How to stop auto download of images, videos on WhatsApp

WhatsApp

We often run out of space in our phone’s gallery because many unwanted pictures get downloaded from WhatsApp groups. But did you know you can control what gets downloaded to your gallery? You can even turn off auto-downloads on WhatsApp. If you’re tired of unwanted videos and pictures cluttering your gallery and want to stop the annoying auto-download feature, here’s what you can do:

How to stop auto download

It is a well-known fact that WhatsApp automatically saves media sent to you on the messaging app, as this setting is turned on by default. But you can turn it off.

To stop WhatsApp from saving media to your phone’s gallery.
– Go to the settings menu on WhatsApp, then tap on Settings, and then go to Chats.
–Once you are three you can tap on turn off Save to Photos. For Android, you can simply turn off the media visibility.

Remember, you can reverse the changes you have made, meaning you can turn the toggle back on at any point if you want WhatsApp to automatically download media to your gallery. Notably, making changes to this setting will not affect any previous auto-download choices you have made for specific groups or chats.

How to stop saving media from individuals or group chats

Not all groups are casual and unimportant, some chats and groups provide important information and resources. So in WhatsApp you also have the option of changing the auto download settings for individuals and groups.

– Go to the Chats tab, then tap an individual or group chat.
– Go to the contact or group name to see Contact Info or Group Info.
– Tap on the option showing Save to Photos and then choose from three options provided below:

Default (On)-- this option means that all incoming media will be saved to Photos.
Always–this means that all incoming media will be saved to Photos or Gallery
Never– this means that no media will be saved.