# How to save WhatsApp photos on Android and iPhone

There are two ways to download pictures from WhatsApp to your smartphone. They are either **auto-saved** in the WhatsApp folder on your mobile device or you can proceed **manually via the ‘Share’** option and save your pictures in the photo app or gallery.

## How to save WhatsApp pictures automatically on Android

**Step 1:** In WhatsApp, select the **three-dot button** at the top right, then ‘Settings’ and finally ‘Chats’.

**Step 2:** Check the ‘Media visibility’ option. If activated, WhatsApp photos are automatically saved under ‘WhatsApp Images’ in your ‘Gallery’ app.

[![Image: Screenshot of the WhatsApp chat settings on Android](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/b/0/csm_whatsapp-android-chat-settings_b3e50d516e.webp "Screenshot of the WhatsApp chat settings on Android")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/whatsapp-android-chat-settings.jpg) Enable ‘Media visibility’ so that the images you receive on WhatsApp are automatically saved in your gallery.  Note You can customise which people or groups on WhatsApp automatically download and save images to your gallery. To adjust this setting, open the chat, tap the name at the top, and select ‘Media visibility’. If you don’t want media from a specific chat to be saved in your gallery, choose ‘No’.

## How to save WhatsApp pictures manually on Android

**Step 1:** If you want to save WhatsApp pictures shared with you, tap on the image in the relevant chat. Next, select the three-dot button in the upper right corner.

**Step 2:** You’ll be given a few different choices. Select ‘Share’.

[![Image: Save WhatsApp images from a chat on Android](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/4/f/csm_whatsapp-share-photo_2ad9a3169f.webp "Save WhatsApp images from a chat on Android")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/whatsapp-share-photo.jpg) After clicking on the three-dot button, select ‘Share’ from the options displayed. **Step 3:** Search for the ‘Upload to Photos’ app. You’ll see your **Google account**. Tap ‘Upload’ at the bottom right.

[![Image: Upload WhatsApp photos using Google Photos](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/0/e/csm_whatsapp-google-photos_0ef1079dab.webp "Upload WhatsApp photos using Google Photos")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/whatsapp-google-photos.jpg) Before you can save your WhatsApp picture, you must first upload it via Google Photos. To do this, tap on the corresponding button. **Step 4:** Open the Google ‘Photos’ app and select the image you wish to save. Click the three-dot button and finally the ‘Download’ option. The downloaded WhatsApp images will now be visible and saved to your gallery.

Tip With [IONOS HiDrive Next](https://www.ionos.co.uk/office-solutions/hidrive-cloud-storage "IONOS HiDrive Next Cloud Storage"), you can store, share, and edit your images centrally in the cloud. Choose between 100 to 2000 GB of storage space to suit your needs.

## How to save WhatsApp pictures automatically on iPhone

**Step 1:** To automatically back up your pictures, you need to give permission to do so in WhatsApp. To do this, select ‘Settings’ at the bottom right of your app.

**Step 2:** Then select ‘Chats’ and activate ‘Save to Photos’.

**Step 3:** You’ll find a folder named ‘WhatsApp’ in the iPhone ‘Photos’ app. All photos shared with you on WhatsApp end up in this folder.

**Step 4:** Additionally, for each of your chats, you can save all media or discard it all. To do this, simply tap on the name of your conversation partner or group at the top of the chat and then tap on ‘Save to Photos’.

[![Image: Screenshot of the WhatsApp chat settings on iOS](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/b/e/csm_save-photos-whatsapp-ios_92ea25cd7e.webp "Screenshot of the WhatsApp chat settings on iOS")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/save-photos-whatsapp-ios.jpg) With ‘Save to Photos’, you can specify whether to save all or none of your WhatsApp pictures to your iPhone. **Step 5:** You’ve now got three options. ‘Default’ will correspond to the ‘Settings’ you already made for ‘Save to Photos’. By selecting ‘Always’, all WhatsApp pictures you receive in the chat are saved. With ‘Never’, no backup is made. This feature is handy if you want to save only images from selected chats.

Tip Want to know [what to do when your WhatsApp storage is full?](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/whatsapp-storage-full/). The answer is in our detailed Digital Guide article.

## How to save WhatsApp pictures manually on iPhone

**Step 1:** When you want to save a select WhatsApp photo to your device, simply tap on it.

[![Image: Save images by tapping on iOS](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/c/8/csm_whatsapp-ios-image-in-chat_764f3ff4d2.webp "Save images by tapping on iOS")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/whatsapp-ios-image-in-chat.PNG) WhatsApp images, like this one of the cake, can easily be tapped on in the chat and saved with just a few clicks. **Step 2:** Next, the image is enlarged on your display. Select the share icon at the bottom left.

**Step 3:** You’re now presented with several different options. Tap ‘Save’ and the image will be saved to your iPhone ‘Photos’ app.

[![Image: Save image on your smartphone](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/c/2/csm_whatsapp-ios-save-image_76f46c7ab7.webp "Save image on your smartphone")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/whatsapp-ios-save-image.PNG) After selecting Apple‘s Share icon, you’ll see several options, with the first one saving the image directly to your smartphone. Once your WhatsApp images are downloaded to your smartphone, you can edit or print them. Or you could permanently [back up your photos](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/server/security/photo-backup/) by using **storage media** such as cloud storage, memory cards, external hard drives, or the internal one on your PC or laptop.

Tip Our articles on [saving WhatsApp status videos](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/whatsapp-status-video-download/) and [saving WhatApp audio](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/how-to-save-audio-from-whatsapp/) may also interest you.


This is a markdown version of: [https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/how-to-save-photos-from-whatsapp/](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/how-to-save-photos-from-whatsapp/) for AI/LLM consumption.