How to delete picture on whatsapp


Want to delete pics, videos etc from a WhatsApp chat and keep only texts? Here’s how

Home How To Want to delete pics, videos etc from a WhatsApp chat and keep only texts? Here’s how

WhatsApp saves all the photos, videos and GIFs from every chat when it backs up your chats. It’s unnecessary clutter and you really don’t need all that there, you can delete them from the chat itself and keep just the texts.

Since WhatsApp is literally the most popular messaging app out there, pretty much everyone is on it. While it's great for convenience, this also means that you will be bombarded with forwarded photos and videos you really do not want. 

Fortunately, for annoying chats like these, both individual and group chats, WhatsApp has introduced a forever mute option so as you are not annoyed by the alerts and can choose to check the messages if and when you want to.

There is also the option of turning down auto-downloads of media on your account so nothing, not even stickers, will be downloaded on your device unless you manually do it.

Also Read: WhatsApp to get join missed calls, biometric lock, new calls feature soon

In all this, there also might be some texts that you actually need and might want to keep so deleting entire texts is not an option. On WhatsApp you can choose to delete the media (photos, videos, GIFs etc) while keeping the messages only.

On both Android and iOS,

- Go to Settings, click on Data and Storage Usage, then click on Storage Usage.

- Select the contact or the group whose media you want to delete.

- Click on Manage and then tick all the boxes you want deleted - like photos or videos or GIFs, or all of them. Leave out the text messages box.

- Click on Clear and then confirm.

Alternately, you can see that you have the option to just keep the media and delete the texts. Pick what you need.

Going forward, you can adjust settings for particular group chats/contacts to prevent media from getting downloaded automatically.

On iOS, go to Chat, select the contact or the group chat you want to stop these auto-downloads for. Click on the contact or subject on top of the display, then go to Save to Camera Roll and change Default/Always to Never.

Also Read: WhatsApp now lets you mute chats forever

For Android, go to the contact or group chat, click on the top bar, select media visibility, change the settings here from default to a no or a yes, as you want. Click on okay to confirm your selection.

Across iOS, you can stop media from being saved to your camera roll by going to Settings, clicking on Chats and toggling off ‘Save to Camera Roll' from Default/Always to Never.

On Android you can do it by going to Settings, then Chats, then toggling off Show Media in Gallery or Media Visibility.

Special tip

There's another tried and tested way around this where you can take a look at what has been sent and then decide if you want to save that photo or video or not. This works only if you use WhatsApp Web chat.

On WhatsApp web, you can check out the media sent on the web first and then decide if you want to download it and save it on your smartphone. Downloading media on the web does not automatically save it on your smartphone.

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First Published Date: 27 Oct, 19:55 IST

Tags: whatsapp

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7 ways to delete all WhatsApp photos and videos on iPhone

WhatsApp saves the same pictures and videos in two places – inside the WhatsApp app and the iPhone Photos app. You can easily stop WhatsApp from saving images to your iPhone Photos app. But one copy still unknowingly remains inside the chat app.

If you have lots of one-to-one and group conversations on WhatsApp, these media files might be occupying several GBs of space.

In this handy tutorial, we show you how to delete old WhatsApp photos and videos from your iPhone to free space and keep things fast.

Before you begin: You might have important memories, receipts, screenshots, and such in your WhatsApp chats. So, make sure you delete things after double-checking.

Delete WhatsApp media from the Photos app

WhatsApp automatically makes a new album in your iPhone’s Photos app and keeps all the incoming media there.

Here’s how to delete WhatsApp photos from your iPhone Camera Roll:

1) Open the Photos app and tap Albums from the bottom.

2) Choose See All to see all albums and tap the one called WhatsApp.

3) Tap Select.

4) Now, you can tap Select All or just quickly run your fingers to select only the desired media you wish to delete.

5) After selecting, select the trash icon and choose Delete > Delete n Items.

You have successfully deleted WhatsApp pictures and videos from your iPhone’s Photos app. However, they are still in the Recently Deleted section of the iOS Photos app for 30 days. So, go there to delete them now and free space immediately.

Delete WhatsApp photos and videos inside the chat app

As mentioned in the beginning, WhatsApp stores one copy of the images in the app as well. So, after you delete the ones visible in the Photos app, you can delete another copy from inside the WhatsApp app using any of the following ways.

Delete from individual chat

Here’s how to see all pictures and videos from a particular WhatsApp chat and delete them:

1) Inside WhatsApp, go to a person or group chat and tap their name from the top.

2) Select Media, Links, and Docs. You will now see all files shared by this person or group. It also includes the images you sent.

3) Tap Select and run your finger to select the files.

4) Finally, tap the delete trash icon and confirm.

Delete from Manager Storage section

WhatsApp has a handy storage setting where you can see the total space used by the app files, the conversations taking the most space, etc.

Here’s how to manage your storage on WhatsApp by deleting unnecessary media:

1) Choose Settings from the lower right of WhatsApp.

2) Tap Storage and Data.

3) Select Manage Storage.

4) Here, you can review the big files or ones forwarded too many times and delete them on the next screen. The handy part is you get a Select > Select All button which eliminates the need to choose manually.

5) Alternatively, you can also see the chats taking the most space. From here, tap a chat to view all the media files and select all or just the desired ones to delete them.

Delete the entire conversation

If you delete the entire WhatsApp conversation, along with the chats, it also deletes all the media sent and received with that person or group from your device. Doing so can free a significant amount of local space on your iPhone.

Here’s how to delete a WhatsApp chat to get rid of all the media from that conversation:

1) Inside WhatsApp, make sure you’re in the Chats section.

2) Swipe left on a chat and tap More > Delete Chat > Delete Chat.

3) If you wish to delete several conversations together, tap Edit from the top left, select individual chats (don’t select any group chat), and tap Delete > Delete n chats.

4) To delete everything from a group chat, swipe left on it and tap Clear Chat > Delete All Messages. This will delete all messages and media from that group chat on your device. The same group chats will continue to exist on the phones of other group members.

Tip: While cleaning, don’t forget to go to the Archived section and delete old chats from there too.

Clear or delete all WhatsApp chats

Inside WhatsApp settings, there are two buttons that can clear all chats or delete all chats.

If you clear all chats in WhatsApp, all messages and media from all conversations will be deleted from your device, but the chat names will still stay listed in the Chats section. When you tap any person or group chat, it will be empty.

If you delete all chats on WhatsApp, every conversation, along with all the messages and media, will be deleted. The Chats section will have no individual chats, but just the group chats you’re a part of.

Depending on your choice, you can choose to do either.

Here’s how to clear or delete all WhatsApp chats:

1) Open WhatsApp and tap Settings.

2) Tap Chats.

3) Tap Clear All Chats or Delete All Chats.

4) Enter your WhatsApp phone number and confirm to clear or delete all chats.

Delete the WhatsApp app

By now, you know several methods to delete old photos, videos, and documents from WhatsApp chats and those saved by it locally on your iPhone.

However, if you’re having trouble managing space or just want to start fresh, you can delete the WhatsApp app and reinstall it. Doing so will eliminate all the chats, pictures, GIFs, videos, links, PDFs, etc. (unless you restore a WhatsApp chat backup).

Note: Deleting the WhatsApp application from your iPhone won’t remove you from the WhatsApp groups you’re a part of.

Delete your WhatsApp account

Finally, if you want to go extreme, you can delete your WhatsApp account, which will clear all media from your device. It will also exit you from any WhatsApp groups you’re a part of.

Once you wish to rejoin WhatsApp, you can do that using the same phone number. It will be a clean slate with no old groups or chats.

Check out next:

  • How to hide your WhatsApp “last seen” status from everyone or selected contact
  • WhatsApp no longer saves disappearing media to the iPhone’s Photos app
  • How to send short videos or Live Photos as GIFs on WhatsApp

How to delete a photo in WhatsApp