Let Old Connections Move Down Naturally
If you stop interacting with someone as often, their place in your Best Friends group can change over time as your overall activity changes. You do not need to block or remove someone simply because you do not want them near the top.
3. Do Not Chase an Exact Ranking Formula
You may see online advice claiming that videos, stickers, filters, or specific types of messages carry a special ranking multiplier. Snapchat does not publish those exact weights, so I would not treat those claims as guaranteed methods. The official explanation is much simpler: Best Friends are the people you Snap and Chat with the most.
What About Snapchat+ and Pinning a #1 Best Friend?
Snapchat+ has a separate feature called Best Friends Forever. Snapchat+ subscribers can privately pin one person as their #1 Best Friend. Snapchat says you can do this from the Chat or Send To screen by pressing and holding the friend and selecting the option to pin them as your #1 Best Friend. Only you can see who you pinned, and you can pin only one #1 Best Friend at a time.
This is useful for keeping one important person easy to reach, but it should not be confused with manually editing the entire Top 8 ranking. The regular Best Friends system still reflects your Snapchat interactions.
Can You Reset Your Snapchat Top 8?
There is no official Snapchat button called “Reset Top 8” that instantly rebuilds your Best Friends list from zero. If your list looks different from what you expected, the better approach is to check your recent Snapchat activity and give the system time to update as your normal interactions change.
Clearing the Snapchat cache can be useful when the app itself is behaving incorrectly, but it should not be presented as a guaranteed way to erase or recalculate your Best Friends ranking. A cache clear is a troubleshooting step, not a magic ranking reset.
Common Snapchat Top 8 Questions
Can I add someone directly to my Top 8?
No. Snapchat does not provide a standard control for manually placing someone into a specific Best Friends position. The list is based on your Snapchat activity and is updated regularly.
Can other people see my entire Top 8?
No. Snapchat says your complete Best Friends list is private. People may be able to tell that they are one of your Best Friends, but other people cannot see the full list.
Does viewing someone’s profile automatically move them into my Top 8?
Snapchat’s official explanation of Best Friends focuses on the people you Snap and Chat with the most. It does not say that simply opening a profile is a Best Friends ranking factor. I would therefore not rely on profile views as a way to move someone up your Top 8.
How often does the Top 8 update?
Snapchat says Best Friends are updated regularly, but it does not give a fixed public schedule such as every 24 hours. So claims that the Solar System or Top 8 always refreshes at a specific interval should be treated cautiously.
Why did someone disappear from my Top 8?
Your Best Friends list can change because your Snapchat activity changes. If you are interacting more with other people, the group of up to eight friends may change. Snapchat does not publish a single reason for every individual ranking change, so it is better not to assume that one specific action caused it.
Martin’s Final Take
The Snapchat Top 8 Friends list is best understood as a reflection of your current Snapchat interactions, not a friendship score that you can manually edit. Snapchat officially describes Best Friends as the people you Snap and Chat with the most, with up to eight people included and regular updates.
If you want someone to become a bigger part of your Snapchat Best Friends group, the most sensible approach is simple: actually stay in touch with them. And if the list does not perfectly match your real-life friendships, do not take it too seriously. An app ranking can describe your Snapchat activity, but it cannot measure how much someone matters to you.
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