If you are part of dozens of WhatsApp groups, you will surely receive hundreds of photos and videos every day. And if you have media auto-download turned on, it can quickly fill up the storage space on your iPhone or Android. Fortunately, you can prevent WhatsApp from automatically saving photos and videos on iPhone and Android.
1. Prevent WhatsApp from Saving Photos to iPhone
First, we will show you how to disable automatic media download on iPhone. It is very useful for those with a tight mobile data plan. Follow the steps below to make changes from the WhatsApp settings menu.
Stage 1: Open WhatsApp on iPhone and go to Settings.
Step 2: Select Storage & Data.
Stage 3: You will find the media auto download option.
Step 4: Go to each menu – Photos, Audio, Video and Documents and disable automatic download for each media type.
You can enable automatic downloading of media over Wi-Fi, but do not select Wi-Fi and Cellular.
Disable Save to Camera Roll
You have already disabled media auto download in WhatsApp for iPhone. But still, when you try to download a photo or video on WhatsApp, the app automatically saves them to camera roll on iPhone.
If you have enabled iCloud upload on your iPhone, you will find that these unnecessary photos and videos from WhatsApp are also uploaded to iCloud servers.
Stage 1: Launch WhatsApp on iPhone.
Step 2: Go to the Settings tab.
My name 3: Select Chats.
Step 4: Disable the Save to Camera Roll toggle and you’re ready.
Now that you have followed the steps above, here is the current status of your WhatsApp account on iPhone.
You will continue to receive new pictures and videos in personal chats and WhatsApp groups. For incoming media, you can hit the download icon and browse the content.
If you want to save the photo or video in question to the iPhone Photos app, tap the photo and open the preview.
Tap on the share icon at the bottom; You have multiple options like Save, Forward, Share and Set as Profile Photo. Hit save and save the media to the gallery. This way, you only save certain files and do not clutter the phone memory with irrelevant media.
2. Stop WhatsApp from Saving Photos on Android
WhatsApp for Android offers a different navigation system compared to its iPhone counterpart. Follow the steps below to prevent WhatsApp from saving photos and videos on Android.
Stage 1: Open WhatsApp on Android and tap the three-dot menu at the top.
Step 2: Go to Settings and open Storage & Data.
Stage 3: From Media auto download, select When using mobile data and disable all media types from the drop-down menu.
Disable Media Downloads to Android Gallery
Similar to what we do on the iPhone, you have the option to disable saving downloaded media to your phone’s gallery.
Stage 1: Launch WhatsApp on Android and go to Settings.
Step 2: Select Chats.
Stage 3: Disable the Media visibility toggle from the Chat Settings menu.
From now on, the media will not leave the WhatsApp conversation or group. You have to manually save the photo or video to the phone’s gallery.
Stage 1: Tap the photo or video you need to see on WhatsApp.
Step 2: Open the photo or video preview.
Stage 3: Select the three-dot menu at the top and select Save.
Manage Media Storage in WhatsApp
You have successfully blocked WhatsApp from saving all kinds of media files on Android and iPhone. What about existing media files? WhatsApp offers a neat Storage Manager to get them.
Stage 1: Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
Step 2: Select the Storage & Data menu.
Stage 3: Tap Manage Storage.
Step 4: You will see a detailed WhatsApp media dump from the menu below. Tap media files larger than 5MB and delete them from your phone.
Manage WhatsApp Media Efficiently
Default WhatsApp settings automatically downloads incoming photos, videos and gifs and saves them in the phone’s memory. It consumes internet bandwidth and valuable storage space on your phone. If you’re not careful, you can fill the phone gallery with countless Good Morning photos. Instead of manually removing them, you can tweak some settings in WhatsApp and stop the app from saving photos.
