How to stop download whatsapp profile picture

How to hide your WhatsApp profile picture and why you must do it

Home How To How to hide your WhatsApp profile picture and why you must do it

Many of us use WhatsApp both for personal and professional purposes, and there are times when we might want to use display photos that are not meant for everyone to see.

WhatsApp has some pretty neat privacy features including one that lets you hide your profile photo from other users. Many of us use WhatsApp both for personal and professional contacts and it possible that you might want to use a display photo on the messaging app that you do not want others to see. WhatsApp does have an option for you to block that from certain users.

Why you must hide your WhatsApp profile pic?

WhatsApp profile pictures can be seen and saved by all WhatsApp users by simply taking a screenshot if it is not hidden. You might have spoken to certain people on WhatsApp who are not family or friends and are not on your contact list. If your profile photo is not hidden then anyone can see and save it if they want.

The best thing to do is to hide your profile photo from people you do not know and do not trust.

Also, by choosing to allow only certain people to see your WhatsApp profile photo means that you can use any photo you like without having to worry about it.

How to hide your profile picture on WhatsApp

- Open WhatsApp and go to ‘Settings'.

- Click on ‘Account' and then click on ‘Privacy'.

- Now, tap on Profile Photo.

- You will see that the default setting here allows “Everyone” on WhatsApp to see your profile photo.

- Change this to “My contacts” if you want your photo to be seen only by those whose numbers you have saved in your phone book.

- If you want no one to see it, pick “Nobody”. This hides your picture from everyone on the messaging app.

Once your profile picture is hidden, all the people messaging you will just see a grey avatar as your DP.

Unfortunately, there is no way to hide your profile picture from only a bunch of users. One way around it is to not save the numbers of random people you might have to message for one-off reason - like a delivery guy who needed your location for example.

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First Published Date: 02 Jan, 14:58 IST

Tags: whatsapp

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Restrict access to profile picture - 7 must-know WhatsApp tips

05 Feb 2015, 12:27 PM IST

1/6

Block WhatsApp photos

Pictures that you receive on WhatsApp are automatically stored in your phone's Photo roll or gallery, exposing them to anyone who browses photos on your phone.

To restrict it on an iPhone, you can go into the phone's Settings menu, then tap 'Privacy', 'Photos', and deselect WhatsApp. For Android users it's a little bit complicated. Using a file explorer app such as ES File Explorer, you can find WhatsApp's 'Images' and 'Videos' folders and create a file within each called '.nomedia'. This will stop Android Gallery app from scanning the folder.

2/6

Restrict access to profile picture

You can restrict access to your WhatsApp profile picture to people who're in your phone's address book. People who don't know you can download your picture from your WhatsApp profile and, through Google Image search, can find out more about you if you use the same picture on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or your company's website. Set profile picture sharing to "contacts only" in the Privacy menu to enable this feature.

3/6

Beware of scams

WhatsApp will never contact users through the app and does not send emails about chats, voice messages, payment, changes, photos, or videos, unless you contact their help and support.

Anyone offering a free subscription, claiming to be from WhatsApp or encouraging you to follow links in order to safeguard your account is definitely a scam and should not be trusted. These links could lead to websites that install malware and spyware or track your personal details.

4/6

Deactivate WhatsApp if you lose your phone

If you lose your smartphone, it's advisable to immediately activate WhatsApp with the same phone number on a different phone, with a replacement SIM. One of the basic security measures that WhatsApp takes is that the app can only be used by one number on one device at a time, so by doing so you instantly block it from being used on your old phone. If that's not possible, WhatsApp can also deactivate your account.

5/6

Hide the 'last seen' timestamp

The bone of contention, WhatsApp's much disliked 'last seen' feature can also be disabled! Although more of a privacy feature, it could help prevent your stalker know what time you were last online.

You can disable or restrict who sees your 'last seen' time in WhatsApp's 'Profile'; 'Privacy' menu, in Android, iOS, Windows or Blackberry. However, if you turn it off, you won't be able to see other users' 'last seen' times either.

6/6

Be careful of what you talk about

Similar to other forms of communication, you should not share confidential information, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, bank or credit card details, or passport or other identification details on WhatsApp. A man in the middle attack could lead to this information being compromised. WhatsApp has introduced end-to-end encryption for its Android users but other platforms are still vulnerable.

How to prevent WhatsApp from automatically saving photos and videos

By default, the process of sharing photos via WhatsApp automatically saves media files to the recipient's device memory when they are opened in the messenger application. This approach is largely justified, but it can cause certain inconveniences and is often evaluated negatively by users. In the article, we will consider all aspects of using the function of uploading photos coming via WhatsApp to the device storage on Android and the possibility of configuring its operation. nine0003

With the default settings, when you open an image in WhatsApp for Android, it is automatically saved to your device's storage and then displayed in your smartphone or tablet's Gallery. Further in the article, we will first consider setting a ban on the implementation of these two possibilities, and in the final third part of the material we will demonstrate how to clear the device’s memory from media files already downloaded from WhatsApp.

How to prevent automatic download of photos from WhatsApp for Android

So, the first thing you can do if the function of the messenger that involves downloading images has become inconvenient (for example, increased consumption of traffic by the device or too fast filling of free space in its memory), is to deactivate the option to automatically download media files. It is possible to establish a ban on its implementation in two ways.

Method 1: Android OS tools

The most radical approach to solving the problem of stopping uncontrolled saving of media files from WhatsApp to the memory of an Android device involves revoking the permission granted to the messenger to access the storage. The instruction below is suitable only for those users who do not plan to use the information exchange system in question for transmitting and receiving files, regardless of their type. nine0003

Please note that depending on the version of the mobile OS and the system shell launcher used, the names of options and menu items may differ from those described and captured in the screenshots below, but the general principle is the same in all versions of Android!

Enter the "Settings" of the mobile OS by any preferred method. Next, open the settings category called Applications.

Click All Apps. Then find the “WhatsApp” item in the list of software installed on the device that opens and tap on its name. nine0020
On the screen containing information about the messenger application, click "App Permissions". Next, move the switch located to the right of the name of the "Storage" ("Memory") option to the "Off" position. This completes the configuration - exit the "Settings" of Android.

In fact, our task is solved - launch WhatsApp and make sure that now any attempt by the messenger to carry out any manipulation with the image will fail and display a request for permission. nine0020

Method 2: WhatsApp settings

WhatsApp developers for Android have provided in this version of the service client application the possibility of quite flexible adjustment of various parameters, including those related to the function in question. This allows us to solve our problem more “elegantly” and “correctly” than the method proposed above in the article.

Launch the messenger and go to its "Settings". To do this, click on the corresponding item in the menu called by touching the three vertically located dots in the upper right corner of the menu screen. nine0020
Open the WhatsApp settings section entitled "Data and storage".

Next, you need to configure the operation of two options:

Tap "Wi-Fi" and, just as in the previous case, uncheck the "Photo" checkbox, and then confirm the changes to the settings by tapping "OK".

After completing the configuration, exit the “Settings” of WhatsApp and you can proceed with the normal operation of the messenger - now the images received through it will not enter the device’s memory uncontrollably.

How to configure autoload?

WhatsApp will automatically download images using your cellular connection to give you quick access to your latest photos.

To set up auto-upload of photo, video and audio files, just go to WhatsApp > Menu > Settings > Chats and Calls > Media Autoload .

You can choose when WhatsApp automatically downloads media files.

When connected to a mobile network

Selected media files will be automatically downloaded when you connect to a cellular network.

When connected to a Wi-Fi network

The selected media will automatically download when connected to a Wi-Fi network. nine0003

Disabling the display of photos from WhatsApp in the Android Gallery

If your goal is not to save space in the memory of your Android smartphone / tablet or the traffic consumed by the device, but to organize photos in the built-in OS tool for viewing and organizing them - "Gallery" , then you can use one of the following methods.

Please note that when using the first two instructions from the article presented later in this section, not only pictures will be hidden in the Gallery, but also videos received via the messenger, as well as GIF animation! nine0003

Method 1: Separate conversations and groups

First, you can turn off the display in the Gallery of not absolutely all the pictures that you viewed in WhatsApp, but only those that were received within a single conversation or group chat.

Open the messenger and go to the chat configured in the above way.

Click on the three dots to the right of the contact name or group name at the top of the screen and select "View Contact" or "Group Details" respectively. nine0020
On the next screen, find the name of the Media Visibility option and tap it. In the window that opens, move the radio button to the "No" position, tap "OK".

Method 2: All photos

To deactivate saving absolutely all media files received from WhatsApp in the Gallery:

Start the messenger and open its main menu, tap "Settings".

From the list of app setting categories, go to Chats. Next, deactivate the "Media Visibility" toggle. nine0020
That's it - close Settings and start using WhatsApp normally. The Android Gallery will no longer display images received through the messenger.

Method 3: File Manager

Another method by which you can prevent the display of photos from WhatsApp in the Gallery is available for implementation using many Android Explorers (hereinafter referred to as ES File Explorer).

Open the file manager and use it

to follow the path: WhatsApp / Media / WhatsApp Images /.
While in the WhatsApp Images folder, call up the action menu - tap on the vertically arranged dots in the upper right corner of the screen. Select "+NEW" and then "File".

Enter .nomedia as the name of the file to create. Tap "OK" to complete the operation.

That's all - images from the "WhatsApp Images" directory in the Gallery will not be displayed until you delete the file created in step 9 above0069 .nomedia .

Method 4: Gallery tools

Among other methods, it is possible to hide pictures received via WhatsApp from the Gallery using the tools integrated into the media viewer application itself.

Enter the Gallery and then open the Albums tab.

Find "WhatsApp Images" in the list of albums and long press on its name to bring up the menu. Select the "Make invisible" option, which will make the catalog no longer visible in the Gallery, but will not cease to exist. nine0020

How to manually clear WhatsApp cache

Step 1. Open WhatsApp.

Step 2. Go to the "Settings" section.

Step 3. Expand the Data and Storage menu.

Step 4. Pay attention to the "Storage Management" item.

Modern instant messengers are almost the main source of wasted memory in the storage of every mobile device. Using the above menu of the WhatsApp application, you can assess the "scale of the tragedy" and carry out the necessary cleaning. nine0003

⚠️ If the instruction stopped working or you have problems at some step, please report it in the comments. We will definitely investigate the issue and update the article.

Source

Clearing memory from photos downloaded from WhatsApp

The techniques described above in this article, which involve disabling automatic saving of pictures from WhatsApp and / or their visibility in the Android Gallery, are effective in relation to those media files that will be received after performing one or more other procedure. To get rid of “old” images, for example, to free up the space they occupy in the device’s storage, either the tools provided in the messenger or manual deletion are used. nine0003

Method 1: Messenger tools

In order to delete photos received via WhatsApp for Android, you don't even have to leave the application, and clearing the smartphone storage from media files is quite flexible here.

Chat settings

Open an individual or group chat in the messenger. Photos received within the selected conversation, and only these, will be erased from the smartphone's memory as a result of following the instructions. Touch the title of a conversation to go to a screen with information and options. nine0020
Click on the name of the area, which is located under the avatar of the interlocutor or group and contains previews of pictures and videos from the chat. On the screen that opens, in the "Media" tab, select the photos to be deleted - the first one by long pressing on its thumbnail, and the rest - with short taps.

Touch the "Trash" icon at the top of the screen and confirm the messenger's request by clicking "DELETE ME" in the window that appears.

Application settings

Launch WhatsApp for Android and go to the "Settings" of the application from the tapped application using the three menu points located at the top right of the screen.

Click Data and Storage and then Storage. On the next screen, tap on the title of the conversation in which the erased data was generated. By the way, the names of the interlocutors and the names of the groups in the list are sorted by the amount of device memory occupied by information from them.

Click FREE SPACE at the bottom right corner of the screen. Uncheck the boxes located to the right of all types of information received as part of the correspondence, except for "Photo" (unless you want to delete other information at the same time as the pictures). Next, click "DELETE OBJECTS" at the bottom of the screen on the right. Confirm the request received from WhatsApp by tapping "DELETE MESSAGES" in the window that appears.

If you want to delete photo files that are not from a single conversation, repeat the instructions for each of the conversations to be cleared. nine0020

Method 2: File Manager

Of course, if there are many dialogs and groups open in WhatsApp, and a large number of images have accumulated in the device’s memory in the process of receiving information from them, cleaning using the above method can take a long time. It is more convenient and in order to destroy all the photos downloaded by the messenger at a time, use any file manager.

Launch File Explorer for Android and navigate to the Media folder from the WhatsApp directory in your device's storage. nine0020
Long press on the WhatsApp Images directory name to highlight it. Click on the trash icon in the action menu that became available after checking the box on the folder and then confirm the file manager prompt.

That's all - photos received via WhatsApp and now no longer needed will be erased from the memory of the Android device. If you want to use the ability to save photos from the messenger in the future, do not worry - the remote directory will be created automatically when you initiate the image upload. nine0020

10 tips for every WhatsApp user

April 30, 2020 Android iOS

With their help you will be able to use the messenger to the maximum.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messengers, which is used by millions of people around the world to communicate. However, many users still do not know all the features of the service. And among the latter, by the way, there are very useful ones. Let's talk about those.

1. Set the visibility of personal data

Go to "Settings" → "Account" → "Privacy". Here you can set the visibility of personal data: profile photo, status and information about the last visit. If you want this information to be hidden from everyone, just select the "No one" option.

For iOS, identical settings are found in the "Privacy" item in the account settings.

2. Format messages

Not everyone knows that text in messages can be bold, italic or strikethrough. To do this, you need to put a certain symbol before the word and after it. nine0003

Bold is an asterisk, italic is an underscore, and strikethrough is a tilde. For example: *word*, _word_, ~word~.

3. Reply to a specific message

With active correspondence, the ability to reply to the desired message helps to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. In WhatsApp, this feature is implemented especially conveniently.

All you have to do is swipe on a chat message from left to right and it will attach to your next message, indicating exactly what you replied to. nine0003

Also, to do this, you can simply hold down the message and click on the arrow that appears in the top menu.

4. Add messages to your favorites

Adding a message to your favorites allows you to quickly return to it without using the chat search. This is useful when you need to save some coordinates, a shopping list, a task, and so on.

To add, you just need to hold down any message in the conversation and select the button with the image of an asterisk. It will immediately be added to a special menu, which can be accessed on Android through three dots in the upper right corner, and on iOS through the WhatsApp settings. nine0003

5. Use broadcast messages

General mailing is especially useful when you need to share something with a large number of users without grouping them together. The function is available in the menu by pressing the three dots in the upper right corner. The message will be sent to everyone you mark in your contact list. Their answers will be visible only to you.

6. Check when a message was delivered and read

Not everyone knows that in WhatsApp you can find out the specific time when a person received a message and when he read it. To do this, hold down the desired message in the chat, click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select "Info". On iOS, after pinching, select "Data" from the menu. nine0003

This feature is very useful when you can't reach a person and don't even know if they received your message. Note, however, that this only works if the user has not disabled "Read Receipt" in their privacy settings.

7. Set up individual notifications

Unlike many other instant messengers, WhatsApp allows you to set up notifications about new messages and calls for each contact or group individually. This allows, for example, not only to turn off the sound signal for messages from a certain person, but also to select some kind of melody specifically for him. nine0003

With this option, you can find out who exactly wrote to you without even looking at the smartphone display. To configure, you need to open the contact or group menu and go to the "Individual notifications" item. There, by checking the box next to "Use", you need to edit the necessary items.

8. Disable automatic media downloads

Disabling this feature is especially useful when roaming, as your mobile operator may charge you a significant fee for downloading data. nine0003

Go to Settings → Data & Storage → Media Startup. You will find three options: "Mobile network", "Wi-Fi" and "Roaming". In each of these items, uncheck the boxes next to "Images", "Audio" and "Video".

9. Change your mobile number without data loss

If you have a new SIM card, this does not mean that you need to create another WhatsApp account. Everything is much easier. Go to "Settings" → "Account" → "Change number". Confirm your old number, enter your new one, and you're done. nine0003

This will quickly transfer all your groups, settings and account information.

10. Password protect WhatsApp

Some things are not meant for prying eyes. In particular, your correspondence in WhatsApp. And if you know that any of your friends or family members like to rummage through other people's messages, then the best solution is to protect WhatsApp with a password.