Snapchat has a lot of buttons and symbols for users to keep track of – including a confusing ‘X’ icon that appears next to some Snapchat names. On the surface, Snapchat seems like it should be a fairly simple app. You can receive pictures/videos from friends, send your own pics that you want to share, and that’s it — right?

While that functionality is still Snapchat’s bread and butter, there’s so much more to the app today. On the Stories page, you can watch public posts from Snapchat friends and watch shows from BuzzFeed, Vice, etc. The Spotlight page has even more content to see — housing endless TikTok-like videos for you to scroll through. You can also use Snapchat to see your friends on the Virtual Snap Map, play with various AR filters, and even learn American Sign Language.

Related: How To Learn ASL For Free In Snapchat

With so much happening on Snapchat, it’s not surprising that people often have questions about what certain buttons/settings in the app do. A prime example of this is the X that often appears next to Snapchat names. The Chat page on Snapchat shows a list of all your ongoing conversations. If you last received a photo from someone, a camera icon appears next to their name. If you got a text message from them, a chat icon shows up instead. But sometimes the camera and chat icons are replaced by an X.

The Real Meaning Behind The ‘X’ In Snapchat

Snapchat logo on a smartphone

Like many parts of Snapchat, the X next to people’s names isn’t clearly explained. Some names have the camera and chat icons next to them, other names have the X icon, and there’s no guidance about what any of it means. Thankfully, the answer is actually quite simple.

If you see the X next to a Snapchat name, all it means is that person sent you a friend request that you haven’t accepted yet. Tapping the name shows two buttons: An ‘Okay’ button that accepts the friend request, and a ‘Report or Block’ button that lets you report or block the person. Alternatively, tapping the X next to the name brings up a few options right from the Chat page — allowing you to report, block, or clear the conversation from your screen. That’s all there is to it! The X next to Snapchat names isn’t a bug or troublesome feature. If you see it, it’s just a reminder that you have pending friend requests to deal with. It’d be nice if Snapchat made that more apparent, but now you know.