---
title: "How to turn off auto download media in WhatsApp"  
description: "WhatsApp is the world's most popular messaging app, with over 600 million active users. One of the most common annoyances with the app is that it auto"  
author: "Manoj Pandey"  
published: 2015-06-17  
updated: 2019-09-07  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1793/how-to-turn-off-auto-download-media-in-whatsapp  
category: "mobile/tablet"  
tags: ["mobile device", "mobile troubleshooting"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# How to turn off auto download media in WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the world's most popular [messaging app](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/95930/indian-army-launched-an-in-house-messaging-app-what-is-the-name-of-the-app), with over 600 million [active users](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/38271/which-game-has-become-the-biggest-ever-mobile-game-in-the-us-history-by-beating-candy-crush-with-nearly-21-million-daily-active-users). One of the most common annoyances with the app is that it automatically downloads [media files](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/50652/how-to-back-up-apps-contacts-photos-and-media-files-on-the-iphone-8-plus) (photos and audio) by default. WhatsApp says this is optimised for best performance, but when friends decide to send a dozen pictures of their dinner to everyone they know, it is optimised for maximum annoyance instead. Here's how you can stop WhatsApp from automatically saving photos and audio on [your phone](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/108492/what-to-do-if-your-phone-is-frozen).\

By default, WhatsApp will automatically download images over your cellular [connection](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/83497/a-40-year-old-man-has-been-arrested-in-connection-with-the-abe-shooting) to provide you with quick access to your [latest photos](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/1942/latest-photos-6-months-of-russia-ukraine-war).

##### Follow to below steps to choose auto download enable or disabled -

##### - In Android

1. Open **WhatsApp** and tap on menu option and Select Settings.
2. 2. Now select Chat settings on setting screen and choose Media auto-download. then select When using **[cellular data](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51501/how-to-fix-cellular-data-that-stopped-working-on-iphone-se-after-ios-11-update)**.

![How to turn off auto download media in WhatsApp](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c12f2a3d-1b68-4ad8-8fd2-28c5f5faa497/images/50b4b3de-defd-41a2-9567-8905f5140bff.png)

\

![How to turn off auto download media in WhatsApp](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c12f2a3d-1b68-4ad8-8fd2-28c5f5faa497/images/2f6b7505-f31d-44e7-bfba-35aa1df77539.png)\

1. You'll see three options: When using cellular data, When [connected](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12941/link-building-and-search-engine-rankings-how-are-they-connected) on Wi-Fi and When roaming. Tap each one and [disable auto](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/23083/how-to-disable-auto-locking-when-our-windows-phone-app-is-running)-downloads by unchecking all three options - Images, Audio and Video.

![How to turn off auto download media in WhatsApp](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c12f2a3d-1b68-4ad8-8fd2-28c5f5faa497/images/60fa13c1-aab9-45f9-bc59-a723d8b366f5.png)

##### - In IPhone

WhatsApp for iPhone has an easy way to stop automatically saving photos to the Camera Roll. Here's what you can do:

1. Open WhatsApp and tap the Settings button at the bottom-right.
2. Go to Chat settings > Save incoming media > Off.

This stops the pictures people are sending from showing up in the camera roll, and taking over your synced Photo Stream. Unfortunately, there's no way to stop WhatsApp from auto-downloading photos on your iPhone. It will ask you whether you want to download videos, but photos are saved automatically.

![How to turn off auto download media in WhatsApp](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c12f2a3d-1b68-4ad8-8fd2-28c5f5faa497/images/8bcf3486-6ce3-4202-a17e-134fe7192413.png)

---

Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1793/how-to-turn-off-auto-download-media-in-whatsapp

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