this method is considered the safest, best and most recommended one.
simply open up your hand and put it in front of your snail. do not force it, just put it there. if the snail is smaller , a finger can work as well !
make sure your hand is clean! wash it with water only. its also importatnt to not have any chemicals in it ! (also wash your hand afterwards of course !! when holding the snail a wet hand is actually quite good! snails love and need moisture ^^)
then, the snail might climb in your hand. the only reason why this method isnt used by everyone is that it also might not lmao

(im sorry i suck at drawing hands hsjssjjs)

GENTLY tickling the face and sliding your thumbnail under the foot

[most people think you are supposed to pick up the snail by pulling the shell. this is wong and i cannot stress enough on how wrong this is this will cause mantle collapse. your snail is not a hermit crab your snail is attached to the shell. it is pulling the flesh and muscles of the snail and it is so painful to watch and speaking from personal experience because i used to pick up snails wrong ive learned the right way. most people pull the snails from by the shell because they think oh we're gonna hurt the snail if we touch the skin it wont hurt them. all you need to do to pick up your snail is poke it in the face and slide your thumbnail under the foot and then off he comes just like that it does not hurt the snail. its fine to hold him by the shell once youve got him in your hand like im doing right now just dont pull him by the shell when hes sitting on the ground. now once you picked up your snail you can hold it. make sure to wash your hands before and after holding them and to keep your hands moist nice and wet. yeah now you can hold the lip baby its not gonna hurt them literally]

(these are just the subtitles of the video for those who cant listen to it haha)

thanks to Aurora's Animals for offering help with this page!!

picking from the shell
do NOT do this!

it can cause mantle collapse, which is exteremely dangerous and one of the biggest issues snail keeprs are afraid of.
gently touching your snail's skin with clean, wet and non salty hands is completely fine. iirc it is recommended to only do it when you want to pick it up, though! try to restratin from it, if that is not what you are trying to do.