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How to stop WhatsApp from saving photos and videos in your gallery

Declutter your carefully curated gallery.
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Published onMarch 30, 2025

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Messaging apps like WhatsApp are perfect for sharing photos and videos, but isn’t it annoying to see your phone gallery plagued with all those WhatsApp photos your friends send you? This usually happens by default and can quickly become an issue. Your gallery will soon become cluttered. Today, we’ll show you how to stop WhatsApp from saving photos and videos.

QUICK ANSWER

To stop WhatsApp from saving photos and videos in your Android phone's gallery, launch WhatsApp, tap on the three-dot menu button, and access the Settings. Tap on Chats, and make sure Media visibility is toggled off.

The process is very similar on iOS, but things look slightly different. Keep reading to learn more. Launch WhatsApp, go to Settings > Chat, and make sure Save to Photos is toggled off.

JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

Editor’s note: We used a Google Pixel 8a running Android 15 and an Apple iPhone 15 running iOS 18.3.2 to formulate instructions within this guide. Keep in mind some steps may differ depending on your device and the software it’s running.

How to stop WhatsApp automatic downloads on Android

There are two ways to stop WhatsApp from saving photos and videos in your gallery. You can either turn them all off altogether or specify which contacts you want to avoid this with.

Turn off Media visibility on WhatsApp for Android:

  1. Launch WhatsApp.
  2. Hit the three-dot menu button on the top-right corner.
  3. Select Settings.
  4. Go into Chats.
  5. Toggle off Media visibility.

Alternatively, you can also pick and choose which contacts you want to turn off media visibility for.

Turn off Media visibility for specific contacts on WhatsApp for Android:

  1. Launch WhatsApp.
  2. Tap on a conversation with the person you want to turn off Media visibility for.
  3. Tap on the person’s name, nickname, or number. It’s on the screen’s top side.
  4. Find the Media visibility option.
  5. Select No.
  6. Hit OK.

How to stop WhatsApp automatic downloads on iPhone

WhatsApp for iOS has the same options, but they will look a little different than what Android users see. Let’s walk our Apple brothers and sisters through the process.

Turn off Save to Photos on WhatsApp for iPhone:

  1. Launch WhatsApp.
  2. Tap on the Settings tab.
  3. Select Chats.
  4. Make sure Save to Photos is turned off.

Just like with Android, you can get contact-specific for your media download needs with WhatsApp for iOS.

Turn off Save to Photos for specific contacts on WhatsApp for iPhone:

  1. Launch WhatsApp.
  2. Tap on a conversation with the person you want to turn off Media visibility for.
  3. Tap on the person’s name, nickname, or number. It’s on the screen’s top side.
  4. Select the Save to Photos option.
  5. Select Never.

FAQs

Yes. Both the Android and iOS apps have the ability to turn off Media visibility or Save to Photos.

Yes. This option can be tweaked per contact.

No. But the desktop and web apps don’t download media by default to your computer anyway. You have to download it manually.

This is possible if you’ve backed up your WhatsApp account. To get to this option, go to WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat backup.

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