WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps, allowing users to exchange messages, photos, videos and more. Over time, your WhatsApp photo gallery can get cluttered with pictures you no longer need or want. Thankfully, WhatsApp makes it easy to delete photos on an iPhone.
When you delete a photo from WhatsApp, it’s removed from the app, but not your phone’s actual photo gallery. So deleting a WhatsApp photo won’t free up storage space on your device. To permanently delete WhatsApp photos from your iPhone, you’ll need to also delete them from your Camera Roll or Recently Deleted album.
In this guide, we’ll show you two ways to permanently erase photos from WhatsApp on an iPhone:
Method 1: Delete WhatsApp photos directly from the app
This method involves selecting and deleting photos within WhatsApp. The photos are removed from the app, but will still be available in your iPhone’s photo gallery.
Method 2: Delete WhatsApp photos from your iPhone’s Photos app
With this method, you’ll open your Photos app and delete photos stored in your WhatsApp folder. This permanently erases them from your device.
Let’s look at both methods in more detail.
Method 1: Delete WhatsApp photos from within the app
Here are the steps to remove photos from WhatsApp on your iPhone:
1. Open WhatsApp and go to the Chat tab.
2. Select the chat with the photos you want to delete.
3. Tap on the contact’s name at the top of the screen to open their contact info.
4. Tap Media, Links and Docs.
5. Select the photos you want to delete. You can tap Select and select multiple photos.
6. Tap on the trash can icon at the bottom to delete the selected photos.
7. Confirm the deletion by tapping Delete.
This will immediately remove the photos from WhatsApp. However, they’ll still be stored in your iPhone’s photo gallery (Camera Roll or Recently Deleted).
So if you just want to remove clutter from WhatsApp, this method works great. But if you need to permanently erase photos from your iPhone, keep reading.
Method 2: Permanently delete WhatsApp photos from your iPhone
To completely erase WhatsApp photos from your iPhone:
1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
2. At the bottom, tap Albums to view your photo albums.
3. Scroll down and tap on the WhatsApp folder. This contains all photos ever saved from WhatsApp.
4. Tap Select at the top right.
5. Select the photos you want to delete by tapping them.
6. Tap the Delete icon at the bottom.
7. Confirm the deletion by tapping Delete Photos.
This will move the photos to the Recently Deleted album. To fully erase them from your iPhone:
1. In the Photos app, tap Albums and select Recently Deleted.
2. Select the photos you want to permanently delete.
3. Tap Delete at the bottom.
4. Tap Delete Photos to confirm.
The photos will be permanently deleted from your iPhone, including both the WhatsApp app and your camera roll. This deletion is irreversible, so make absolutely sure you want to erase these photos for good!
Extra tips for managing WhatsApp photos
Here are some additional tips for organizing, backing up and freeing up space from WhatsApp photos:
– Review old WhatsApp photos regularly and delete ones you no longer need. This helps avoid clutter.
– Use iCloud Photo Library or Google Photos to back up your WhatsApp pictures. This provides an extra copy if you accidentally delete important photos.
– Export memorable WhatsApp photos to a computer or external storage device for safe keeping.
– Switch on Auto-Delete in WhatsApp’s Data and Storage Usage settings to automatically remove old photos after a specified time.
– Delete large videos and media files in WhatsApp to free up storage space on your iPhone.
– Offload unused apps with large WhatsApp media folders using the Offload App feature in iOS. This frees up space while keeping your WhatsApp data.
Can deleted WhatsApp photos be recovered?
If you accidentally deleted important WhatsApp photos, there are a few ways to try recovering them:
– **Retrieve from a backup:** If you previously backed up your iPhone to iCloud or iTunes, you may be able to restore deleted WhatsApp photos from the backup.
– **Use data recovery software:** Third-party iOS data recovery apps sometimes can retrieve deleted WhatsApp photos, provided the storage space hasn’t been overwritten.
– **Recover from Google Photos:** If you had WhatsApp backup enabled in Google Photos, you may be able to restore deleted photos from there.
– **Retrieve from the sender:** Try asking the sender to resend any accidentally deleted WhatsApp photos to you again.
However, keep in mind that the more you use your iPhone after deleting WhatsApp photos, the lower your chances of recovery. Avoid taking new photos or installing apps, as this may overwrite the deleted data.
Conclusion
We’ve covered two easy methods to delete WhatsApp photos from your iPhone permanently:
– Delete directly within the WhatsApp app – This removes photos from WhatsApp but not your Camera Roll.
– Delete from your iPhone’s Photos app – This permanently erases WhatsApp photos from your device and frees up storage space.
Be sure to back up any important WhatsApp photos before deletion. And take advantage of features like Auto-Delete to routinely clear out old WhatsApp images you no longer need.
With a little organization, you can keep your WhatsApp photo gallery neat and manageable. Just be cautious when erasing photos, as WhatsApp doesn’t have a trash folder – deletion is permanent!
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Delete from WhatsApp |
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| Delete from Photos |
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