How to Save WhatsApp Photos to Android Photo Library

Upload photos manually

Tap on the conversation that has the photo to download. The conversation immediately opened.

Depending on the Android device you are using, you will not see the option to save WhatsApp photos to Android. This is still possible - just use a file manager app (such as Samsung's My Files or Google's Files) or send it via email.

If you don't have a file manager app, download Files published by Google on the Play Store.

Touch the photo to save. The photo will be enlarged on the screen.

Tap the three-dot menu ⋮ . This is the option in the top right corner.

Tap View in gallery . The photo will open in the photo library.

Tap on the three horizontal dots. This icon is in the bottom right corner. You will see a few options at the bottom of the screen.

Tap Save . It's at the bottom of the screen. The photo will be saved to the library in a folder named "WhatsApp Images" or "WhatsApp Media".

If you don't see the option to save the photo, continue to the next step.

Save the photo using a file manager application if you cannot save the photo. If you don't see the option to save photos in the previous step, try using a file manager:

Tap the sharing icon above the photo - it's an icon that looks like three dots connected by two lines.

Tap a file manager app, such as My Files or Files by Google .

Tap the Images or Photos folder to save the photo to the library.

If this doesn't work, you can do the next step.

Send the photo to your email if you still can't save it. If you couldn't do the previous step, this will definitely work. This is a simple operation, but takes some time:

Tap the icon above the photo - this is a three-dot icon connected by two lines.

Tap Gmail or your favorite email app. This is the operation to create a new message with your photo attached.

Enter your email address in the 'To:' field and send the message.

When the message arrives (which usually arrives immediately), just tap to open the message, and tap the attachment to open the photo.

Tap the three vertical dots in the upper right corner and select Save . The photo has now been saved to your camera roll.

Download photos automatically

Open WhatsApp. It's the green and white chat bubble icon in the app list.

If WhatsApp opens to a chat, you'll tap the back button to return to the chats list.

By default, WhatsApp automatically downloads all photos, voice messages, and other files from chats, but you can change how and when.

Tap ⋮ . You will see this option in the upper right corner.

Tap Storage and data . This option is in the middle of the menu.

Choose when to automatically download photos and other files. In the "Media auto-download" section, you'll tap each option to choose whether to download a photo, video, document, or other file. When you finish editing each section, tap OK .

By default, all media files are downloaded automatically when connected to Wi-Fi, but you can change it to only download photos if you prefer.

The "roaming" option has a default setting of no media - choosing another setting may incur roaming charges. Tap OK after you make changes.

If you don't allow photo loading in these situations, you can still save the photo to your library manually.

Touch the return button. This takes you back to the Settings menu. Now you need to make sure the photo shows up in the gallery.

Tap Chats . This is the option near the top of the menu.

Push the "Media visibility" slider to the On position. When the slider button is green, WhatsApp will save all downloaded images and videos to your camera roll, making it easy to find on Android.

David Pac

Update 02 November 2023