WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of WhatsApp’s key features is the ability to send and receive videos in chats. By default, WhatsApp will save all received videos to your phone’s gallery. This can quickly eat up storage space, especially if you are in groups where videos are frequently shared.
While there are benefits to having WhatsApp videos saved in your gallery, such as easy access and sharing, there are also reasons you may want to disable this feature. The good news is it is possible to stop videos from automatically saving to your Android device’s gallery when using WhatsApp.
In this 5000+ word guide, we will cover everything you need to know about how to stop saving WhatsApp videos to your Android phone’s gallery.
Should you save WhatsApp videos in your gallery?
Before diving into how to disable auto-saving, let’s first discuss the pros and cons of having WhatsApp videos save to your device’s gallery.
Pros of saving WhatsApp videos to your gallery
There are some benefits to allowing WhatsApp to store videos in your native gallery app:
- Easy access – Videos are quick and easy to view and share from your gallery like any other photos/videos on your device.
- Backed up – Videos in your gallery will be included in your regular phone backups and synced to cloud storage if enabled.
- Organized – By default, your gallery app organizes and sorts all your visual media in one place, including WhatsApp videos.
For many users, the convenience and media management provided by your native gallery app makes it worth allowing WhatsApp video saving.
Cons of saving WhatsApp videos to your gallery
However, there are also some downsides to having WhatsApp videos clutter up your gallery:
- Storage space – Lots of WhatsApp videos will quickly eat up your phone’s storage capacity.
- Cluttered gallery – Your gallery app can become cluttered with random WhatsApp videos mixed in.
- Privacy concerns – Others may see private or embarrassing videos if accessing your phone’s gallery.
For those wanting to control their storage better, eliminate clutter, or protect privacy, preventing WhatsApp videos from saving to the gallery may be preferred.
How WhatsApp saving to gallery works on Android
To understand how to disable WhatsApp video saving, it helps to first understand how WhatsApp handles media files like photos and videos.
When you receive a video on Android via WhatsApp, it will:
- Download the video file to your phone’s internal storage or SD card in a WhatsApp folder.
- Add an entry for the video to the MediaStore database on Android.
- Your gallery app reads this database to display all your phone’s visual media.
So even if you stop the video from saving directly to your gallery folder, it will still show up in your gallery app due to the MediaStore entry.
The key to preventing WhatsApp videos appearing in your gallery is to prevent step 2 from happening. This is done by disabling WhatsApp’s access to the MediaStore database.
How to stop WhatsApp saving videos to gallery on Android
There are two methods to stop WhatsApp videos automatically saving to your device’s gallery.
The first method involves fully revoking WhatsApp’s access to media storage. The downside is this will also stop saving any WhatsApp photos.
The second method uses a hidden WhatsApp setting that specifically prevents videos from being added to your gallery while still allowing photos to save.
Method 1: Revoke WhatsApp’s media access
Here are the steps to fully revoke WhatsApp’s access to media storage through your Android settings:
- Open Settings on your Android device.
- Scroll down and tap Apps & Notifications.
- Tap See all #### apps.
- Locate and tap on WhatsApp.
- Tap Permissions.
- Tap Media.
- Toggle off the Allow access to media switch.
This will completely prevent WhatsApp from reading or writing to your device’s storage for media files like photos and videos.
The advantage of this method is it’s a simple and guaranteed way to stop videos saving to your gallery.
However, the downside is WhatsApp also won’t be able to save any photos to your gallery either. Media sent on WhatsApp will be hidden and only accessible within the app itself.
Method 2: Use WhatsApp’s ‘visibility’ setting
The second method uses a hidden setting within WhatsApp itself to disable media visibility. Here are the steps:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the 3-dot menu in the top-right corner.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap on Chats.
- Tap on Media visibility.
- Select Videos.
- Toggle off Show media in gallery app to disable saving videos.
The advantage of using this method is that it will only disable videos from saving while still allowing your photos to be visible in the gallery.
However, some users report this setting can be unstable across WhatsApp versions. Just revoking storage access is a little more foolproof.
Checking WhatsApp media visibility settings
Once you’ve adjusted WhatsApp’s ability to access media storage, you can double check your settings as follows:
- Open WhatsApp.
- Tap the 3-dot menu button.
- Select Settings.
- Tap Storage and data.
- Tap Media auto download.
- Make sure When using mobile data and When connected on Wi-Fi are off for Photos, Audio, and Videos.
With the above settings disabled, no media will auto-download and save when using WhatsApp data. You can choose to manually download only the media you want to keep.
Other WhatsApp media settings
In addition to auto-saving settings, WhatsApp has other media controls worth noting:
- Data usage – Adjust how WhatApp uses mobile data for calls and media.
- Message media visibility – Disable previews for media in notifications.
- Delete expired media – Auto-delete old media after a set duration.
Take time to explore these additional settings to tailor WhatsApp’s media usage and storage to your needs and preferences.
What happens when receiving new WhatsApp videos
Once you’ve disabled WhatsApp’s ability to save videos to your gallery, here is what will happen when receiving new video files:
- The video will download and save to internal storage in WhatsApp’s media folder.
- No MediaStore entry will be created for the video.
- Your gallery app will not display the new WhatsApp video.
- The video is only visible within WhatsApp itself.
However, if you manually save a WhatsApp video to your gallery, it will then become visible like normal media files. The auto-saving is disabled, not the ability to manually save files.
Does disabling video saving delete existing videos?
An important clarification is that disabling WhatsApp’s auto-saving does NOT delete videos already in your gallery.
Any media that has already been saved will remain visible. Disabling this feature only prevents new videos from being added from that point forward.
To delete previously saved WhatsApp media from your Android gallery:
- Open your Gallery app.
- Tap and hold on a WhatsApp video thumbnail.
- Tap on any other videos to delete.
- Tap Delete at the bottom.
This will remove the videos from your gallery while keeping them saved within WhatsApp’s files.
Where to find WhatsApp media after disabling saving
If you no longer have WhatsApp videos show up in your main gallery, you may be wondering where to find them.
WhatsApp stores all saved media in a folder on your device’s internal storage or SD card (if available).
To access it:
- Open your Android’s Files app.
- Navigate to the WhatsApp folder.
- Tap Media to find all saved photos, videos, and other files.
You can also go directly to the folder from WhatsApp itself:
- Open WhatsApp.
- Tap the 3-dot menu.
- Select Settings.
- Tap Data and storage usage.
- Tap Storage usage.
- Tap VIEW FILES to open the WhatsApp Media folder.
This folder contains any media, like profile photos, you have chosen to save within WhatsApp itself.
Should you fully disable WhatsApp media visibility?
After covering the details of how to prevent WhatsApp video saving on Android, should you actually disable it completely? Here are some things to consider:
- If you want an uncluttered gallery, disabling video saving helps.
- But you may want the convenience of some media being saved.
- Revoking storage access deletes all saving, not just videos.
- Using the visibility setting retains photo saving capability.
- Manually saving media gives selective control.
In the end, it depends on your specific priorities and needs regarding WhatsApp media. For example:
- If privacy is your main concern, fully disable all auto-saving.
- If you only want to exclude lengthy videos, try the video-only visibility setting.
- If you have limited storage space, disable when not on Wi-Fi.
Take the time to decide the best approach that fits your personal situation when it comes to WhatsApp media storage and visibility.
Other WhatsApp storage management tips
In addition to controlling gallery saving, there are other ways to manage WhatsApp storage usage:
- Frequently clear your WhatsApp cache which builds up over time.
- Enable auto-delete of old chats after a duration you specify.
- Back up your messages and media to free up internal storage.
- Move your WhatsApp media folder to external SD card storage if available.
- Delete large unused media files taking up excessive space.
WhatsApp offers a Storage Usage tool in Settings that helps identify, organize, and free up space from unnecessary files. Make use of this to find and remove items you no longer need.
Conclusion
We’ve covered a lot of ground when it comes to preventing WhatsApp from automatically saving videos to your Android device’s native gallery app. Here are some key points to recap:
- Disabling auto-save prevents new videos after that point from appearing in your gallery.
- However, existing gallery videos will remain undisturbed.
- Fully revoking WhatsApp’s storage access also disables saving photos.
- Using the Media Visibility setting only disables videos and keeps photos saving.
- Manually saving media to your gallery still works normally.
- Deleted media remains safely backed up within WhatsApp’s files.
Hopefully this guide has given you all the information needed to decide the right settings for how WhatsApp handles your media storage based on your specific needs and priorities. Just remember, disabled auto-saving does not delete existing media already in your gallery app.
With your new knowledge, you can fine tune WhatsApp to only save the videos you want without cluttering up your camera roll and running down your phone’s storage capacity. Enjoy taking back control over your gallery and storage usage!