How to Stop WhatsApp from Downloading and Saving Photos, Videos Automatically on Android, iPhone

WhatsApp is used by over a 1.2 billion people worldwide , and 200 million in India alone. In fact, it is probably one of the first apps anyone in India downloads when they get a new smartphone as it has become the default means of texting in the country.

Whatsapp Logo

However, it can become an annoyance too when it downloads all the media files automatically, from pictures to videos to, more recently , GIFs, not to mention audio files and videos. These not only clutter your phone's gallery and music player, but also eat up a lot of storage and data. Here's how you can stop WhatsApp from automatically saving photos and audio on your phone.
How to Stop Auto Downloading and Saving of Pictures, Videos and Other Media on Whatsapp for Android

WhatsApp for Android has a switch that lets you stop images and videos from downloading. Here's how you can do it:

1. Open WhatsApp, make sure you are seeing the main window - where all your chats are displayed. Tap the three vertical dots on the top right > Settings.
2. Now tap Chat settings > Media auto-download. You'll see three options: When using cellular data, When connected on Wi-Fi and When roaming. Tap each one and disable auto-downloads by unchecking all three options - Images, Audio and Video.
To view photos, you will have to download them. When you do, WhatsApp saves them in a folder, and you can get inundated with stupid memes and other unwanted content, which is visible to anyone who open's your phone's Gallery App. However, it is possible to stop these photos from appearing in the Gallery app. Here's how:

1. Download Quickpic and open the app.
2. Navigate to the WhatsApp media folders.

 The location of the WhatsApp folder varies across devices but it should typically be the following: Internal Storage (sometimes labelled sdcard0) > WhatsApp > Media > WhatsApp Images, > WhatsApp > Media > WhatsApp Audio, and WhatsApp > Media > WhatsApp Videos.

3. Long-press the WhatsApp Images folder and make sure that it is selected. Do the same with the WhatsApp Video and WhatsApp Audio folders.

4. After selecting the three folders, tap the three dots icon on the top-right > Hide. This will ensure that the Gallery app doesn't show them. You can still view these images and videos within WhatsApp and through any apps that let you view hidden folders. But if you pass your phone to someone, you no longer need worry about them seeing the WhatsApp photos and videos through the Gallery app.